The Operator’s
Travel Stack

  1. 01 FLT Flights & Routes
  2. 02 CRD Money Abroad
  3. 03 SIM Connectivity
  4. 04 INS Insurance
  5. 05 WRK Work From Anywhere
  6. 06 GER Gear
  7. 07 CLB The Travel Club

This isn't a guide to travelling cheap.

It's the system I put together after years of moving between countries, working from different places, missing flights, paying charges I had no reason to pay and learning a few things far more expensively than they should have cost.

I don't do everything the cheapest way.

I do it the way that lets me travel more, move better and enjoy the trip, without turning it into an exercise in suffering to save twenty dollars.

Keep what works for you.

01 / 07FLT

Flights & Routes

The rule

The cheapest option isn't always the cheapest way to travel.

What I do

I use Skyscanner and Google Flights, but not to hunt down the cheapest ticket of the year. I use them to understand the map: which seasons are expensive, which dates drop, which routes exist and how much flexibility I have.

Why

Optimise the whole trip, not just the ticket price.

I'd rather fly to where I actually want to be, or as close as possible. Saving money by landing miles away almost never makes up for wrecking part of the experience. Travel is meant to be enjoyed.

Loyalty

Instead of always buying the cheapest airline available, I often prefer to concentrate my travel on one airline or one rewards ecosystem, as long as the price difference is reasonable. Over the years, that can turn into:

I don't just think about what this flight costs.
I think about what the whole system gives back over time.

It doesn't always beat the cheapest fare. It's how I think about it when I know I'll keep travelling.

  • Miles
  • Baggage
  • Seat selection
  • Upgrades
  • Status
  • Better redemptions

Layovers

Either give me a short layover or give me a real one.

  1. 2–3 h Fine. Off, walk, on.
  2. Long, awkward wait I avoid it.
  3. ~18 h If the itinerary works, I make it part of the trip: sleep, dinner, see the city and get back on the plane rested. Not sitting in the airport.

The lesson

I've missed flights. Not by arriving late: because I decided to stay somewhere longer.

If you suspect you might change the trip, buy flexibility before you need it.

Paying a bit more to be able to change the date can work out cheaper than losing a whole ticket.

Take this with you

The cheapest flight isn't always the cheapest trip.

02 / 07CRD

Money Abroad

The rule

Use credit intelligently, avoid unnecessary conversion, keep redundancy and track everything.

This is what I do. It isn't financial advice.

What I do

I normally pay by credit card and then pay that balance off with my own funds. I prioritise cards with no international transaction fees.

For international transfers or shared expenses, depending on the case, I use Revolut or Global66.

Local currency

Always pay in local currency.

Sometimes the card terminal offers to charge you in your own currency. It sounds convenient, but then the conversion is done by the merchant or the terminal, at their own exchange rate. It's called dynamic currency conversion. I choose the local currency and let my card do the conversion.

Terminal · example

Which currency do you want to pay in?

Cash

I use cards almost always. I only carry cash when the destination requires it, and a reasonable amount. Never the whole trip budget.

Watch out for ATMs: abroad, the fees can be very high.

Tracking

During the day I note my spending in Notes. At the end of the day or the next morning, I reconcile it.

I don't need a sophisticated app. I need to know how much I'm spending.

Redundancy

Never travel with all your cards in the same wallet.

When I get to the accommodation, the backup cards I won't use stay stored securely. If the wallet gets lost, stolen or a card gets blocked, I still have access to my money.

Take this with you

Pay in local currency. Never carry all your cards together.

03 / 07SIM

Connectivity

The rule

Short trip → eSIM.
Long stay → local prepaid SIM.

eSIM

For shorter international trips, where convenience matters, I use Holafly. I land connected, without going out to hunt for a SIM the moment I arrive.

Local SIM

From about a month onwards, a local prepaid SIM. It's often:

  • Cheaper
  • More data
  • Local network
  • Practical for long stays

My number doesn't change

My main numbers stay active. I don't change my number every time I travel. What changes is the data line.

My data line can change. My contact identity doesn't.

The lesson · China

£90

< 4 hours

I turned on international roaming in China. In under four hours it came to around £90 in charges, with a bad connection.

Never turn on international roaming without knowing exactly what it costs.

Take this with you

Short trip: eSIM. Long stay: local SIM. And don't turn on roaming without knowing the price.

04 / 07INS

Insurance

I always believed in travel insurance. The problem was something else.

I thought my policy was active.

It had expired.

The lesson · Thailand

While I was in Thailand I needed emergency surgery.

£100–£200

Travel insurance

~USD 20,000

Emergency surgery

Approximate figures. The point isn't fear: it's the asymmetry of the risk.

Why

You don't buy insurance because you expect something to happen.
You buy it because you can't predict what might happen to you.

Being careful doesn't remove what isn't up to you:

  • Other drivers
  • Illness
  • Accidents
  • Infections
  • Unexpected medical events

What I check before buying more insurance

Take this with you

If I can pay for the trip, I can pay for the insurance.

05 / 07WRK

Work From Anywhere

Working from anywhere

Travelling isn't a holiday for me. I don't travel to escape my life. I just like living it from different places.

Ignacio working on his laptop in a lounge

The setup

  • 01MacBook
  • 02Personal phone
  • 03Work phone
  • 04Charger
  • 05External hub
  • 06Power bank
  • 07Headphones
  • 08Small ring lightFor professional video calls even when the light in the place is bad.

Files

Google Drive, iCloud and synced local files.

Changing country doesn't mean changing computer.

If your work depends on a file that only exists on your physical desk, you have an organisation problem, not a travel problem.

Where I work

  • Cafés
  • Hotels
  • Airbnbs
  • Airports
  • Flights

Cafés are my favourite: the setting still feels like travel and I still get things done.

Accommodation

Non-negotiable: Wi-Fi.

Desk

Quiet

Privacy

Preferably: desk, quiet, privacy. If I'm staying in a hostel and carrying valuable work equipment, a private room.

If I'm carrying my office with me, I need to be able to close the door.

Time zones

  • Asia My collaborators could be asleep while I had the day free. I'd connect in the evening.
  • Europe Sometimes it meant working very late.

Time zones are a planning problem, not a location problem.

Take this with you

If you work while travelling, your critical gear travels with you. Wi-Fi isn't an amenity: it's infrastructure.

06 / 07GER

Gear

What I carry

I'm not a one-backpack minimalist.

If the trip needs checked luggage, I take checked luggage. If carry-on is enough, even better. The priority is having what lets me live normally and comfortably.

The backpack · always with me

What matters never goes in the hold.

Basic medication

Something simple for headaches or fever, and for stomach problems. Nothing more than that.

It's what I carry, not medical advice.

Hygiene

Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and perfume. Always within reach. After a long flight, it's what makes me feel human again.

Flight clothes

  • Joggers
  • Hoodie
  • Light layers
  • Maximum comfort
The airport isn't Fashion Week.

I bring options

Shoes, outfits for day and night, business and casual. On purpose. It's not a packing mistake: it's how I travel.

The lesson

I've forgotten my passport before. Since then, it's the first thing that goes in the backpack.

Passport
first.

Take this with you

What matters never goes in the hold. Passport goes in first.

07 / 07CLB

The Travel Club

Before the club I travelled mostly with Booking.com, Airbnb and booking on my own. I still prefer organising my own trips.

What the club changed was how I buy part of the trip.

One piece of the system.
Not the whole system.

I still use airlines, loyalty programmes, independent planning and other booking tools. The club is one more tool inside all of that.

Why it works for me

The idea is simple: a large community travelling through the same ecosystem has buying power that one person alone doesn't. That scale can open up access to different prices and benefits with travel providers.

Cruises

The usual way

  1. Flight
  2. Hotel
  3. Restaurant
  4. Transport
  5. Another hotel
  6. Another flight
  7. …

One cruise, one booking

  • Accommodation
  • Food
  • Transport between destinations
  • Entertainment
  • Several destinations
Ignacio on the pier next to a cruise ship

For certain trips, the economics are completely different.

I'm not saying a cruise is always cheaper. I'm saying it's put together differently.

Who it makes sense for

If you travel often, it makes sense to optimise. If you travel less because cost holds you back, it can also make sense to explore other ways of putting a trip together.

If I already know I want to keep travelling, does it make sense to keep buying it exactly the same way?

Community

Something I value: an international community of travellers using the same travel ecosystem.

The business side

I also developed the business side, and that changes my own travel economics even further. But it's optional. This Stack isn't about that.

Want to understand the business side too? Message me “CLUB” on Instagram →

The Rules

The things I no longer negotiate when I travel.

  1. 01 The cheapest flight isn't always the cheapest trip.
  2. 02 If you'll travel for years, think about loyalty for years.
  3. 03 Either a short layover or one long enough to leave the airport.
  4. 04 Buy flexibility before you need it.
  5. 05 Pay in local currency.
  6. 06 Never carry all your cards together.
  7. 07 Short trip: eSIM. Long stay: local SIM.
  8. 08 Don't turn on roaming without knowing the price.
  9. 09 Insurance. Always. And check it's still valid.
  10. 10 If you work while travelling, your critical gear travels with you.
  11. 11 Wi-Fi isn't an amenity when you work remotely. It's infrastructure.
  12. 12 Your passport goes into the backpack first.
  13. 13 You don't need to do everything the cheapest way. You need to do it in a way you can repeat.

You don't need to travel like me.

You don't need to use everything I use either.

The idea of this Stack is different:

stop treating every trip as an isolated event and start building a system that gets better every time you head out again.

Because if you know you'll keep travelling for the next ten years, it makes little sense to start from zero every time.

← ignacioargandona.com