Travel Insurance
I have used Insure & Go, Budget Direct and Kango Cover travel insurance in the past due to their premium price compared to their product features, but most recently, I have used World Nomads or Fast Cover, especially for trips with elevations over 2000 meters in altitude, as these two companies insurance policies are more tailored to adventure trips. Fortunately, I haven’t had to claim anything yet but is good to have piece of mind when you’re far away from anything that resembles a hosptial. Their prices are resonable and you get great coverage. If you have a credit card that has an international travel insurance component, read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) with all the fine print, as you could get caught out with their requirements.
Coaches/Buses
I use Murrays coaches to/from Canberra and Sydney international airport.
Soldier On
I have chosen to support Soldier On as my charity of choice and you can read all about the campaigns that I have completed, by going to my personal Facebook page and Jet setting Josh Facebook page. I chose Soldier On as I work in the defence environment in Australia, as a civilian and have seen or heard of former colleagues suffering from post traumatic stress disorder over the years. When my grandad returned from serving in Egypt in WW2 he suffered from what was known back then as “shell shock” and no one talked about it.
Social Media
You can follow my adventures on my personal Facebook page, my Jet setting Josh Facebook page, Instagram and Strava.
Airlines
Internationally, I have flown Air New Zealand, Air Berlin (which has now gone bankrupt), Jetstar, Tiger Air, Scoot, Vietnam Airlines, Gulf Air, EgyptAir, Aeroflot, Qatar Airways, United Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Cebu Pacific, All Nippon Airways, Air Asia, AeroMexico, Euro Wings, British Airways, EasyJet, RyanAir and WizzAir.
Domestically I prefer to fly with Virgin Australia but if it’s for work I’ll fly Qantas.
Banks
I use ING and CitiBank for all my international banking as they have free international cash withdrawals, great savings accounts with high interest rates, excellent customer service and greats apps.
Booking Flights
I use Google ITA matrix online software to plan my flights and get Travel the World to book them for me but you can get any travel agent to book them for you.
Keeping in touch with friends and family
When communicating overseas I turn off the mobile data on my phone and I use Facebook messenger along with WhatsApp, Skype and Zoom as back ups. Don’t buy an international sim card or local country sim card unless you really believe you will have to talk to people when not connected to wifi. You can always wait till you get wifi coverge, find a payphone, ask a shop assistant or use someone else’s phone if desperate. I have never had to resort to this measure yet. Recently though I have purchased a Woolworths data global roaming sim card. This sim card is only for data so can’t talk or text and uses 4G LTE network. It is great for using my phone to access the internet, facebook, GPS apps etc wherever you are in the world with countries that are covered.
Booking Accommodation
I use hostelworld, booking.com, Warmshowers, Couchsurfing, AirBnB and YHA for my accommodation booking.
Booking Rental Car
I use Europcar for all my car rental needs as they offer a great range and are value for money.
Car I personally drive
Currently I drive a Mazda3 which was purchased brand new from Slaven Mazda. This is my second brand new Mazda3 in a row from them and before that I had a 1992 Mazda MX-6 which I purchased 2nd hand from a private seller. Mazda have a great line up of vehicles that are ready for all your adventures. My Mazda3 is able to transport my bicycles inside the vehicle to events with ease without taking the wheels off (for my cyclocross bike only) and just folding the rear seats down and for a two wheel drive car it has surprisingly good off road capability. I like Mazda as they have refined luxury, are well appointed with great technology, are fuel efficient and capable of taking me to all my hiking and sporting events with ease. I am on my third Mazda in a row. As you can probably tell I am a Mazda fan.
Tour Companies
I use Intrepid as my preferred tour company as they are more locally sustainable and responsible within the countries where they provide tours but I have been on Fez Travel, Bus-a-bout, On the Go, Haggis and Topdeck tours in the past.
Smart Phone
I use an Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max mobile phone, as it has a large screen, great battery life, good camera with great zoom, security, intuitive features and is lightweight. I use Sony in-ear noise cancelling headphones when flying and riding. I use either a Manfrotto smartphone clamp or Quad lock tripod adaptor, along with a Joby GorrillaPod mini tripod and a bluetooth remote “selfie stick” when there is no one around to take my photo. I mount my phone to my bikes with Quadlock mounts. They are strong, sleek, have many 5 star reviews and I have had no problems since using them.
Tablet
I use a Samsung Galaxy S2 tablet paired with a Logitech keyboard/case/cover for my portable personal computing needs when I’m travelling, as it has a large screen to view photos and movies, is lightweight and has good battery life and software performance.
Camera
I use either a Sony a6400 APS-C sensor mirrorless camera or Sony DSC-W500 compact camera, depending on how much weight and space I can carry or what I want to achieve. The Sony Imaging Edge Mobile App is great for easy transfer of photos to devices over wifi. I chose these cameras on their compactness and weight for their size.
Power Bank
I use a 5,000mAh Jackery Force 115 and 10,000mAh Belkin Pocket Power 10K for back up power of my devices. It can charge both the phone and tablet to 50% from 0% without having to recharge the power bank. I chose these due to there relative large power capacity for it’s size and lightweight. I purchase most of my electronics and accessories from JB HiFi or eBay, except for all Sony and Samsung devices, where I go direct to the manufacturer.
Travel Adaptor and power charger
I use a Jackson worldwide travel adaptor that is good for 150 countries. I use a dual port USB AC wall charger by XCD. It has a max output of 3.4A (1A + 2.4A).
Sporting Apparel
I use Nike Clearance Store, Adidas, Rebel Sport for my good quality sporting gear. TK Maxx and Aldi for my basic sporting gear. In events I run in Brooks Glycerin shoes. Such a great lightweight super smooth neutral running shoe. I use Strava to monitor average speed, total time spent, split lap times for running events and all those plus elevation gain for bicycling events. I use Komoot for all my GPS route planning. I decided to purchase the World Package, which cost about A$30 and is a one off payment for life. It allows me to store all GPS route from all regions on earth, whereas the free version only allows the storing of routes in your region. I train in Nike Lunarglide shoes which are a good cross trainer. In bicycling and running events I usually wear Soldier On cycling kit and for running events I wear Soldier On triathlon running top which I purchased directly from them.
Packrafting/Camping/Hiking Gear
All my packrafting/camping/travelling/hiking gear was purchased from Kathmandu, Macpac, Mont, Paddy Pallin, The North Face, Mountain Designs, Tentworld, Moosejaw, REI, Anaconda, Outdoorplay, Ultralight Outdoor Gear, Montbell, Alpackaraft and BCF. All other miscellaneous gear I purchased from eBay.
Bicycle’s I Ride and navigation apps
I ride a full carbon (except for handlebar and stem) Focus Mares CX cyclocross 700x40mm tyre max, with Sram Rival 1 groupset and hydraulic disc brakes for my regular bicycling commute to/from work, road and gravel bicycling events. I swap over the wheelset and/or tyres depending on where I will be riding. I also have a full carbon (except handlebar and stem) Merida Big Nine 7000 XC 29 inch hardtail mountain bike which I purchased from 99Bikes, that I use for all other events that have rougher surfaces.
I use GaiaGPS, Komoot and Strava apps on my phone for navigation whilst on my adventures, depending on activity, and whether the GPX routes work with the free versions of these apps. I use a Garmin GPSMAP 66i for it’s superior GPS and GLONASS signal tracking and InReach capability, so people can track my location and I can send SOS to local authorities incase something happens to me. It can also be registered on the maprogress website when riding during races.
Bicycle Repairers and Suppliers
I use Pushys, Cycle City or 99 Bikes for all my bike repairs that I can not do myself. I use Chain Reaction Cycles, Pushys, 99 Bikes, BikeBug, Merlin Cycles, Mountain bike Direct, eBay and bicyclesonline.com.au for all bicycle apparel and parts.