When I was little my family would load up in our big wood-paneled station wagon with a luggage carrier on top. Us kids took turns sitting in the middle seat or by the window. Sometimes you got to hold the Atlas. For all you youngins’ that’s a big book of maps. That’s how we used to get around on vacation. Good old fashioned maps.
Now we use GPS to get us where were are going. Don’t even think about what happens if you end up somewhere WITHOUT wi-fi! Gasp! Just getting to vacation back in those days took an all night drive or if we got lucky, my parents would break up the trip with an overnight stay at a hotel where jumping on the bed was allowed as an acceptable way of burning off all of the energy we stored up sitting in the car for hours ! Eventually, we’d finally arrive at our destination and then settle in for at least 4 days.
When I travel to 50 places I’ve never been the year I turn 50 I don’t have time for every trip to last a week! I’m doing this in between work and responsibilities so I’ll need to mix in quite a few 3-4 day trips in with the longer ones. I expect there will be some closer road trips. I’m good for a drive that’s less than 6 with the sunroof open and the music blaring. But chances are I’ll take more trips by plane, budget willing.
So I’ve been looking into the best apps for making the travel part of the trip a no-brainer so I can focus on enjoying the destination.
Here are 3 travel apps I think are worth adding to your phone if you plan on traveling a lot!
Travel Time. My friend Quinn travels for work. She’s in an out of airports from the East coast to the West. She used to swear by GateGuru. I was all excited then found out the app shutdown this month. After a little research, I’m opting for Travel Time. I think this is one worth taking up space on my phone since I’ll be passing through a lot of airports I’m not familiar with. You can track your flights, get airport maps and see what’s close to your gate. It even claims to tell you when you need to leave for the airport with live traffic info!
AroundMe. I think this one might come in handy for some of our closer trips that I may not do as much planning for in advance. It’s good for pulling up when you need ideas for things like restaurants, banks, gas stations, etc that are close to your current location.
White Noise. I don’t need this one as much for me as it might be helpful for my daughter. She typically sleeps with the ceiling fan on in her room. She can also get a little anxious in a new place. My friend Paige told me about this app. Her family used to travel with a noise machine until they found this. You can switch it to the sound that is soothing for your sleep… ocean waves, birds chirping, fans etc.
And who knows… maybe I’ll add a travel dating app to my phone too! That could come in handy, right?
