Greetings, Travel Tip-Seekers!

Here are this week’s tips curated for you from our reliable sources in the travel industry and from general interest newsletters, websites, and publications.

Remember that ETIAS travel authorization form that was going to be required for visitors to Europe? They’ve decided to postpone implementation until 2027. Read about it here.

Flying United to Denver last week I couldn’t get on the WiFi on my phone or iPad. While my seat mates scrolled through their emails, I just had to close my eyes, meditate, and wait for my Stroopwaffel and water, no ice. GRR. Turns out my devices were reading settings from previous flights on United, but WiFi on planes has generally been terrible lately. Here’s why.

AI can’t wash your clothes (AI-powered robots can fold them though). However, AI CAN help uncover the best airfares, if you know where to look. I asked my pal Claude for some help figuring out where to begin, since none of the current AI platforms can access real-time airfares and seat availability.

Google Flights — fastest and most accurate for major airlines; best starting point. Its calendar/price-graph view is the closest thing to a "flexible dates" prompt tool.

Skyscanner — stronger for budget carriers and international routes; the "Everywhere" search lets you type a departure city with no destination to see cheapest places to fly.

Hopper — has a price-prediction feature (green/yellow/red) telling you whether to book now or wait.

Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights) — sends deal alerts for routes you care about, useful if you don't want to search manually.

Skiplagged — surfaces hidden-city fares (booking a connecting flight and skipping the final leg) for domestic routes; useful but has real caveats (no checked bags, no return-leg use, airline pushback risk).

Kiwi.com— builds "virtual interlining" itineraries by combining separate airlines' tickets, sometimes cheaper than a single-carrier route, though self-managed connections mean more risk if one leg is delayed.

Duct tape is a great temporary solution for fixing your shoes or luggage on the go, but there’s something even better. They use Gaffer’s Tape on movie sets all the time because it sticks like glue but leaves no residue.

The product is named for the person on a movie set in charge of the lighting department. Think of all the wires and cables they have to tape together so no one trips! They don’t want a sticky mess when they have to wrap everything up at the end of a shoot. Genius! And it costs about the same as duct tape, too. A perfect all-purpose solution so you can MacGyver your way through your next trip.

I have to admit I was a little intimidated when I traveled to Japan this year, worried I would say or do something to offend the locals. Turns out there are plenty of ways to do that, and while the Japanese are very kind and forgiving I’m sure they were horrified when we did a cursory rinse before getting into the onsen, instead of a full body scrub, shampoo, and cleaning between the toes. Oof.

There are lots of ways to embarrass yourself in other countries, too. Here are some of the most annoying habits of tourists from other countries, so you won’t feel so bad.

Landing in a city doesn’t mean you’re staying there, of course. You could just be “in transit.” So why should you have to pick up your bag, go through customs, re-check it, and then run to your connection? In many modern cities, you don’t. And the US is starting to catch up.

There’s only one thing you can be sure of if you take a trip, no matter where you go. You’ll come back with at least one good story. Sometimes they’re very funny. If you have ten minutes, watch this clip of a bunch of celebrities telling travel stories to Graham Norton on BBC One.

Do you have a funny, embarrassing, extreme story from one of your trips? Reply to this email and tell us about it!

Thanks for reading. Happy traveling!

Jeannie Edmunds

Chief Operating Officer

Most tours of India are a sprint — a blur of temples and must-see cities that leave you overstimulated and clutching a mental scrapbook you'll spend months sorting out. That is emphatically not the NextTribe way.

Instead of racing through India, we slow all the way down into Kerala — our favorite corner of the country, and one of the most quietly ravishing places on earth. Misty tea plantations. Mountain vistas. Elephant-dotted forests. Sunset over the Arabian Sea. A labyrinth of backwater canals that feel like they're letting you in on a secret.

We'll sit with local women who share their art, their crafts, and the honest, intimate details of their lives. This isn't sightseeing. It's the real thing.

All the details here.

Want the skinny on what a NextTribe trip is like? Join the after-party for this year’s Croatia trip (released to members tomorrow and to the public next Friday) and watch travelers give their unvarnished feedback live! Bring your questions and see what types of women travel with us. We think you’ll want to come next year!

July 28, 6:30 PM EDT Croatia After Party. RSVP Here

And if you’re curious about our trip to Egypt in 2027, sign up for our trip preview, where our founder and the trip leader Jeannie Ralston will answer all your questions, plus you’ll meet other women interested in the trip. Maybe you’ll find a travel buddy!

August 4, 2:00 PM EDT Egypt Trip Preview RSVP Here

Click on a square to see our trip listing.

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