im thinking of making some alts and situating them on border systems so i can check a lotta regions
any other ideas/tips?

i think theres a site. try google.

http://www.eve-central.com/
its a market browser, if its up to date
btw offline atm

If you just wanna know popular hi-sec trade hub Buy out/Sell prices, just join to your own language channel ask it from there.
At least it works well for me. Usually ~100 people in Finnish channel, except during night.

what are the popular trade hubs? i basically just know jita lol

Jita, Rens, Amarr
try those