We’re just back from a great adventure on Hurtigruten Expeditions’ inaugural cruise in the Galapagos Islands, where we met iguanas and sea lions galore, and spotted albatross, blue and red-footed boobies, tortoises, and many other fantastic creatures.
Our ship, the upgraded MS Santa Cruz II, was perfectly-sized, with 50 cabins, a library and science corner, and a bar. And we were thrilled to learn that among the guests on our expedition were Will Jardell and James Wallington, the honeymooning winners of Season 32 of The Amazing Race reality TV show in which teams of two race around the world in hopes of winning the $1 million first prize.
We joined them for dinner one evening to chat about airports, of course, and to ask them to share some of their travel tips. You’ll find the full list in the story we put together for the Points Guy site. But here are some of their travel gear must-haves and some useful tips for gathering information about your destinations.
Fanny Packs
Trendy for now, Jardell and Wallington say they use Eagle Creek fanny packs to hold travel essentials such as passports, wallets, money, travel guides and documents, hand sanitizer, snacks, Chapstick, hand lotion, and extra masks.
Playing cards and games
Books and magazines are always good to have, but Jardell and Wallington always pack a deck of cards or a game they can play together or with people they meet along the way.
Smart ways to gather information
During the Amazing Race contest, Will and James couldn’t take along laptops or phones for researching a destination or plotting out routes before arriving in a city.
They said they could sometimes work around this by visiting electronics shops in airports selling phones and other gear that was on display with WiFi connections.
This is a great tip for those times we might find ourselves in an airport without a charged phone or good network access.
Flight attendants often have lots of helpful information about destinations, they told us, as do some of the short videos most of us skip over in the inflight entertainment line-up.
Eco-Friendly Tips
Meet the winning couple and pick up some eco-friendly and sustainable travel tips in this short video.
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