While looking for cheap flights you have probably used sites like Skyscanner, Expedia and Momondo. These are all good, classic sites that in many situations can be everything you need to find flights at decent prices, but you shouldn't limit yourself to just this type of flight-scanners.

I know, it's easy to get lost in a world filled with countless search-engines and services for booking flights. The good thing about this abundance is that you have the chance to browse multiple sites before you decide to buy a ticket, which is a good thing to do. Nevertheless, you can save a lot of time and money if you remember to check out the following sites.

These are the top sites that I use when I'm looking for my next travel destination, one ones I highly recommend that you start using yourself.

First up is KAYAK with its impressive number of choices
If you're lazy and only want to check one site (or app), then start using KAYAK. It searches hundreds of sites at once, and the options available here, when it comes to both flexibility and filters are everything you'll need and more.

You can use it like a standard flight-scanner by choosing your from/to destinations and the dates you wish to travel, or you can decide to broaden your search with some of KAYAKS' additional features.

What I think makes KAYAK so great is the ability to add +/- 1 to 3 days around the dates that you are planning to travel and KAYAK will provide you with a list of the cheapest days to book flights. Combine this with the ability to choose "Anywhere" as travel destination and you are going to get some amazing prices for places all around the world.

As you can see from the screenshot above there is also sliders that you can use to filter out expensive and/or longer flights, and under "Dates" you can even find additional filters like: check for the cheapest flights for summer 2018 or I want a cheap 3 weeks trip anytime this year.

​There is also the possibility to sign up for alerts on bargains.

Secondly I recomend WhereFor, a simple yet brilliant tool
Using WhereFor is simply a lot of fun. It is one of the easiest ways to figure out where you can travel for the set amount of money that you're willing to spend.

Take into consideration that the budget you enter is going to cover both flights and hotel, and you're all set. However you don't need to book both (or any)​ through the website, but it still gives you a good idea of where you can afford to travel.

WhereFor will search for any location in the entire world by default, which is great, but sometimes you may want to limit your search to certain areas or interests. This feature is fortunately available under the sites "Advanced Search".

​If you're like me and really like Asia, then you may consider limiting your search to this, or maybe you're  interested in wine and want to go somewhere that is famous for it's vineyards (obvious tip: France or Italy).

Last but not least are Google Flights
It is not a big shocker that the giant Google was going to come up with a search-engine for flights too, and it does deliver amazing results, even with its very simplistic look. It is impressive how many destinations Google flights is able to find for you. 

The amount of filters that you can toy around with are almost too many, and this can at times be frustrating. This frustration will pass however, once you get familiar with where all of them are (my main issue was that the tabs "flights" and "explore map" doesn't use the same filters, which feels inconsistent.)

One thing that's very good about Google flights is their price calendar, this makes it easy for the user to see when it's cheapest to travel. It's a great tool, but to be honest it's more of a manual version of setting +/- days like you can do with KAYAK (and by using flexible dates here).

If you're reading this and you're thinking about just using Google from now on, hold on a minute. I understand that you may think that Google flights has it all, and yes, it kinda does. However it's not necessarily the best site to use, as by comparing multiple sites I've realized the flights you find here aren't always the cheapest. I'm also inclined to say that the first two sites are slightly more fun and easier to use. 

Avoiding the Commute
Reducing or completely eliminating the time you spend commuting is going to stop you from wasting a good amount of time every day. Time that most of us would rather want to spend doing something more enjoyable. Not having to commute is not just liberating in itself by wasting less of your time, your money and removing stress; but it also adds a lot of flexibility when it comes to your day to day activities.

More Time with Family and Friends
Having a remote workplace is incredible when it comes to spending more time for your friends and family. You do not just save time by not commuting, but you also have the ability to schedule your day however you deem fit. Something that will be give you the opportunity to be more available to your loved ones. There is also the possibility for you to work where the people you want to spend time with are, as long as you are able to focus on your job. 

Having the Ability to Travel
Without a physical office tying you to one location you can easily combine both your job and travel. You will have the ability to visit all the places you have dreamed about going. You may also realize that this can potentially cost less than paying rent for an apartment. Then there are the added benefit of you no longer needing to go on the typical one week vacation to a place - you can stay there indefinitely if you feel like it.

Increased Productivity and Scheduled Flexibility
Working remotely have increased my productivity immensely. I face far less distractions compared to at an office, and having web-meetings are usually way more efficient than having them in-person.

​It is usually a good idea to try to work from 9-5 like most other jobs, but some days this isn't going to fit your schedule. Fortunately this is solved by your remote workplace and the flexibility that comes with it. Some days it may be more fitting to work from 8-12, take a break, then do the rest of your work later in the day. 

The time we spend commuting varies a lot from one individual to the next, and most of us don't really think that much about it. The average person spends about one-hour commuting everyday (2x30min), and you may think "what is an hour anyway?".  It's easy to think like this, but what if I tell you that this one hour every day adds up to an insane amount of time in just a few weeks.

Within six months you will have spent approximately five 24-hour days on your commute, and if you split this up into workdays your number will be even scarier.  A person working an 8-hour workday will quickly realize that they have just spent 15 workdays (or 1/2 month) commuting in just half a year.  Just imagine what the same person could do if they didn't have to commute and freed up this time.

I have created a very basic calculator to illustrate how much time you spend commuting. The calculator asks you for some basic inputs and the outputs will then tell you how many full days and how many workdays you spend commuting every year. 

Using the calculator you'll see that even if you just commute for 30-minutes it adds up to a decent amount of time, and what about the not so uncommon (dreaded) two or three-hour commute? Now that is a lot of time....

The calculator can be found under resources or here.