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How to Live a Life of Travel: Tips to Getting Started

Written By: The Planet D

Digital Nomads

Updated On: June 3, 2023

Recently we’ve received a lot of emails asking us how we financially supported our travels since we decided to take the plunge to live a life of travel in our unconventional life.

I realize that we’ve written a lot of inspirational pieces about following your dreams and pushing yourself to step outside your comfort zone, but we haven’t given real practical advice in quite a while. So we decided it was time to share some of our tips and tricks to living an unconventional life.

Table of Contents

How to Live an Unconventional Life of Travel

Our journey to becoming full-time travel bloggers was not a quick and easy one. We had many failures and setbacks along the way. It took time for us to find what we wanted to do with our lives and what would make us happy. We knew way back in 2003 and we wanted to be together traveling the world forever, we just didn’t know how to make that dream come true.

I realize that many people have that dream, but we felt it deep in our bones. It was more of a yearning than a fantasy. When we were traveling, we felt at home. We knew that on the road was where we were meant to be.

Another Backpacker

In 2004 we were like many backpackers traveling around South East Asia, but unlike the many others out there, we were already brainstorming with ideas of how we could continue to travel for the rest of our lives. We knew we wanted more than just a one-year escape.

We didn’t have the answers yet, but we knew that we couldn’t keep working at our current jobs for the next 20 years hoping that we’d one day be able to retire and finally live our dreams. So we started making plans. Check out more travel jobs by our pals at goats on the road .

Steps to Living a Life of Travel

1. change your spending habits.

We used to spend a lot of money on things that didn’t better our lives. We’d buy $4 lattes, go out to dinner several times a week and we’d buy new designer clothes. The more popular the brand name, the better.

On the weekends, we’d drop $200 on a meal and not even blink at the cheque, and then we’d go to movies spending a good $50 on tickets and popcorn.

Well, all that changed when we decided we decided that we were going to live a life of travel once and for all.

2. Find Affordable Things to do

It was a big decision but we decided to put away enough money to sustain ourselves for a year. We knew that once we took the plunge, we would have to go 100% into fulfilling our dreams, so we needed a nest egg while we worked to become professional travel bloggers.

We ate at home and cooked at home. We made our own gourmet coffees, and instead of going out to the movies all the time, we rented movies. When we wanted to go to the bar, we instead had a glass of wine at home and invited friends over, it was much more affordable.

Our activites changed from spending money on expensive meals and nightclubs, to doing free and exciting things on the weekend like mountain biking, rock climbing, or snowshoeing.

We didn’t drop cash at the bar, on expensive meals, or on expensive weekend getaways to a suite in Niagara Falls anymore. We did as many things as possible for free.

Wwe went camping and spent our time outdoors.It was much more fulfilling and a lot easier on our pocketbooks.

Note: At this time in our lives, we still didn’t know how we were going to become full-time travelers, we just knew that we wanted it to happen one day and that we had to be ready when we finally figured it out. By having a nest egg and by not having anything tying us down, we’d be ready to jump at any opportunity.

3. Downsize

People have often said to us “ I wish that I could do what you do, but I can’t afford it ” Well if you really truly want to travel. It can be really easy to save and build a nest egg. We sold our house and most of our contents and went back to renting a small one-bedroom apartment.

This freed up a lot of our income to put towards our travel savings fund. Getting a small one bedroom apartment that included utilities, cable and parking helped us plan our monthly budget.

4. Get Rid of Debt and Wasted Expenses

We also went down to one automobile. We used to drive two cars and paid an expensive monthly lease. But when the leases came due, we let them go and bought a used car. Our monthly payments were less, and our insurance cost less too because we no longer had to pay for the collision coverage since our car was so cheap. If our car was damaged it didn’t matter because we paid next to nothing for it anyway. We drove that car for the next 10 years.

5. Keep All Options Open

Like many people, we knew we wanted something more in life, but we didn’t know what it was that we wanted. We were frustrated. I remember always saying to Dave “ If I only knew what I wanted to do with my life, I know I’d be successful. ” The problem was, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. The only thing we both knew was that travel was to be a part of it.

So, we studied ALL THINGS TRAVEL.

We went to seminars talking about Teaching English as a Second Language , we went to travel trade shows, we watched travel shows like Pilot Guides and Don’t Forget Your Passport.

Little did we know we were honing our adventure skills

We took up as many adventures as we could. We learned how to rock climb, mountain bike, scuba dive, and snowboard. We became avid campers and built our adventure gear arsenal to an impressive list where we actually started to look the part of Adventurer!

We said to ourselves, “one day maybe one of these skills would come in handy.” At the time, we didn’t know it, but all those skills eventually came in handy. We used to call ourselves “ Jacks of all trades and Masters of none. “

6. Nothing is Waste of Time When Searching for your Purpose

We had doubts, of course, we did. We thought, maybe we’re wasting our time and energy trying new things all the time, but we knew that we had yet to find something that we truly loved.

We enjoyed everything, but we didn’t have the passion that some of our rock climbing or scuba diving friends had for one particular sport. Our friends found their passion and all they wanted to do was rock climb around the world, or go scuba diving when they went to a destination. They couldn’t care less if they saw the local culture or witnessed incredible landscape. They wanted to explore under the sea or a new climbing route and that was great!

It just wasn’t for us. We wanted it all. We wanted to be able to climb in one location, dive into another, and shop at the market in yet another. We realized that we wanted it all!

Our lack of focus helped us become true explorers. It was our “Jack of All Trades” mentality that eventually lead us to become travel bloggers.

7. Focus on Strengths

Once we decided that we wanted to have the word “Adventurer” on our business card, we made plans on how we were going to make that happen. After exhausting all possibilities we decided to focus on our strengths.

We had been working in the film business for a long time and learned from the successful people around us . I watched television hosts promote themselves and create their brand and identities and Dave picked the brains of photographers and cinematographers on the movie set.

We knew that we were good at self-promotion and that we knew the TV business well, so we decided to sell an idea.

8. Do Something Epic

We knew that we would have to do something epic to stand out from the crowd. In 2008, backpacking around the world was becoming very popular. When we did it in 2000, not many people were leaving their jobs to travel the world, but now it seemed to be that everyone was taking a sabbatical.

If we did something epic like bicycle from Cairo to Cape Town people would take notice. So that is what we did and Canada’s Adventure Couple was born.

We had a dream of turning our adventures into a TV show. We hired a publicist, sent out press releases, and announced our epic journey. We knew we loved traveling together and that we had the mental stamina to succeed in this race down the continent.

9. Make a Plan

We invested a good chunk of our hard-earned money into this cycling race. We saved for a year putting every penny away and buying new bikes, training, and investing in the entry fee and flights. We didn’t want to take part in an epic adventure only to return to our jobs and resume our lives.

We made a plan that within two years of signing up, we’d be traveling full time. That gave us something to focus on. Having a time limit and a plan to make it happen, kept us focus don our goal. We had no choice but to to figure out a way to keep the momentum going.

10. With Failure Comes Success

We tried pitching a TV series that had a lot of interest but eventually failed. That didn’t deter us though, we had made a lot of TV appearances and were becoming minor celebrities in the online world, so we decided to nurture our 15 minutes of fame and turn it into something bigger.

Drawing on our nearly decade of travel experience, we created a blog that had a focus. We decided to focus on being inspirational and to show people that happy couples are not obsolete and that marriages can last and that the opposite sex can have fun together.

Right from the beginning of creating ThePlanetD, we knew what our message was going to be. We wanted to show that adding a bit of adventure into your everyday lives can help you feel more fulfilled. We wanted to show people that if we can do it, anyone can.

It took us a long time to figure out our purpose, but we never stopped searching and if you really want to change your life, you can do it too. Don’t let age, money or fear stand in your way, if you want something bad enough, you CAN make it happen.

So the message is, never give up, never stop searching and seize the day. What are you going to do to live an unconventional life of travel?

• How to Travel Around the World – The Ultimate Travel Resource
• 21 Ways to Get Paid to Travel
• How to Start a Travel Blog in 11 Easy Steps
• Our 27 Best Travel Tips from 10 Years of Travel
• How to Achieve Your Life Goals
• How Travel Can Change Your Life
• Best Travel Jobs to Spark New Ideas for Your Future Career

Travel Planning Resources

Looking to book your next trip? Why not use these resources that are tried and tested by yours truly.

Flights: Start planning your trip by finding the best flight deals on Skyscanner

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Travel Insurance: Don't leave home without it. Here is what we recommend:

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Need more help planning your trip? Make sure to check out our Resources Page where we highlight all the great companies that we trust when we are traveling.

You May Also Like

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About The Planet D

Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil are the owners and founders of The Planet D. After traveling to 115 countries, on all 7 continents over the past 13 years they have become one of the foremost experts in travel. Being recognized as top travel bloggers and influencers by the likes of Forbes Magazine , the Society of American Travel Writers and USA Today has allowed them to become leaders in their field.

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59 thoughts on “How to Live a Life of Travel: Tips to Getting Started”

Thank you for being a voice of positivity and inspiration in a sometimes negative world.

We too live an unconventional life. We have 13 children, work remotely, home educate and yes, we travel with ten of them too! It *is* possible to live a life of travel – we did two months of the Balkans earlier this year and are about to set off for another couple of months. Want to know more? Let us know!

Thanks for laying this out there. You guys and your adventures are always a huge inspiration to us! Love #3 “We kept all our options open” as we try to live by that same motto. It really makes things so much fun and introduces you to some crazy and exciting experiences of a lifetime. Happy travels!

Thanks John, I’m glad that you are living the life you want as well. We agree, keeping options open is very important. YOu need to be willing to try something new and be open to new experiences. It opens up a whole new world.

LMAO at the first pic:legendary!

Congrats, it has been awesome to follow part of your journey and thanks for the inside scoop 🙂

Ha! Glad you liked it. That’s Dave’s signature pose. At least lately, ever since we downsized, he does a lot of jumping like that.!

Looks like a very happy couple! You two are living with your dreams. I owe you a lot, very inspiring story. Thanks for sharing the tips, I find it really useful. You can manage to save and budget together. Congratulations!

Thank you Marie! Glad we could inspire you. If you really set your mind to something you can do it too. At one point in our lives we didn’t think we’d ever be able to travel the way we wanted to and yet here we are now. If we can do it, anyone can too!

That is a very inspirational story! My wife and I have managed to carve out a life of travel by working in Denali National Park 8 months per year and having four months off. Many of the resorts and tour companies are seasonal up here and it is perfect for travel.

I just need to cut out those $4 lattes and I can do even more…

Wow! that’s fabulous Jeff. Denali is beautiful. I know what you mean about the $4 lattes, we still love them too.

Thanks for this blog and for sharing with us. Me and my husband are planning for a trip to African countrie’s and its first time for us where we have to visit many countrie’s, so I am nervous about the planning that how do I mange everything but your blog gives me confident about the trip. Thank you so much.

LOVED this. Luckily, my boyfriend and I were students when we discovered our love for travel so we didn’t spend a lot of money or lived in an expensive way. That made it pretty easy to take the leap – and we’re actually able to have a better life than we did in Denmark and still spend less. 🙂

Very interesting post, though! And lots of great tips that we need to follow up on. Especially about gaining more recognition and create a brand like you guys have! So inspirational.

We kicked off our nomadic lifestyle with a bike journey as well – around Europe in 3 months on city bikes, normal clothes and no training. We made it and had an epic journey. 🙂

Thanks for sharing your advice.

Awesome article! I hope others will be inspired too to travel and to save, save a lot of money for they travel escapade.

Interesting read indeed! I think turning your lifestyle pretty much upside down and opting for a life on the road requires a certain balance. The biggest hurdle might be the monetary one, but it’s probably the same with all big plans and achievements: mindset matters! I think someone who can tick of the first points on your list is probably almost on the way… 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Oliver. You are right, all big decisions in life require balance and yes, any big plans whether travel related or not can follow these simple rules. It is possible to change your life if you are willing to sacrifice a little to achieve your dream.

Hi Guys: Enjoyed your article and great sense of adventure…I too, have been traveling all my life and now based part-time in the Philippines. I have 7 channels, with over 21 MILLION viewers from 87 countries. Take a look and learn from some of my videos….. Main channel: http://www.youtube.com/globalvideopro1 WEBSITE: http://www.globalvideoprotv.com

Great post! Great ideas! Thank you!

We left the rat-race and have not looked back. Who wants to be “normal?” Life is a journey not a destination. Live it! Take care.

Congratulations on leaving the rat race Curtis. All the best to you!

There’s really no need to clip coupons to save money; it’s not that effective anyway. The best way is to do what you did: downsize, minimize transport costs and cook. I love how you slowly realize what you want to do in life. It’s all about the journey!

Thanks Dela. You are so right, downsizing is key. So many of us in North America live beyond our means. I think back to how little I lived on fresh out of college. If we all kept living simply, we wouldn’t have the burden of all the money problems. For some reason, people feel that as they age, they need to have more ‘things’ and that just weighs them down. We are now in a good financial situation after 6 years of pursuing our dreams, but we have no desire to go back to buying a bunch of things again. Life experience is what we are loving.

This is an eye opening post. Makes one realize that we can all achieve so much with just the right strategy and not necessarily resources. Inspiring and it made me start booking amazing tours. The journey is the destination!

Congratulations! Good luck with your tours.

This is great advice, both inspirational and practical.

Thank you Mariellen!

Firstly congratulations for hanging on and living your dreams. Here I would like to speak about one of my uncles who loves to trek even at this age (he is in his 60s). He’s a quiet man. The only time I get to see a gleam in his eyes is when someone talks about travel… and I shout out in my mind…”I get that oldie..”

Sounds like you have an amazing uncle! I know how he feels, I can feel excitement come over me whenever I get the chance to talk about our own travels.

You two are an inspiration. I am so glad you are living your dream. Thank you for sharing these great tips!

Thanks Mary. I think the two of you have been living the dream as well! Congratulations right back.

Very cool post. Reducing down to one car is something I know our family needs to do if you want to start saving a significant amount, we’re just finding it so hard to bite the bullet on that one!

I know that it can be difficult to go down to one car, especially if you have kids and have to pick them up from sports or dance or hockey practice. It does save a lot of money though. Between car payments and insurance, it’s literally hundreds a month!

Very inspiring post. Traveling is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle and it is wonderful that you are now able to reach so many people to inspire them to add more travel into their lives through your adventures.

Thank you Katherine. That has been our goal in recent years. We want to let people know that it is possible. For so many years we didnt’ think it was possible to change our lives. Now that we have, we want to inspire others to take a chance and follow their dreams. If two regular people like us can do it, anyone can.

Thanks for your tips. Best of luck with your on going travels. Great read.

Great tips- that are good for day to day life as well!

Great Escapes , oh yes I have a number of interesting trips to choose from. I find it fascinating and also confusing when it comes to planning my travel, so I've opted for an unconventional way of travelling that can fund me while I spend time in the air, or on a beach.

Beautiful & Inspiring post!

There’s a point when you just gotta let it all go and dive right in, even if you have no idea what you’re diving into. I left my old work life behind to move down to Mexico about 9 months or so ago and I’ve never been happier.

Anyone can do it, and it doesn’t take a ton of money. It’s just as you said you need to change your perspective, your spending habits. It’s amazing how freeing it can be to not worry about little things like a tv(that’s what the internet is for), brand name clothes(you know you don’t need those $200 pair of jeans), or dining out all the time, even if that only means Mickey D’s. After that the money starts stacking up. 😉

If you wanna travel the world or just become an Expat the only thing stopping you is you, do whatever you can to achieve that dream!

Congratulations Devlin. Wow! It must be amazing living in Mexico. That is something we’d like to in the next year or two. Spend an extended period of time in Mexico. And you hit the nail on the head. Dropping a few of the extra expenses seriously helps the money add up. We had a lot of fun while still being able to save money, jut by changing our habits a little bit.

Good for you Don. Any great adventures planned?

Thanks for this post. Great to hear some behind the scene stories.

I left my home country a year ago, to move to London and last week I left London to travel the world – starting in Sri Lanka, where me and my boyfriend are at the moment.

It´s scary and amazing at the same time to follow your dreams. I will keep follow your adventures here 🙂

Wow! Have a great time in Sri Lanka, it’s one of our favourite countries. And congratulations to traveling the world! Well said to, it’s scary and amazing all at once, but that’s what makes you feel alive. Being comfortable can be very boring. A little fear keeps like exciting.

You are not a failure though at first you fail. But I can say that you became a successful traveler and writer. You are right at first it is difficult. It takes a lot of perseverance and dedication.

You said it Carl Joe, we didn’t have instant success, but when you know what you want, you will keep trying until you succeed and we have no intention of stopping. There will always be ups and down, but we’ll keep on working at what we want for the rest of our lives.

Saving and budgeting is indeed one of the best thing to do. Thanks for the tips that you’ve shared. I find it really useful

Thanks James, I’m glad we could share a few tips with oyu!

It’s always great to see people follow their dream and lovely to see Don’s comment about getting the travel bug at 60! 🙂

Agreed, it is never too late to get the travel bug and change your life. It’s a whole new world, you dont’ need to be 20 to follow our dreams.

Congrats on hanging in there and making your dreams to travel full-ltime come to fruition! AWESOME!!! We share the same deep passion for traveling and try to save our money to go to Europe about once a year. Our friends ask us the same kind of questions or take little "jabs" at us about the financial part and often ask how we can afford to do this. We tell them travel is "our addiction" and to feed our habit, we do many of the same things as you….such as eating at home and making lots of soups from scratch, only getting basic cable service, driving older & easy/low maintenance automobiles with great gas mileage, no big screen TV's or fancy electronics/phones, working from home, buying most of our clothes from second-hand stores, no beverages except for water when we go out for dinner, saving all our spare change, etc. Once we are on our adventures, we really enjoy staying in simple accommodations like small hotels and hostels, having "picnic" lunches and dinners with local foods from the grocery store and 'self-guiding" our trips with well researched itineraries and utilizing public transportation, whenever possible. All of this really adds up in the course of a year and equates to literally thousands of dollars!!!! We gladly sacrifice and make these relatively easy lifestyle changes, to have that money to travel!!! Best wishes for many more adventures, Cheers 🙂

Great advice, thanks for sharing Nora. You make a great point about water only when eating out. I think the most expensive part of the bill is often beverages. You can always go home afterwards to enjoy a glass of wine at a fraction the price. We don’t way to live like Paupers, but cutting back can make a big difference. I say, don’t cut back to the point of making yourself unhappy in life, but definitely cut back on the little things that you can do without. Best to you too!

Couldn’t agree more with you! More than saving and budgeting, I think the passion to travel should be there. Like I am very bad at saving, but I still manage to travel because I really want to!

Good for you Renuka, it sounds like you do well at making your dreams happen.

Awesome post, i'm just getting the bug for travel at the ripe age of 60, my wife has always loved to travel, but me not so much. I've just subscribed to your newsletter and i'm looking forward to reading more of your articles.

Thanks Don! Congrats on living your life to the fullest!

The reason we were able to leave the comfort of regular paychecks a little over 6 months ago is encompassed in your first 3 points. The last 2 are a bit of a work-in-progress, but it’s always encouraging to read about your success. Keep up the stellar work! Good luck!

Great article for all travel lovers! 🙂

Awesome article double D, shared on Twitter!

What’s amazing about all of these kinds of stories is how different they are with respect to their specifics and yet so very similar in their general approach. For the most part everyone who has ever done something like this tells a story of having a dream, shedding material things, and relentlessly working toward their goal. The execution of those steps all take different paths – some people write books, or barter web development services, or create promotional travel videos, or whatever – but they all basically had to first let go of the familiar and then chase after their dream with dogged determination. I know, because that is our story too.

Congrats you guys. Happy travels.

Well said Brian. It’s true, you need to let go of the familiar and chase your dream. Soon, the unconventional begins to feel comfortable.

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Living High Travel is a Fife based family owned coach hire company and was formed by Ross Macmillan, a coach driver with over 15 years experience of carrying out coach tours to a wide variety of locations in both Britain and Europe.

With a wealth of experience gained through first hand dealing with people. Ross, who comes from Dunfermline, joined the 1st Battalion the Black Watch after leaving school, serving in Germany, Canada, along with various locations in the UK.

After leaving the Army, Ross had a few months on a fish truck out of Hull. But it was not long before he got his first job in the coach tour industry to fulfil his ambition of being a continental coach driver.

It was an ambition that has been with him since a trip to Poland and Czechoslovakia with his parents in 1976. Ross started working with Appleby’s coaches from Lincolnshire where he worked out of the Bridlington garage. Ross started on open-top buses in Scarborough before progressing onto their own in-house tour programme. The first tour being a weekend in the Norfolk Broads staying in Great Yarmouth, the last tour being 10 days in the French Riviera.

With all the events that have taken place on the many tours that Ross has done throughout his time as a tour driver, he is well placed to give advice on the many aspects of the planning of a tour from it’s early stages right through till it’s completion.

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How to Live a Life of Travel

Introducing the “How to Live a Life of Travel” eGuide, written specifically for anyone who wants to turn travel into an actual lifestyle. If you’re not quite sure how to make it happen, this guide will teach you exactly what you need to know…

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READ THIS GUIDE. TRAVEL THE WORLD!

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Follow the specific steps in this guide and you’ll eliminate months of research

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Learn how to sleep and eat for free in dozens of countries

Which countries offer the best value and are the most ideal destinations to begin your travels

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How to always stay safe while on the road and why travel is actually safer than you think

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Cheapest ways to stay connected while traveling (wifi, phone, SIM cards)

Why long-term travel isn’t as big a risk as it seems

How to deal with people who think your desire to travel is ‘crazy’ or ‘irresponsible’

By the time you finish reading this comprehensive guide (which discusses even more topics that I didn’t mention above), you’ll know exactly how to travel, earn money overseas and explore the world.

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In fact, every traveler I know would agree that you’re only crazy if you decide NOT to go after your goals in life.

Luckily, the choice is yours to make, and if you’re already reading this, I believe you’ve already made the decision.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Is there any catch? No catch. I’ve worked hard to build this blog and there is no way I would jeopardize the community that’s been created by offering a product that didn’t offer exactly what it promised.

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Is there a guarantee? After reading the guide, if you feel it’s not for you, just send me an email within 60 days and I’ll issue you an immediate refund. My goal is to help you travel. If I can’t do that, I honestly don’t want to keep your money.

What does a ‘life of travel’ actually mean? It simply refers to a lifestyle that involves as much travel as you wish. A few months of backpacking, a one year round-the-world trip, a decade of nomadic wandering…whatever you want, that’s what it means!

Can I contact you with questions? Absolutely! By purchasing this guide, you will have proven that you’re serious about travel and as a result, I’m serious about helping you in any way possible. In fact, once you have a read of the material, I encourage you to email me with any questions you may have.

IF I CAN DO IT…

I started traveling back in 1999, shortly after graduating from university. My plan was to backpack around Southeast Asia for three months and then return to the US to become a Sports Agent. However, just one week into that trip, while celebrating the Millennium at the amazing Angkor Wat temple in the jungles of Cambodia (go there if you haven’t already been!), I realized that three months of travel simply wasn’t enough.

The only problem was that I had less than $1500 to my name.

Fast forward to today… Over the past 15 years, I have discovered, and taken advantage of, endless opportunities that have allowed me to continuously live, travel, study, volunteer and earn money in over 85 countries around the world. And I’m still going strong, with no desire to stop any time soon.

The point is, if I can make it happen with $1500 and no idea what I was doing, you can make it happen as well.

And with the knowledge and experience that I’m about to pass on to you in this guide…you’re going to have a much easier path ahead than I ever did!

If you are constantly day-dreaming about travel and wondering how you can possibly achieve all of your travel goals during this lifetime, I just want to repeat that everything you’re dreaming about really can be achieved.

It will take some hard work and determination for sure, plenty of it, but at the end of the day, when you find yourself living or traveling or working overseas, enjoying rewarding experiences, you’ll be incredibly thankful that you decided to pursue a life of travel.

And I honestly can’t wait to meet up with you in some foreign land where we can swap travel stories over a beer or coffee or tea!

Remember, you don’t have to take my word for it. You can try out the guide risk-free and see for yourself if it gets you any closer to the life of travel that you want. (I’m quite confident it will!)

Kind regards, Derek

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How to get high: a guide to staying well at high altitude

Nov 30, 2011 • 4 min read

High altitudes are just for the Reinhold Messners and Joe Simpsons of this world, right? Crazy feats up there where the air is thin lead ordinary lowland mortals into no good at all.  You might get disorientated, hypothermic, lose a toe or two. It’ll be gruesome, right? Not necessarily.

High places - altitudes of 2500m and above - demand special respect and preparation. With proper planning and the right training, though, almost anyone can experience the exhilaration of rarefied air.

Here are some ideas to help you to get high, stay well and reach altitudes you would never have believed possible in the tallest mountain ranges of the world:

Train, train, train

It’s often not practical to prepare for altitude by spending time at altitude, but you can train your heart and lungs for altitude , even at sea level. Do at least four hour-long sessions a week of full-effort aerobic exercise: running, biking, swimming. In between -  walk . If you’ll be carrying a load, practise carrying that. Find steep hills to climb wherever you can.

First, rest

If you’ll be flying or driving to altitude, first, rest. Spend two or three days doing little and drinking plenty (4-6 litres per day). Dehydration worsens altitude problems: so does drinking alcohol.

Keep eating

You may lose your appetite when first at altitude, but it's important to keep eating. High up in the alpine cold, you burn more calories even at rest: eat plenty of high-carb, slow-burning energy foods.

Climb high, sleep low

Above 3000m, if the geography allows, don’t ascend more than 300m a day. If you do, plan to sleep no more than 300m higher than you did the previous night until you are well acclimatised. Acclimatisation takes 1-3 days for any given altitude.

Tough days, rough nights

Nights may be tough at first. Breathing rate slows when you sleep and you may wake frequently feeling out of air. Propping yourself up with your backpack to sleep half-sitting may help.

Know the danger signs

It’s normal to have some headaches when you’re first above 2500m. Rest, drink and medicate as you would at sea level. Breathlessness is normal on exertion at altitude – but above 3000m, watch for breathlessness when resting; a cough; a severe, persistent headache; nausea; loss of coordination or disorientation - all are signs of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) . This potentially fatal condition demands rapid descent.

Have a plan

AMS symptoms often improve with a descent of 300-600m. Make sure your walking party has a plan of action for descent: and that’s not in the morning, it’s right now .

Try the folk (and high-tech) remedies

Andeans have chewed coca leaves for thousands of years - the alkaloids released relieve altitude symptoms. In the Himalayas, dried yak cheese ( chhurpi ) is said to alleviate some altitude woes. A red steak or two before arriving at altitude may increase iron levels and help produce blood cells to transport oxygen. Or take the pharmaceutical route: Acetazolamide (Diamox) begun before ascent helps acclimatisation.

And now you’re prepared, some choice destinations to get high? Here’s a top five of the most beautiful - and challenging - high altitude journeys:

1.  Mt Kailash Kora, Tibet: The faithful (and fit) make the 52km circumambulation in one day – but most trekkers take at least three days to circuit the mountain at altitudes of between 4570 and 5790m. Be glad you aren’t prostrating at every step, like some pilgrims.

2. Kala Patthar - Cho La - Gokyo Lakes, Nepal : This classic circuit leads from fly-in Lukla to the best viewpoint over Mt Everest, Kala Patthar (5644m), then over Cho La Pass (5330m) to Gokyo Valley. Stay hydrated with dudh chia (milk tea).

3.  Dolpo, Nepal : Land of the snow leopard. Trek from Shey Gompa to Phoksundo Lake, and then on remote, ancient pathways to Jomsom. Altitudes between 4000-5000m – be thankful for your yaks.

4.  Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru : The 12-day 170km circuit of this most easterly range of the Andes is largely between 4000 and 5000m. Spectacular glacier shrouded peaks here soar to 6635m. Remember the coca leaves.

5.  Simien Mountains, Ethiopia : A primeval range cut through by deep river gorges and rising to the highest point in Ethiopia, 4563m Ras Dejen. Approach the summit through on rural pathways between 20 peaks over 4000m.

Further reading:

• Walking the 'best alpine trek in the world' in Peru
• Walk on the mild side: trails for mere mortals
• The 10 best treks in the world

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Travel to High Altitudes

If you plan to travel to an elevation higher than 8,000 feet above sea level or higher, you may be at risk for altitude illness, which is caused by low oxygen levels in the air. Below are tips you can follow to prevent altitude illness.

Tips to Avoid Altitude Illness

• Ascend gradually. Avoid traveling from a low elevation to an elevation higher than 9,000 feet (2,750 m) above sea level in one day. If possible, spend a few days at 8,000–9,000 feet before traveling to a higher elevation. This gives your body time to adjust to the lower oxygen levels.
• Once you are above an elevation of 9,000 feet, increase where you will sleep by no more than 1,600 feet per day. For every 3,300 feet you ascend, try to spend an extra day at that elevation without ascending further.
• Do not drink alcohol or do heavy exercise for at least the first 48 hours after you arrive at an elevation above 8,000 feet.
• Traveling to elevations greater than 9,000 ft for 2 nights or more, within 30 days before your trip, can help avoid altitude illness on a longer trip at a high elevation.
• Consider taking day trips to a higher elevation and then returning to a lower elevation to sleep.
• Medicines are available to prevent acute mountain sickness and shorten the time it takes to get used to high elevations. Talk to your doctor about which is best for you given your medical history and trip plans.

If your itinerary does not allow for gradual travel to a higher elevation, talk to your doctor about medicine you can use to prevent or treat altitude illness. Many high-elevation destinations are remote and access to medical care may be difficult. Learn the symptoms of altitude illness so that you can take steps to prevent it.

Altitude Illness

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is the mildest form of altitude illness. Symptoms include:

• Lack of appetite
• Children who cannot yet talk may just seem fussy

Mild cases can be treated by easing symptoms, for example using pain relievers for a headache. Symptoms should go away on their own within a couple days.

People with altitude illness should not travel to higher elevations until they no longer have symptoms.  A person whose symptoms get worse while resting should travel to a lower elevation to avoid becoming seriously ill or dying.

High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a more serious form of AMS. Symptoms include:

• Extreme fatigue
• Loss of coordination

High-altitude cerebral edema is rare, but it can cause death. If it develops, the person must immediately move, or be moved, to a lower elevation.

A third type of altitude illness, is called high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). It can quickly become life-threatening. Symptoms of high-altitude pulmonary edema include:

• Shortness of breath

A person with these symptoms must immediately move, or be moved, to a lower elevation and will likely need treatment with oxygen.

Preexisting Medical Conditions

People with pre-existing medical conditions should talk with a doctor before traveling to high elevation.

• People with heart or lung disease should talk to a doctor who is familiar with high-altitude medicine before their trip.
• People with diabetes need to be aware that their illness may be difficult to manage at high elevation.
• Pregnant women can make brief trips to high elevations but they should talk with their doctor because they may be advised not to sleep at elevations above 10,000 feet.
• People with some illnesses (e.g., sickle cell anemia, severe pulmonary hypertension) should not travel to high elevations under any circumstances.

More Information

CDC Yellow Book: High Elevation Travel & Altitude Illness

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I ditched the grind working two jobs in the US for a cheap, comfortable life abroad

• Bryn Wright, 29, is a digital nomad who travels the world and resells books on Amazon.
• Working two jobs in the US wore her down, and she left in 2019 to start country-hopping.
• She spends less on housing and doctors while experiencing the world — her American dream.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bryn Wright , 29, about her experience leaving the US in 2019 to live abroad with her boyfriend. Wright funds her travels by reselling used books on Amazon . The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

I was waiting tables at two different restaurants in Arizona. One was a morning job, and the other was an evening job — I got no sleep.

I would walk home, nap, and go to my next job — I had no time for myself. I was like, "If I want to be comfortable and OK living on my own, this is what it takes right now, unfortunately."

I think people are tired of feeling overworked, stressed, and unsafe. I thought that maybe there was a better life for me somewhere else.

I didn't really see a future here .

My American dream took me outside the country

The traditional American dream is that if you work hard, you can build a better life for yourself. And with how things are in the US, that's very hard to do. It's possible, but it's not necessarily attainable for most people.

I found the best way to achieve this was to start a business, put the work in, but then go abroad somewhere where the cost of living was lower and where I could attain my goals.

At first, I just wanted to travel. I wanted to go do fun things and have adventures.

Then, once I actually got abroad, I was like, "Wow, it's so much more than that. I feel so much more comfortable."

When I was in Thailand, I got some cavities filled for $35. This procedure could easily cost $600 or $700 in the US.

My experience with healthcare abroad has been eye-opening. I think people in the US have been interested to hear that, if they go abroad, they can go to the doctor. It's safe. I think people have this idea that it's not safe.

It's been fun to show people: Look at this beautiful doctor's office and it only cost $10 for me to come in here. Or, I had to go to the hospital, which didn't bankrupt me — a revolutionary idea.

It's such a relief. I don't have to struggle; I don't have to worry about any of that stuff. Being abroad is a weight off my shoulders, and every day feels like a new adventure .

I've had awesome experiences and adventures

The driving force around where we decide to travel is just beautiful sights, adventures we want to take, and affordability.

The most affordable place was probably the beach town of Da Nang, Vietnam.

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It has modern, beautiful homes with pools and apartments with stunning beach views. You can rent an apartment there for $300 a month — a beautiful, brand-spanking-new apartment.

It's one of those places where it is more affordable to go out to eat just because there's so much access to fresh, reasonably priced food.

We're going to go out for every meal because Vietnamese food is so good, and you can go to a restaurant and get a giant noodle bowl for about $2. I felt like we lived it up there and spent just $800 for both of us, which was insane.

That's definitely a place that I could see myself posting up in for a year: It's got really good vibes, really nice people, and it's a clean, super-affordable, beautiful little beach town.

Mexico City was also beautiful and it's so affordable. We rented a place that was only $200 for the week, and it was right in the middle of everything.

We've had some cool experiences in Thailand as well. One time, we went on a street-food tour, and this sweet lady from India and her son were there and she was just like, "We are best friends. Come to my house for dinner. Let's hang out." It was just really fun. People are so warm and welcoming.

We spent a lot of time — three months — in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. When we went, we didn't really know what to expect. We heard it was really fun. When we got down there, we found out that the beautiful, laid-back town is a booming digital-nomad community and that everyone is there to surf.

I do feel that if I did post up somewhere abroad and said, "OK, I'm just going to settle down and live my life here," I feel like eventually that would get a little bit more stagnant and I would get that wanderlust again. It's kind of who I am at this point.

I don't think I'll ever come back to the US full-time

I have many friends from high school — though everyone's journey is different — who either felt stuck in their jobs or didn't leave our hometown. To each their own, but they also feel trapped.

My boyfriend and I opened a second Amazon store and I would say between both of those stores, we made almost $200,000 in revenue in 2023. We've also been branching out to other things. We have Etsy stores, do Amazon consulting, and I do content creation on TikTok, which brings in a little money.

We try to diversify our income. We feel like it just gives us so much more peace of mind because you never know what could happen.

I'd done a lot of research before traveling and knew there were places abroad where we could live very comfortably for little money. I don't understand why people don't leave.

And even if they don't want to leave permanently, I don't understand why people don't want to see the world and see if there's something better out there for them.

When we finally got out and started traveling, it was much better than expected. We should've done this sooner. And from there, we just kept traveling.

We plan to continue traveling because there are so many great places. We are slow travelers and spend months in one place at a time, but there are so many places to see.

I have no desire to hunker down anywhere else and stay put. I like the option of being able to come back to the States and visit family and then go back and travel, but I have no desire to come back and stay put.

Ultimately, I want to spread the word: You have other options if you're in the US and you're tired of struggling. It doesn't have to be this way.

You don't have to spend your entire life like this if you're unhappy.

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Gain a deeper understanding of the world as you launch your unforgettable educational experiment. Through our ABROAD and VIRTUAL programs, you’ll experience homestays with trusted families, immerse yourself in new cultures, and learn alongside diverse groups of people, all while fueling your purpose-driven passions along the way.

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Passing Thru Travel

18 Destinations Where People Live the Longest – Must-Visit for Health-Conscious American Travelers

Posted: April 25, 2024 | Last updated: April 25, 2024

Ever find yourself staring into the abyss of your morning coffee, wondering if there’s a magical land where people don’t just survive Monday mornings but thrive into their hundreds? What if I told you such places exist, and no, I’m not referring to the fictional city of Atlantis or your grandma’s exaggerated tales of youth. These are real spots on the map where the fountain of youth is basically tap water, or so it seems. Join me on a journey to these utopian corners of Earth, where the locals might just scoff at your daily multivitamin routine. Spoiler alert: It’s not just about kale smoothies and yoga.

18. United States: Innovating for More Tomorrows

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Sean Pavone

Starting our list is the U.S., with a life expectancy of around 78 years. While it’s a mixed bag, with innovation in healthcare on one end and lifestyle diseases on the other, certain areas like Loma Linda, California, stand out for their blue zone lifestyles.

17. Germany: Efficiency in Health

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Roman Babakin

Germany, with its efficient healthcare system and a strong emphasis on preventive care, sees its citizens enjoying a life expectancy of around 81 years. Outdoor activities and a balanced diet play key roles.

16. United Kingdom: A Royal Length of Life

Image Credit: Shutterstock / S.Borisov

The UK, with its universal healthcare system and an increasing focus on public health initiatives, offers its residents a life expectancy of about 81 years, with variations across regions.

15. France: Joie de Vivre

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Sergey Dzyuba

France, where the joie de vivre includes a diet rich in vegetables, cheeses, and wines, sees a life expectancy of 82 years. Healthcare quality and an emphasis on leisure might just be their secret.

14. New Zealand: Adventure into Old Age

Image Credit: Shutterstock / kavram

With its stunning natural landscapes encouraging outdoor lifestyles, and a healthcare system focused on comprehensive care, New Zealanders enjoy a life expectancy of around 82 years.

13. Norway: Prosperity and Well-being

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Daniela Baumann

Norway, where prosperity meets well-being, boasts a life expectancy of around 83 years. The emphasis on outdoor living, seafood-rich diet, and an excellent healthcare system contribute to their longevity.

12. Canada: The Great, Healthy North

Image Credit: Shutterstock / canadastock

Canada, with its vast natural beauty encouraging active lifestyles and a healthcare system that’s accessible to all, sees its people living to about 83 years on average.

11. Australia: Down Under and Living Longer

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Aleksandar Todorovic

Australia’s combination of outdoor lifestyles, healthcare accessibility, and dietary habits contribute to an average life expectancy of 83 years.

10. Sweden: A Model of Balance

Image Credit: Pexels / Lars H Knudsen

Sweden, known for its work-life balance, healthy eating habits, and high-quality healthcare, has an average life expectancy of 83 years.

9. Switzerland: Alpine Longevity

Image Credit: Shutterstock / 4kclips

Switzerland, with its clean air, outdoor lifestyle, and one of the world’s best healthcare systems, enjoys a life expectancy of about 84 years.

8. Spain: Mediterranean Longevity

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Matej Kastelic

Spain, where the Mediterranean diet is a way of life and healthcare is a priority, boasts a life expectancy of 84 years.

7. Iceland: Cool Climate, Warm Hearts

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Boyloso

Iceland, with its strong sense of community, emphasis on a balanced diet, and universal healthcare, sees its people enjoying a life expectancy of around 84 years.

6. South Korea: High Tech, High Health

Image Credit: Shutterstock / ESB Professional

South Korea combines technological innovation with a healthy diet and an emphasis on physical fitness to achieve a life expectancy of around 85 years.

5. Israel: Ancient Lands, Modern Health

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Ruslan Paul

Israel stands out with a life expectancy of 85 years, thanks to its Mediterranean diet, cutting-edge healthcare, and active lifestyle.

4. Italy: La Dolce Vita

Image Credit: Shutterstock / logaen

Italy, the home of the Mediterranean diet, which includes plenty of vegetables, olive oil, and fish, enjoys a high life expectancy of 85 years.

3. Hong Kong: A Fusion of Tradition and Modernity

Image Credit: Shutterstock / YIUCHEUNG

Hong Kong, with its blend of Eastern and Western practices, exceptional healthcare, and dietary focus on fresh ingredients, sees a life expectancy of around 85 years.

1. Monaco: Crowned with Longevity

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Boris Stroujko

Topping our list, Monaco, with its unmatched life expectancy of over 89 years, benefits from unparalleled wealth, leading healthcare, a Mediterranean diet, and an active, stress-free lifestyle. It’s not just the opulence but the quality of life that sets Monaco apart.

Lessons in Living

Image Credit: Shutterstock / Andreas Saldavs

From the shores of Monaco to the mountains of Switzerland, these destinations offer more than just picturesque landscapes; they provide lessons in living a long, fulfilling life. Whether it’s the diet, the healthcare, or the culture of wellness, there’s wisdom to be found in each of these longevity havens.

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Hot Oceans Worsened Dubai’s Dramatic Flooding, Scientists Say

An international team of researchers found that heavy rains had intensified in the region, though they couldn’t say for sure how much climate change was responsible.

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By Raymond Zhong

Scenes of flood-ravaged neighborhoods in one of the planet’s driest regions stunned the world this month. Heavy rains in the United Arab Emirates and Oman submerged cars, clogged highways and killed at least 21 people. Flights out of Dubai’s airport, a major global hub, were severely disrupted.

The downpours weren’t a total surprise — forecasters had anticipated the storms several days earlier and issued warnings. But they were certainly unusual.

Here’s what to know.

Heavy rain there is rare, but not unheard-of.

On average, the Arabian Peninsula receives a scant few inches of rain a year, although scientists have found that a sizable chunk of that precipitation falls in infrequent but severe bursts, not as periodic showers. These rains often come during El Niño conditions like the ones the world is experiencing now.

U.A.E. officials said the 24-hour rain total on April 16 was the country’s largest since records there began in 1949 . And parts of the nation had already experienced an earlier round of thunderstorms in March.

Oman, with its coastline on the Arabian Sea, is also vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Past storms there have brought torrential rain, powerful winds and mudslides, causing extensive damage.

Global warming is projected to intensify downpours.

Stronger storms are a key consequence of human-caused global warming. As the atmosphere gets hotter, it can hold more moisture, which can eventually make its way down to the earth as rain or snow.

But that doesn’t mean rainfall patterns are changing in precisely the same way across every part of the globe.

In their latest assessment of climate research , scientists convened by the United Nations found there wasn’t enough data to have firm conclusions about rainfall trends in the Arabian Peninsula and how climate change was affecting them. The researchers said, however, that if global warming were to be allowed to continue worsening in the coming decades, extreme downpours in the region would quite likely become more intense and more frequent.

Hot oceans are a big factor.

An international team of scientists has made a first attempt at estimating the extent to which climate change may have contributed to April’s storms. The researchers didn’t manage to pin down the connection precisely, though in their analysis, they did highlight one known driver of heavy rain in the region: above-normal ocean temperatures.

Large parts of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have been hotter than usual recently, in part because of El Niño and other natural weather cycles, and in part because of human-induced warming .

When looking only at El Niño years, the scientists estimated that storm events as infrequent as this month’s delivered 10 percent to 40 percent more rain to the region than they would in a world that hadn’t been warmed by human activities. They cautioned, however, that these estimates were highly uncertain.

“Rainfall, in general, is getting more extreme,” said Mansour Almazroui, a climate scientist at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and one of the researchers who contributed to the analysis.

The analysis was conducted by scientists affiliated with World Weather Attribution, a research collaboration that studies extreme weather events shortly after they occur. Their findings about this month’s rains haven’t yet been peer reviewed, but are based on standardized methods .

The role of cloud seeding isn’t clear.

The U.A.E. has for decades worked to increase rainfall and boost water supplies by seeding clouds. Essentially, this involves shooting particles into clouds to encourage the moisture to gather into larger, heavier droplets, ones that are more likely to fall as rain or snow.

Cloud seeding and other rain-enhancement methods have been tried around the world, including in Australia, China, India, Israel, South Africa and the United States. Studies have found that these operations can, at best, affect precipitation modestly — enough to turn a downpour into a bigger downpour, but probably not a drizzle into a deluge.

Still, experts said pinning down how much seeding might have contributed to this month’s storms would require detailed study.

“In general, it is quite a challenge to assess the impact of seeding,” said Luca Delle Monache, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. Dr. Delle Monache has been leading efforts to use artificial intelligence to improve the U.A.E.’s rain-enhancement program.

An official with the U.A.E.’s National Center of Meteorology, Omar Al Yazeedi, told news outlets that the agency didn’t conduct any seeding during the latest storms. His statements didn’t make clear, however, whether that was also true in the hours or days before.

Mr. Al Yazeedi didn’t respond to emailed questions from The New York Times, and Adel Kamal, a spokesman for the center, didn’t have further comment.

Cities in dry places just aren’t designed for floods.

Wherever it happens, flooding isn’t just a matter of how much rain comes down. It’s also about what happens to all that water once it’s on the ground — most critically, in the places people live.

Cities in arid regions often aren’t designed to drain very effectively. In these areas, paved surfaces block rain from seeping into the earth below, forcing it into drainage systems that can easily become overwhelmed.

One recent study of Sharjah , the capital of the third-largest emirate in the U.A.E., found that the city’s rapid growth over the past half-century had made it vulnerable to flooding at far lower levels of rain than before.

Omnia Al Desoukie contributed reporting.

Raymond Zhong reports on climate and environmental issues for The Times. More about Raymond Zhong

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• San Francisco
• Washington DC

Cover Story

Liev schreiber gets philosophical on the benefit of “doubt”.

A Twist Of Fate: Cy Young Winner Gerrit Cole’s Serendipitous Road To The New York Yankees

Tommy Paul And The Road To Olympic Glory

Hear Eva Longoria Roar During Women’s History Month As She Leads Her Tequila Brand To Victory

Gordon Ramsay Is Turning Up The Heat In Miami With The Opening Of Lucky Cat

Moscow millionaire fair is underway.

by Haute Living

A Swarovsky crystal-covered Mercedes. A Bentley Coupe with $1 million diamond-covered rims.

Typically, these are the sorts of luxuries that stand out, even in high society.

Not so at the Moscow Millionaire Fair; that’s what it takes to fit in.

At a show where there simply is no such thing as “excess”, 45,000 visitors were treated to more than 200 brands, ranging from rare taxidermy company Ice Age to private jet powerhouse Luxury Air Jets. The Crocus Expo exhibition plays host to the event, located in a city that Forbes magazine recently pegged as having more millionaires than any other city in the world. Talk about a target audience.

There was also plenty of sparkle on display, with diamonds adorning generally mundane, day-to-day accessories, such as cell phones and pocket knives. The real sparkle, though, likely came from the eager eyes of potential consumers, who were treated to a spread of jaw-dropping products meant for only the most upscale clientele.

For these reasons – and many more – there’s no denying that the Moscow Millionaire Fair is the crown jewel of luxury exhibitions.

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Money latest: We eat six billion packets a year - here are the healthiest crisps

We dig into the nation's favourite snack to see where you can make healthier choices. Elsewhere, the boss of Sainsbury's has insisted customers like self-checkouts - do you agree? Leave your thoughts in the box below.

Friday 26 April 2024 09:22, UK

• Sainsbury's boss insists customers like self-checkouts
• Halifax hikes mortgage rates - as entire market moves upwards
• Morrisons rolls out bureau de change and trolley adverts

Essential reads

• Do smart meters actually save you money?
• How to buy the healthiest crisps  
• The world of dark tourism - what is it, is it ethical and where can you go?
• Money Problem : I have a mortgage offer - will it change now rates are rising?
• Savings Guide : Why locking into fixed-rate bond could be wise move
• Cheap Eats : Michelin chef's secret lasagne tip - and expensive ingredient you shouldn't use

Ask a question or make a comment

Self-checkouts - they're like marmite, people seem to either love them or hate them.

But the boss of Sainsbury's has claimed that his customers do  enjoy using self-checkouts, despite criticism that that machines don't always provide the convenience promised.

Simon Roberts told The Telegraph that there are more of them in Sainsbury's stores "than a number of years ago" as shoppers like the "speedy checkout".

But despite this, he said there won't be a time when they'll replace cashiers completely.

"Over the last year, where we've put more self-checkouts in, we're always making sure that the traditional kind of belted checkout is there," he said.

His comments come after northern supermarket Booths ditch self-checkouts at all but two of its sites after customer feedback. 

Walmart and Costco in the US have also scaled back on the systems.

Let us know in the comments - do you love or hate self-checkouts?

We've all heard consumer advice that's repeated so often it almost becomes cliché. So, every Friday the Money team will get to the bottom of a different "fact" and decide whether it's a myth or must.

This week it is...

'Smart meters save you money'

For this one, we've enlisted the help of Dr Steve Buckley, also known as the Energy Doctor and head of data science at Loop...

So do smart meters help you save? 

"The short answer is both yes and no," Steve says.

"Installing a smart meter by itself won't magically reduce your energy consumption. But, by giving you easy access to your energy usage data, smart meters pave the way for savings that you couldn't achieve otherwise."

Before smart meters, most households only found out how much energy they had used when the bill arrived. 

By that stage it's too late to address wasteful usage, leading to what's known as "bill shock". 

"With a smart meter, you can see your usage and costs in real-time through an in-home display or an app provided by your supplier," Steve says. 

"This immediate feedback encourages you to use less energy. If you measure it, you can control it."

In 2022, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero found that homes with smart meters used about 3.4% less electricity and 3% less gas. 

"This might not seem like a lot, but it adds up to a saving of over £50 per household annually," Steve says.  

If all homes in the UK made similar cuts, that would amount to savings of around £1.5bn and a potential reduction in CO2 emissions by about 2.7m tonnes each year. 

"Good for individual households but also great for the planet," Steve says. 

Smart meters are often installed at no extra cost to the consumer - it's effectively free data for households. 

Limitations

Smart meters are more or less what you make of them - a simple, free tool that allows you to see headline figures. 

However, "without detailed analysis, it's tough to identify and eliminate" where you could be wasting money, Steve says. 

Apps like Utrack, Loop and Hugo Energy can help you work out where you might be losing money by offering a more detailed breakdown if connected to your smart meter. 

Those tools are often free, but you may need to register your card details as proof of address. 

The tools give a number of useful insights, including looking at consumption in other households of similar size or monitoring where chunks of your money are going, such as to a faulty boiler or the "phantom load" (energy wasted by devices left on unnecessarily).

Myth or must?

Although smart meters alone don't reduce energy bills, they are a vital tool to help energy efficiency and cost savings. 

By Ollie Cooper, Money team

It can be hard to balance getting nutritious foods that make you feel good without spending a lot.

In this series, which ends today after digging into yoghurt, bread, pasta, fruit juice and plant-based milk, we've tried to find the healthiest options in the supermarket for the best value.

Sunna Van Kampen,  founder of  Tonic Health ,  who went viral on social media for reviewing food in the search of healthier choices, has given his input for the past six weeks.

And for the final part of the series, we're looking at the nation's favourite snack: crisps. 

The series does not aim to identify the outright healthiest option, but to help you get better nutritional value for as little money as possible.

We're a people obsessed: in the UK, we get through six billion packets of crisps a year.

Sunna has three easy tips for finding the tastiest options that are kinder to your body...

1. Understand the fat facts

"Typical crisps can be oil sponges and contain over 30% fat from low-quality vegetable oils that have been fried," Sunna says. 

"What we are on the lookout for those that buck the trend and stay away from the fat." 

So, he says, aim for crisps that contain less than 15% total fat.

2. Fibre up your snack time

"While crisps aren't exactly salad, some can offer more nutritional value than others," Sunna says.

"Check the labels for options that have more fibre or protein."

These help you feel fuller for longer and also keep your digestive system happy.

3. Portion control

"It's easy to demolish an entire bag in one sitting - however, many brands offer multipack bags that are portion-controlled, usually around 25g a bag," Sunna says.

Sticking to these helps to manage calorie intake and stops overindulging.

The big picture

"Small changes might not immediately seem like a lot but if you eat a bag a day with your lunch, we are talking about up to a whopping two litres of oil cut from your diet over the course of the year," Sunna says,

"This is not permission to eat crisps every day (enjoy as an occasional treat) but rather an indication of how small changes add up quickly overtime."

The good news is Sunna's recommendations are all similar in price to their popular, fattier rivals - so you don't need to make a bigger investment to reap some health benefits. 

We've included the prices for the brands' standard multipacks at Tesco - correct as of time of writing. 

Walkers Oven Baked - £1.95 for six-pack

"Around £1.95 for a pack of six, these crisps are baked, not fried, slashing the fat content to 13%, so a great option."

Popchips - £2.25 for five-pack

"These have just 13% fat content as they're popped rather than fried so are a great way to go reducing fat without compromising on the crunch."

And for some non-crisp options...

ProperCorn Popcorn - £2 for six-pack

Often described as "the healthier, lighter option", Sunna says ProperCorn "isn't actually the best option on the market for fat content at 17.4%".

That being said, you do get "double the fibre of standard crisps at 10.9g per 100g". 

At only £2 for a pack of six, it's well-priced, too.

Snack A Jacks - £2.20 for five-pack

"At only 8.3% fat per 100g, it's a great option at £2.20 for a pack of five."

Penn State Baked Pretzels - £1.50 for 175g bag

Now for Sunna's winner.

"The German classic is a great option at only 4.6% fat per 100g," he says.

One downfall is that they are not available in portioned bags, so be careful with the whole 175g bag for £1.50.

Want another option altogether?

"If you want to be even healthier, consider the switch to nuts, seeds or even dried cheese snacks," Sunna says.

"Higher in calories yes, but higher in good healthy fats too and are more satiating which will limit the chance of overeating."

The nutritionist's view -  from  Dr Laura Brown , senior lecturer in nutrition, food and health sciences at Teesside University...

"Baked instead of fried crisps is definitely a way forward as well as the popcorn suggestion," she says.

"We should also be aiming to look at the amount of protein and fibre found in products. For example, lentil and pea snacks are growing in popularity due to their higher protein and fibre values, so the focus should be more on looking for ingredients other than potatoes, oil and salt. 

"I also feel 'crisp' based snacks made in an air fryer are becoming more popular. These can include a wholemeal wrap with a small amount of oil added, and placed in the air fryer with paprika and other seasoning added for flavour. 

"Also, chickpeas in the air fryer make for a super delicious protein and fibre rich snack. They are cheaper than crisps and lower in fat since no oil has to be added."

Read more from this series... 

Halifax has become the latest major lender to up mortgage rates.

They are putting up a range of deals by 0.2%.

BM Solutions also announced increases today.

It follows similar moves by TSB, NatWest, Virgin, Barclays, Accord, Leeds Building Society, HSBC and Coventry last week.

Lenders are responding to swap rates - which dictate how much it costs to lend money - rising on the back of higher than expected US inflation data, and concerns this could delay interest rate cuts there. 

US trends often materialise elsewhere - though many economists are still expecting a base rate cut from 5.25% to 5% in the UK in June.

This is what average mortgage rates look like as of today...

Justin Moy, managing director of EHF Mortgages, told Newspage: "Yet more bad news for mortgage borrowers, as two of the biggest lenders announce increases to their fixed-rate products. 

"As mortgage rates creep up and past 5% even for those with the largest deposits, we seem to be lacking a clear strategy of the government or the Bank of England on how rates will eventually fall. 

"Even 2% inflation may not be enough to reverse the recent trends in rates."

Morrisons has launched two major changes for shoppers – with stores now offering travel money and trolleys featuring advertisements.

Announcing their bureau de change service, Morrisons said customers could exchange currencies in select stores or could place their money orders online at Morrisonstravelmoney.com.

Using the online service means customers can either click and collect their cash in certain Morrisons stores or at any of Eurochange's 240 branches. Alternatively, they can go for home delivery.

Services director at Morrisons, Jamie Winter, said the service "will provide our customers with easy access to a wide range of currencies at competitive exchange rates".

So far, stores in the following areas have travel money kiosks:

• Basingstoke

In other news, the supermarket chain rolled out a new trolley advertising across 300 stores in a partnership with Retail Media Group.

A sweetener used in drinks, sauces, savoury and sweet foods and chewing gum can cause serious damage to people's health, according to a new study.

Neotame, a "relatively new" sweetener, could damage the intestine by causing damage to healthy bacteria in the gut, according to the study, leading it to become diseased and attack the gut wall.

The study by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, found the negative effect of neotame "has the potential to influence a range of gut functions resulting in poor gut health", potentially impacting metabolic and inflammatory diseases, neuropathic pain, and neurological conditions.

The illnesses this could lead to include irritable bowel disease or insulin resistance.

Read the full story here ...

As we reported yesterday, a pilot programme is coming into force in Venice today that means visitors have to pay a €5 (£4.28) charge to enter the city.

Authorities say the pilot programme is designed to discourage tourists and thin the crowds that throng the canals during peak holiday season, making the city more liveable for residents.

Pictures have been emerging this morning of people queueing to register for a QR code that will allow them to enter after they have paid the charge - and officials carrying out checks on people inside the city.

People found to be contravening the rules can be fined up to €300 (£257).

As detailed in our story , the move has been met with anger among some in the city.

Venice is the first city in the world to introduce a payment system for tourists - but comments from its most senior tourist official suggested it may become a more common practice for major tourist hotspots in Europe.

Simone Venturini revealed the pilot programme was being closely watched by other places suffering from mass tourism - including other Italian art cities and hugely popular weekend-break destinations Barcelona and Amsterdam.

More than 160,000 people switched to Nationwide from other providers at the end of 2023, when the building society was offering a huge cash switching incentive.

According to figures from the Current Account Switch Service (CASS), Nationwide had a net gain of 163,363 account switchers between October and December, after leavers were taken into account.

It was the highest quarterly gain since the same period in 2022, when 111,941 switched to Nationwide.

The building society launched a £200 switching bonus for new joiners in September last year - the biggest giveaway on offer at the time. It withdrew the offer just before Christmas.

The latest CASS figures, which show Nationwide had 196,260 total gains before accounting for leavers, suggesting it could have spent up to £39m on nabbing customers from other providers in the last three months of the year.

Barclays and Lloyds Bank saw more modest net gains of 12,823 and 5,800 respectively, while the rest of the UK's big banks reported net losses.

NatWest and Halifax fared worst, losing over 40,000 more switchers each than they gained.

This week saw the last remaining switching offer on the market withdrawn.

Sainsbury's is having technical issues again - with shoppers taking to social media to say their deliveries have been delayed or cancelled.

The supermarket has been replying to customers saying: "I'm really sorry about the tech issues this morning. 

"We're aware of the situation and are working to sort it as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we'd advise you place a new order for a future date."

Customer Andrew Savage wrote: "Order has not been delivered and no confirmation email this morning."

Another, John B Sheffield, said: "So angry! Just got through to your customer line after 40 min WAIT. 

"Tells me NO DELIVERIES TODAY! tech problem? I've NO FOOD IN! ANGRY!"

In a statement to Sky News, a Sainsbury's spokesperson says: "A small technical issue affected some groceries online orders this morning. 

"We have contacted these customers directly to apologise for the inconvenience." 

In another update at 10am, the supermarket said that the issue has been resolved. 

Responding to customers on X, Sainsbury's also offered those affected e-vouchers and details on how to rebook their orders.

It comes a month after the supermarket had to cancel almost all deliveries on a Saturday in mid-March due to another technical issue.

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

A potential $38.8bn (£31bn) takeover of UK-based mining company  Anglo American  has sent its shares soaring - and helped the FTSE 100 hit yet another record high this morning.

The attempted mega-merger, by larger Australian rival BHP, is currently being reviewed by Anglo American's board.

The deal, if it goes through, would create the world's biggest copper mining company - and comes as the price of the metal continues to climb amid soaring demand.

Anglo American's shares have surged as high as 13% this morning as news of the negotiations emerged.

The announcement also helped spur the FTSE 100 to a new intraday (during the day) high of 8,098 points.

The index, of the London Stock Exchange's 100 most valuable companies, has hit a string of records this week, including  an all-time closing high of 8,044 points  on Tuesday.

The score is based on a calculation of the total value of the shares on the index.

Also moving the markets are a string of company results which were published earlier on Thursday.

Among those issuing updates to investors was drugsmaker AstraZeneca. Its stock is up more than 5% after the firm reported quarterly profit and revenue above market estimates.

Unilever is also up 5% following similar better-than-expected quarterly figures.

Another good performer is  Barclays  - despite reporting a 12% fall in profits for the first three months of 2024. Its shares are up more than 4%.

That's because its quarterly figures are slightly better than expected, and the bank has said it expects its fortunes to improve later this year.

Meanwhile, as tensions in the Middle East continue, the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil continues to hover at a price of around $88 (£70).

This morning £1 buys $1.25 US or €1.16, similar to yesterday.

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