Traveling is an exhilarating experience, but it can also be time-consuming, especially when it comes to planning, navigating, and exploring new destinations.

As a solo female traveler, it’s already a little stressful knowing I’ll have to navigate a new country alone, dealing with language barriers and cultural differences. So I like to prepare for my trip before arriving, so i’m not scrambling when I arrive.

To help you optimize your travel time and make the most of every moment, I compiled a list of the 11 time-saving travel tips that apply to any destination.

With travel, good lighting, clear audio, and a consistent aesthetic can be challenging to produce. You don’t always have control over your environment. But it helps in attracting and retaining viewers.

11 time-saving travel tips

These tips will empower you to streamline your journey and maximize your enjoyment wherever you go.

1. Research and Plan Ahead

Before embarking on your trip, invest time in researching your destination. Look for must-see attractions, popular local experiences, and recommended restaurants. By planning ahead, you can create a flexible itinerary that ensures you don’t miss out on the highlights while allowing for spontaneous discoveries along the way.

Research online travel guides, travel blogs and google “Top things to do in….” blogs. Official tourism websites will help you gather insights and recommendations for your chosen destination.

More travelers these days are also using AI Chat software to research hotels and landmarks, while planning their itineraries.

Tip: I like to check Getyourguide to see what type of food tours and activities the city is known for and what is offered.

2. Mobile Travel Apps

Some Mobile travel apps are travel essentials I cannot travel without. They can help you save time and enhance your travel experience. From flight and hotel bookings to navigation and language translation, there are countless apps that can help you simplify your journey, navigate unfamiliar territories, organize travel itineraries, and even learn basic phrases in the local language.

• Google Maps or Waze app for navigation.
• Booking.com I book hotels on the fly a lot. Having the app helps me make fast decisions. Additionally, my confirmation and hotel address are in my account and easily accessible if I need.
• Google Translate– the best free translator
• Google Drive for storing my itinerary (It’s a safety tip for staying connected with my family so they know my wearabouts)

Just to name a few. They can help you navigate unfamiliar territories, organize travel itineraries, and even learn basic phrases in the local language.

3.  Online Check-In and Mobile Boarding Passes

Check-in online 24 hours before your flight departure time to secure your preferred seat and save valuable time at the airport. Your airlines sends you an email notification for advanced check-in. This is an opportunity to skip long check-in queues at the airport. Opt for mobile boarding passes, which can be conveniently stored on your smartphone and easily scanned at security checkpoints and boarding gates.

Honestly, I still trust and use physical plane tickets, but that means I’m arriving to the airport three hours in advance to make sure I’ve gotten my printed out plane tickets. it’ll be a matter of time before I switch over to mobile boarding.

4. Download your Airlines Mobile App

Never underestimate the goodies in your airlines mobile app! This is what I’ve been learning these past three years as airlines have stepped up their airlines mobile app game.

Delta’s mobile app offers cool features that help travelers out, such as text messages upon arrival informing you about your connecting flights and respective gate numbers. It saves you from having to run to a flight timetable kiosk! They have a real time luggage tracker and gate maps. I loved it!

Qatar or Emirates were in league with Delta and one of them allowed me to order my special meal.

Alaska Airlines entices you to download their app for in-flight entertainment, while Turkish Airlines seduces you with free in-flight wifi (mine didn’t work but still..).

You never know what you’ll get with an airlines mobile app these days. It’s a constantly evolving technology.

5. Pack Smart and Light

Efficient packing is key to saving time and avoiding unnecessary baggage fees.  Aim to bring only what you truly need to minimize time spent on packing and unpacking.

• If you are a solo female traveler, pack carry-on convertible luggage that is manageable and light, so navigating public transportation is a breeze.
• Create a capsule wardrobe of versatile clothing items that can be mixed and matched like Unbound Merino clothes,
• Consider investing in lightweight, compact travel essentials.
• Learn my minimalist packing tips for Carry-on Only
• Roll your clothes instead of folding them to save space and prevent wrinkles. Use packing cubes or travel compression bags to maximize suitcase organization and optimize space utilization.

6. Priority Pass and Airport Lounges

If you frequently travel or have long layovers, consider joining Priority Pass or airport lounge programs. These memberships provide access to comfortable lounges where you can relax, enjoy complimentary refreshments, and make use of Wi-Fi and other amenities, such as showers, beds and sometimes, spa facilities.

Priority Pass offers access to over 1,300 lounges worldwide, providing a tranquil and productive environment during your travel journeys.

Some travel credit cards also offer reward perks of airport lounge usage, such as Capital One Venture, Chase Sapphire Preferred and typically, high tier credit cards.

Note: I know a lot of travelers use airport lounges to rest and relax, but I use my time to explore. I milk my layover time to explore unique airport facilities like airport sleeping pods, take a train into the city for the day or participate in free airport tours.

8. Book Skip-the-Line Tickets in Advance

Save time and avoid long queues by booking skip-the-line tickets for popular attractions and landmarks. Many tourist hotspots offer this option, allowing you to bypass waiting lines and maximize your time exploring. The lines are especially long in historical cities like Florence where there are churches, museums, etc.. I bought a skip-the-line ticket for Galleria della to see Michelangelo’s David and I was so glad I did, because that line went down a couple of blocks!

Example: Major attractions like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Statue of Liberty in New York offer skip-the-line tickets that grant you priority access. Getyourguide is my favorite tour booking site. You will find every type of tour from food tours to city sightseeing tours and of course, skip-the-line tickets!

9. Off-Peak Travel

Traveling during off-peak seasons is one of the ways I afford travel and traveling during less crowded times of the day helps me navigate faster . Off-peak travel often result in shorter lines, fewer crowds, and more enjoyable experiences at popular tourist sites. Not to mention, cheaper prices!

Visiting a museum early in the morning or late in the afternoon can provide a quieter and more relaxed atmosphere, allowing you to appreciate the exhibits without the rush.

I mostly travel off-peak to avoid crowds and high season prices, but I have travel peak season as well to experience cultural festivals like Phuket Vegetarian festival and Japan’s cherry blossom season. Ideal off-peak times tend to be in that elbow just before or immediately after peak times.

Traveling off-peak, I’ve made mistakes which I learned dearly from. I’ve traveled to Tokyo in the worst months:

August is the absolute worst month to visit Japan as it is sweaty, humid and HOT (there were locals who apparently died of heatstroke!)

December/January is the peak of winter season and Japan does not have public heating! I was waiting at 5am at Kyoto train station, vacillating between the bathroom -where it was warm- and a train hotel lobby which was not freezing cold. It was too early to check into my hotel and I did not want to be waiting outside! It was so horrible, I swore I’d never travel those months again.

Sometimes you have to learn the hard way to find the right elbow season to arrive.

10. E-SIM

If you’re still hunting for SIM card shops in foreign airports or dealing with expensive international roaming charges, you’re wasting precious travel time that could be spent actually exploring.

An eSIM (embedded SIM) is a digital SIM card that you can purchase and activate entirely online before you even leave home, eliminating the need to physically swap SIM cards or search for local mobile providers when you land. Within minutes of purchasing an eSIM through providers like Airalo (I use this one, because they have single and multiple country packages!) or Holafly, you can download your data plan directly to your phone and have instant internet connectivity the moment your plane touches down.

No more standing in confusing airport kiosk lines, no language barriers trying to explain what data package you need, no fumbling with tiny SIM card trays and worrying about losing your original SIM.

For solo travelers especially, having immediate access to Google Maps, translation apps, ride-sharing services, and communication with accommodations isn’t just convenient—it’s a safety essential. The time you save by having instant connectivity can mean the difference between confidently navigating a new city and feeling lost and vulnerable in an unfamiliar place.

Plus, eSIMs typically offer better rates than international roaming from your home carrier, so you’re saving both time and money while maintaining seamless connectivity across multiple countries without switching SIM cards at each border.

Read my Street Food Safety tips

11. Stay Organized with a Travel Checklist

Create a comprehensive travel checklist to ensure you have everything you need before and during your trip. A checklist helps you stay organized, reduces the chances of forgetting important items, and saves time spent on last-minute preparations. Sometimes, i’ll try to work off mental checklists and it’s actually less efficient as it’s not always organized by priority or created with a focused goal. Just remembering what’s on my list takes additional time and energy from me. I noticed that when I write my tasks down, i’m more efficient in knocking them off!

I mix my checklists between writing them digitally and on paper. Digitally, they are accessible for long range goals. Writing them on paper holds more concentrated execution and helps me move tasks off my plate on a day-to-day basis.

For iPhone users, I create trip checklist tasks on my Apple Notes and Reminder apps, because they sync to my Mac laptop. I use Apple Notes a lot, especially for jotting notes and content ideas, so I tend to use it more than my Reminder app.  I use the bullet point feature in Notes, as you can tick the bubble when you complete your task!

Photo Note: I delete my trip checklists after I complete my trip. This is an example of me creating a checklist of things I need to research for one of my freelance video jobs.

For non-iPhone users, I recommend ToDoist app. I love this app too! It lets me create projects and list tasks required to complete it. This has been good when I am juggling multiple projects. There is a Mac and PC desktop download.

For packing checklists, some followers have recommended mobile apps like PackPoint.

But if you want something to print out, I have a customizable packing checklist which you can tailor to your trip activities and season.

What top time-saving travel tips would you suggest for optimizing your travel experience?