Recommendations
I created this page to show you which services, products and companies I use and love to travel, sail and blog. This way, you can quickly find some awesome things to try all on one page, and you don’t have to hunt and search for this stuff in my blog posts.
You should know that I do make small commissions on some of these products if you choose to buy them. Please see my Disclaimer/Disclosure for more information.
SERVICES FOR BUDGET TRAVEL
Stay for free with Trusted Housesitters.
Trusted Housesitters is an awesome way to see the world and not pay a dime forhousing! It does cost around $100 per year to join, but that’s not very much if you think of all the money you’ll save on hotels. It works like this: someone wants to travel, but doesn’t want their pet to be alone. You come in, have a free place to stay, and care for the pet. Trusted Housesitters has gorgeous houses and apartments available all over the world. I think this is going to come in handy for me when I’m sailing and just want to be in a home for a little while.
Use Airbnb to save money on your stay when you travel.
I’ve stayed in Airbnbs a great deal when I travel, and love the 
accommodations. I’ve had a smooth time dealing with homeowners, and get to stay in cute neighborhoods. If you are using Airbnb for the first time, click here to get $40 off your stay: Airbnb. If you are traveling with several people, you can really save on the cost of housing by splitting your very own apartment or house. There are some great deals on this site.
Do a home exchange to stay for free with Home Exchange.
You can stay for free at locations all over the world using Home Exchange, which means you exchange homes with someone. It’s a great way to live in a neighborhood and get out of thehotel zone in cities you want to visit. A great way to save money on housing when you’re traveling! Of course, you have to have a home to use Home Exchange, so people with sailboats and RVs may not benefit as much 🙂
Book your flight and save with Booking.com
Booking.com helps you find cheap flights for travel all over the world! They are part of the Priceline group, but withBooking.com you can actually see your travel times and it’s not a surprise. Booking.com lets you check prices on a whole bunch of different travel sites before you buy, which comes in handy.
EQUIPMENT I LOVE
I take all my photos with a Sony A-6000 mirrorless camera.
I chose this Sony A6000 because it takes photos that are asgood as a DSLR, but at half the weight. I was able to take this camera on our 230-mile trek through the Sierra Nevada, and it easy fits into a backpack or purse. The Sony A6000 costs around $550, which isn’t cheap, but it’s a lot cheaper than a DSLR.
I take a lot of cool videos with the GoPro Hero 5.
To me, having a GoPro on a sailboat is essential. I love taking videos 
without worrying about the spray or wind, and I can jump into the water with the camera as well. It also takes great wide-angle photos! I can’t wait to take even more videos of our sailing life once we get started cruising. This camera is small and versatile, and I bought some mountain equipment to go with it.
The Go-Sun solar stove.
This little Go Sun solar stove is awesome because its all solar-powered! It’s a great way to bake stuff without turning on your oven, especially when sailing in a hot climate. I think this stove would also work really well for people camping, living in vans, or RVing. If I were living in a van, I think I’d use this rather than install an oven. It’s fast-efficient, and small,which is huge when you’re living in a tiny space.
To read more about things I love on the sailboat, check out this post: 13 things I can’t live without on the sailboat
Verizon Mifi Jetpack.
To get internet on the sailboat, I use a Verizon MiFi jetpack, which works really well. The plan I am on right now is $50 per month for 4 gigs, which works for my current purposes. I use it mostly to stream music and do random stuff on the internet, but haven’t used it for streaming movies or shows, which uses up tons of data. My Verizon plan includes Mexico and Canada, so we’ll see how this works out when I start cruising.
If you want to learn more about items I love for van life, head here: 13 camper essentials for living the van life.
MONEY-SAVING WEBSITES
Save money shopping online using Ebates.
Ebates sounds too good to be true or sometimes even a scam, but I use it and 
love it. With Ebates you can install a browser extension and it tracks where you’re shopping and asks if you want to initiate cash back. Each retailer gives back a different percentage, but it’s worth it. I once bought some white-water rafting tickets through Groupon and immediately got $7 cash back from Ebates. If you like to shop online, I highly recommend using this.
Earn money doing surveys with Swagbucks.
Swagbucks lets you participate in surveys, watch videos, play games shop 
online and surf the web in return for getting Swagbucks. Eventually, when you build up enough of a Swagbucks stash, you can turn it in for an Amazon gift card. Super easy way to make money, especially if you’re just sitting around watching TV in your living room. Might as well complete a few surveys while you’re at it and make a little chump change.
Redeem cash back on groceries using Ibotta.
This one is a little bit silly but I still find it fun. With Ibotta, you can choose 
rebates before you shop, then upload your receipt and get cash back. With their $10 sign-up bonus I’ve already gotten a $15 payment into my bank account. It only takes a few minutes and the dollar here and there really adds up! Plus, it’s fun discovering new products through Ibotta. There are even cash back rebates on wine! Can’t go wrong with that.
Make some easy money petsitting using Rover.
I love petsitting using Rover, and made $800 my first month using this 
service! You just create a profile and wait for homeowners to come to you when they need dogs walks or someone to stay at their place when they go out of town. You can read more about this in my post: How I made $800 my first month petsitting.
Cook at home and save money using $5 meal plan.
Sometimes, it’s easy just to go out to eat because you can’t think of 
what to cook. For just $5 per month, you can get a custom menu delivered to your inbox every week. I’ve cooked many recipes off the $5 meal plan and love it! It takes the guesswork out of what to make, and I don’t spend myself endlessly browsing recipes all day.
BLOGGING HELP
Host your website through Siteground.
I absolutely live Siteground hosting. My sites load faster than they did with my last service provider, and the customer service is unbeatable. It’s just $3.95 to host a beginner site on Siteground, which is a steal for the attention and customer service you get. Plus, as your site grows, you can easily increase your storage capacity.
Learn affiliate marketing with Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
I’m a really bad salesperson but we all have to figure out how to make a living, especially people who want to lead a life as a nomad. Blogging and affiliate marketing is one way of making an income, and I’ve learned a great deal through Michelle Shroeder-Gardner’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course. She is an expert at affiliate marketing, and brings in over $50,000 per month with this strategy. I loved this highly-informative course. You can learn more about blogging products I love in this post: 5 tools every new blogger must have.
Use Tailwind to establish a presence on Pinterest.
Pinterest is such a huge driver of blog traffic that I had to give it a try,and have been pleasantly surprised by the results. I use Tailwind to schedule all my pins, and I know I wouldn’t be doubling my traffic every month without it. You can read more about how Tailwind has helped me here: How my Pinterest traffic exploded in one month.
Check out the Divi theme to build your own blog.
I am not even remotely a web designer, but I was able to figure out how to build The Wayward Home using the Extra theme, which is sold through Elegant Themes. I have a more detailed post on why I chose Divi here: How I build my own blog using Divi as a total beginner .
