This is a curated set of travel services and tools chosen for how they actually perform on the ground—reliability, ease, and consistency, not just price. Links on this Travel Services page are affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products and services I trust and personally use to enhance my travels. You can read the full disclosure here.
Airalo e-Sim
I’ve used Airalo on every trip across Asia for the past two years, without exception. No counter to queue at on arrival, no SIM card to track down at a kiosk, and no pocket wifi device to charge and carry. I turn off Airplane mode on landing into a new Asian country, and I’m connected before I’ve even disembarked the plane. I run the regional Asia plan myself, so I’m not buying a new eSIM every time I cross a border. Airalo offers individual country plans as well, if a single-destination trip suits you better.
I run NordVPN on my phone, my tablet, and my laptop, all the time, in every country, not just when something feels risky. Public wifi exposure is real, and it matters most exactly when you’re doing something that can’t wait — checking a bank balance, confirming a booking, sorting a problem with a driver who hasn’t shown up. It also means I can access streaming services from home no matter where I am, which on its own is reason enough for plenty of travellers. NordPass comes bundled with the same subscription, managing my passwords so none of them repeat across accounts — one less thing to think about while I’m focused on everything else a trip involves.