What are /r/longtermtravel's favorite Products & Services?

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Get a VPN. I use iVPN and it works great. I've been in China 4 months and have been able to access all the banned sites. You can connect to a variety of servers hosted all over the world, so you really can access anything (ie watch YouTube videos that are unavailable in X country). Enjoy China! It's my favorite country!

I usually start with Rome 2 Rio and Google Maps for things like this. The latter can provide both driving and transit directions for many countries. I then look at the route options and see where I might wish to stop en route and go from there.

Yes. But I would never bring a full sized sleeping bag. I bring either a REI Travel Sack or a zip up sleeping bag liner. I do a lot of CouchSurfing, sleeping in airports, chilling on the beach, and hammock camping. It's really important that it unzips all the way down so that I can use it as a beach/picnic blanket.

I wouldn't ever use it in a hostel unless they charge for bedding and explicitly allow it. The only place I've experienced that is in Freiburg, Germany, for some reason in that area it's standard to not provide free bedding.

Regional locks have largely turned me back to piracy. Even when trying to use VPNs, it can be a constant cat and mouse game of what does and doesn't work.

I know this isn't what you've asked, but I've since switched to paid Plex/Emby shares that cost ~5usd/month and includes truly every bit of content I could ask for. I think my current share has 40 petabytes of content. I can use it anywhere without limitations.

That said, I mostly travel Mexico and Latin America. I know it's not the same, but maybe you'll find some overlap. My VPN of choice btw is Mullvad. They're not made for streaming (torrenting works great though), but some services they'll work on, others not so much.

• HBO Max: Doesn't work with VPN, but works great without and content appears to be the same as the US. My subscription is based in Mexico though (I get it free through a deliver app called Rappi).

• Disney+: Content doesn't appear to change and I'm able to use outside the US without problems with or without VPN.

• Netflix: They seem to hate VPNs the most. I can use it anywhere, but content is regional.

• YouTube Premium: I don't use this but I have YouTube Vanced on my phone that gives a premium experience for free.

• YouTube TV: I have an IPTV subscription with full cable packages from around the world for about ~$8/month, so no input on this.

• Amazon Prime: Seems to work almost anywhere, but content is region locked. They are very picky with VPNs, but less so than Netflix.

• Hulu: I've never had a subscription, but they definitely don't work outside of the US without a VPN.

• Apple+: Works fine anywhere without a VPN and the content is the same.

• Peacock: Picky with VPNs and region locks content.

Hope that helps a little.

Disney +, Netflix, Youtube Premium, Youtube TV, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Apple 1, and Peacock

In terms of one-way flights, it's a low risk, but a few times with one-way tickets, I've had gate agents ask for proof of onward travel. The idea is some countries want that proof to give you a tourist visa, and airlines don't want to have to return you if you're rejected from entry. So while El Salvador absolutely will not care about a couple of first world travelers arriving on one way tickets, the airlines are sometimes kind of persnickety about it, so evidence of onward travel is a good idea.

In a pinch, you can just buy a fully refundable ticket, then get a refund after you arrive. ;) It takes a few weeks to get the money back on your credit card, but if you have a credit card with sufficient limits, that should work.

In terms of actually finding cheap flights, besides Kayak.com and Google Flights (my go-tos), you should probably check out Kiwi for when you are there and ready to move on, as well as Flight Matrix; if the matrix is cheaper, you can use a company like Flight Network via Book With Matrix to do the booking.

Also, don't be averse to even using local travel agents in central/south america! Sometimes they find deals we can't, because they're only supposed to be open to locals.

In terms of other tips: well, do exercise caution. Sometimes you'll want a police escort hiking in the foothills around major cities. Carrying a decoy wallet you can surrender if mugged is a good idea, all that. You can read on what to do. :)

Practice Spanish before you go and have fun!

Have you tried checking the flights? They may be cheaper than you think. I know you can hop around malaysia, thailand and vietnam sometimes for $30-$50 a flight.

This is just one example: https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=BKK,DMK;t=SGN;d=2017-09-10;r=2017-09-10;tt=o

Just play around with the dates and major cities. If you're flexible you can get around for pretty little.

Also, if you're thinking about China, the visa can be a pain in the ass depending on your nationality. So better get started on that process early if you're serious.

I'll be in Asia in August-Sept and then again in Nov. You can PM me if anything.

For dual SIM: Google your phone model, look for specs. Ctrl+f on desktop and Find In Page on mobile are your best friends! Dual sim phones are pretty common these days. And if you don't have one, you may consider picking up a cheap one. I bought a dual SIM Xiaomi phone for $90 on Amazon. If you go that route, keep an eye open for "international version" mentioned, or actually sit down and learn about GSM vs CDMA networks and why not all phones work on all networks. You know best where you may be headed, so I leave it to you to use Google to make sure you will have a working phone.

Also, in my experience, wifi is everything. I only traveled in Europe and Colombia, and free or coffee-priced wifi is literally everywhere. I developed a taste for coffee just because of how often I would pay half a euro to sit for 30 minutes and use the internet. I'm also from the US, and I was just astounded at how every place had wifi available (in every country I visited except Serbia).

For authenticator apps, there are some really good open source ones.

https://albertomosconi.github.io/foss-apps/

ctrl+F "authent"

Microsoft's is probably the most popular if I had to guess.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.azure.authenticator

MANY vpn's but Astrill is one of the most popular among true China expats

China welcomes you, right now the numbers are stable there's less of a gold rush feeling in Shanghai etc. People come and people go but China will always be a fun place and an adventure to live in.

If looking for less hectic / easier time adjusting and hate bad traffic, check out Taiwan, or even Japan for that matter. I hear Vietnam is getting pretty good to live in

Yes the cubes! Also the self seal vacuum bags. Don't use the larger ones as you will pack to much stuff and it will just be heavy. I have been traveling for over a year and these were a lifesaver. https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Storage-Bags-Clothes-Compression/dp/B074RG1CZ4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1524311191&sr=8-3&keywords=vacuum+seal+travel+bag