Which travel apps work for me? For all the debate about how cell phones are ruining people's trips, are we putting too much focus on posting our travels to Instagram and Tik Tok? But I have found that my cell phone and the apps on it, is an essential travel tool!
There are obvious apps you’ll find in every list of recommended travel apps. Here are the ones every traveler should have.
Airline: Your Airline’s app will usually be the first place you’ll see changes or delays to your flight. It’s also a place to hold your boarding pass, and make changes if your travel plans change. Always join the miles/loyalty to get better treatment from the airline. And if you want to us inflight wifi, you’ll probably have to join.
Maps : Be sure to have your favorite Maps App downloaded In addition to using this for directions, its a good source to find dining near where you are and you can use the “Save” section to save all the destinations for a place you plan visit. With all the hotels, restaurants, and museums you plan to visit saved, its easy to access them again on the road when you need directions.
Cruise lines app and Theme park apps: If you have a plan to cruise or visit a theme park, each has it’s own app where you can plan your days, make reservations for dining or rides, and it also serves as your ticket or boarding pass.
Google translate : If you are traveling internationally, this one can help you translate addresses, to pass to cab drivers, or to ask a question to folks when you don’t hare a language. You can even take a photo of a sign and it will translate the sign.
Ride share app: Download your favorite and make sure you credit card info is up to date before you travel.
Another use for google maps- creating a list of places I hope to visit in the area, and use them as a list in the “saved” destinations.
Then there are the apps that make your trip more pleasant/healthier:
Yoga/breathe app: Travel can turn me into a pretzel…off my regular food, squeezed into an economy seat, and miles of walking, I need a good stretch and sometimes to “zone” out during stressful delays! This app is a favorite of mine, for a small fee annually, I can use pre recorded classes, even off line, to stretch or just breathe.
Music app spa music or ocean sounds playlist : It’s great to play your music, but downloading a couple of hours of spa music or water sounds can be more pleasant for sleeping. With the spa music and noise cancelling, you can almost completely ignore those obnoxious credit card announcements in flight!
For a small annual fee I can download classes to take on the go, or just use a meditation during stressful situations on the road. A free version allows streaming of limited classes with wifi or cell service.
Apps that Help Me Explore my Destination
Seek I Naturalist: A favorite of mine, hold the camera up to any plant or animal, this amazing app will use the internet to identify what you are seeing 8 levels right down to the species. If you don’t have internet service, you can take a photo and use service to identify the animal or plant later.
Open table: I’ll use this app to help me find dining and make reservations ahead of time for popular places
Local Transit Apps: I’ll download the app for public transit in the cities I visit. These will often have more up to date info than a general maps app and you can often buy tickets right on the app and skip the kiosk lines.
Today Tix: This ticket reseller is a bit of a disruptor, with low fees, but you pick your show, but not your seats, you’ll get a notification that they have tickets for you and where they are located, and you’ll download them right to your phone. This service will allow you to choose a Broadway (and shows in other destinations) without waiting in multiple box office lines and without the fees associated with the big ticket brokers.
Rick Steves: For European destinations, nobody provides better audio tours of museums, churches and squares we all love to visit that Rick Steves.
All of these beautiful animals, flora and insects were identified by Seek I Naturalist App ( free for basic use) once I returned from my trip. Download it yourself and identify all of these Amazon Inhabitants!
Free for basic use, you can also upgrade for more services, but the basic one works for me to keep track of where I’ve been and wanderlust over where to go next!
The Ones That Help With Future Plans and Reminisce
Been app: This fun app allows you to enter all the countries in the world where you have “been”. There’s also areas to put “regions” or US states. Filling in the
maps is fun, and i like dreaming about where to go next.
Picture app: So many ways to put those photos to work for you…I hate thinking about all those photos trapped in phones! Use them! Your photo app can create little videos reviewing your trip with the photos from your camera roll. You can use the Shutterfly app to create travel books or calendars to commemorate a special trip.
I created a Shutterfly book as a gift to friends after visits cross country to each others homes/
Photos by K and J Klofft
We received no compensation or consideration for any of these recommendations, these are apps we use personally.