Hi Ed

Great question!

We have no set rule for how we book accommodation. At the moment we are booking about 1-2 weeks in advance, depending on when we decide where we are going next 🙂 Here are our main websites, in no particular order
1. Booking.com – (Links are on my posts) we use these guys a lot as I really like the free cancellation option if I am indecisive (and often I am) We are also an affiliate, so it’s good to test out something we can then promote.
2. AirBnB – can have some really good deals in some areas, but I am finding more and more the same properties can be found on Booking.com without the service charge. Just something to watch.
3. Hilton – My husband is a Hilton Gold member so that gives us free breakfast at any Hilton properties. We often also get upgraded to a better room. Since we are on a budget, we can only choose a Hilton if it’s cheap. The aim is to re-qualify for Gold for another year.

In hindsight, I would suggest booking it all a bit further in advance if possible. Especially if you are travelling in Europe in summer. We have had some issues with finding places that suited our budget, particularly around Venice. We did always manage to find something though.

Thanks Carol! So glad to hear you liked that photo! I had real issues with it, my compression software would not optimise it for some reason. I almost left it out, but ended up trying a free online site to help me. I still don’t know what the problem was.