My All-Time Favorite Travel Hacks!

Here is a list of what I consider to be my greatest travel tips.

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Celebrating three years of travel hacks!

Shortly after starting this newsletter, I began writing a column called Brent and Michael’s Secret Travel Hacks, about the unique things Michael and I do to save money and have a better travel experience.

I’ve now written twenty editions!

But not all hacks are created equal. Here are what I consider to be my best hacks of all:

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Looking for an incredibly cheap meal in virtually any city? Get two “regular” McDonald’s hamburgers, which usually cost a little over a dollar each. They’re often hard to find on the order screen — the chain wants to upsell you more expensive items — but it’s the original McDonald’s hamburger product, and outside of airports, every restaurant sells them.

You can often get four of these for the price of a single Big Mac.

Are two regular McDonald’s hamburgers a good meal? Not really. Nor is it particularly healthy. But it’s cheap! And it’s available almost everywhere on Planet Earth.

About a buck — an incredible value.

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Worried that a particular street or neighborhood is unsafe? Look for the presence of children playing. If parents are comfortable enough to let their kids play outside, that's an indication that the neighborhood isn’t too rough. (When it comes to personal safety, always listen to your gut, and err on the side of complete caution. When in doubt, just call an Uber.)

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On a cruise or in a hotel and forgot disinfectant wipes to clean the light switches and the TV remote? There will always be some available in the fitness center (for wiping down the equipment).

In countries where you can’t drink tap water, the fitness center will also have potable water to fill your water bottles.

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For Americans, the most lucrative travel hack of all time is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (or FEIE): if you spend more than 330 days a year outside of the United States, you pay no income tax (up to $126,500 per person for 2024). And if you travel on tourist visas, staying in other countries for less than 180 days, you’ll owe no foreign income tax either.

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