The estimated reading time for this post is 10 minutes
When life takes you away from home, take tech to help guide and entertain you. These apps can help make your trip easier and more enjoyable.
Whether you’re traveling for fun or work, these apps are almost as important as your toothbrush to take along with you.
Travel Guidance
Travel apps are so essential for guidance, you begin to wonder how anybody traveled before apps became available.
TripIt
TripIt is a must-have app for anyone who travels. Sign up for a free account at the TripIt website and download the app to have all of your travel plans handy in one place.
After you register for an account, forward any email confirmations for your travels to [email protected]. Send TripIt your confirmations for hotel, flight, train and other reservations.
TripIt will create a travel itinerary for you that will be available in the TripIt app on your phone. No need to hunt down emails when it’s time to travel. You can find everything in one place.
This video shows how TripIt works:
=> Check out my full review of TripIt at TripIt – Your Personal Travel Assistant!
A paid version of TripIt is available that keeps track of your loyalty programs, gives flight alerts, fare refund notifications and more.
Flight Update
Traveling by plane? Be sure to download the Flight Update app first. Flight Update gives real-time flight information about 1400 airlines in 400 different airports around the world.
The app gives current gate information, which can be essential when you’re changing planes with no time to spare.
=> Learn more about Flight Update at Flight Update – A “Must Have” App for Travelers
Enter your airline and flight number or search by destination and scheduled arrival time. Flight Update will show you the expected arrival time and where the plane is currently, on a map.
The pro version of the app works with TripIt to load your flight information automatically and gives you notifications for flight delays.
- Flight Update for iPhone/iPad — $4.99
- Flight Update Pro for iPhone/iPad — $9.99
Google Translate
If you’re traveling outside your home country, you may need some help figuring out the language. Google Translate is an app that can help you understand a language other than your native tongue.
With the Google Translate app you can translate between 103 different languages. Copy and paste text into the app to see a translation. You can also handwrite text onto the screen.
=> To learn more about Google Translate, check out Google Translate – Your Key to Understanding the World!
Use your camera to get a translation of signs. Point your lens at the words and see the translation on your screen. You do not have to be connected to the Internet to use Google Translate.
Google Translate is available free for:
GasBuddy
If your travels include a road trip, be sure to download GasBuddy to spend the least on gas and find the most convenient stations.
GasBuddy helps you find the gas stations in the US and Canada that are closest to you and have the lowest prices. The app will figure out where you are and show you the results on a list and on a map.
Gas prices are based on the app user reports. You can report gas prices and have a chance to earn free gas. Leaderboards show which users have made the most reports on the app and free gas rewards are given daily.
This video shows you how GasBuddy works:
https://youtu.be/Dk6NxPjHyUg
The app has been updated to include coupons for your favorite convenience store treats.
Don’t miss 6 Reasons to Love Gasbuddy, Your Friend for Lower Gas Prices!
GasBuddy is available free for:
Offline Apps
Traveling often means you’re offline and away from the Internet. Whether you’re camping in the wild, riding on a plane, sailing on a boat or riding in the car on a road trip, Internet connection may not be available.
If you’re traveling outside your home country and away from Wi-Fi, you should use apps offline to avoid huge bills for using international data.
Google Maps
Being offline doesn’t mean you are away from Google Maps. You can download Google Maps to use when you’re away from the Internet.
=> See New Google My Maps Lets You Create, Save and Share Custom Maps
Create your own Google Maps that you can access offline. Customize your map by including directions and points of interest. After you’ve created your map you can share it with others so they can see where you’re going or join you on your trip.
If you discover favorite restaurants, hotels or museums, you can save them to your maps to revisit them later.
[tip] The Google Maps app and website have a graph showing you how busy a store is at different times of day. [/tip]
Amazon Prime Video
If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can download videos to watch when you’re offline. Beginning last year, Amazon lets Prime members download movies and TV shows so you can watch them even when you’re not connected to the Internet.
=> See, Amazon Prime Now Has Free Downloads for Movies and TV Shows! to find out how to download videos to your devices.
Be sure to download videos over Wi-Fi so you don’t use up your cellular data when you’re on the go.
Kindle Books
Load up your phone, tablet or Kindle ereader with books before you leave home. Download the books over W-iFi so you can read them anywhere, even when you’re not connected to the Internet.
Amazon offers plenty of free Kindle books so you can have them ready to read without blowing your travel budget. Check out the Top 100 Free Best-Sellers on Kindle to find many four and five star rated books.
=> Don’t miss BookBub – The Scoop on the Best eBooks at the Best Prices! to learn about a free service that notifies you when ebooks are free or discounted.
Apps to Find Availability
When you’re away from home, finding doctors and places to eat can be a challenge. These helps will help you find places even better than if you were a local!
Zocdoc
If you wake up in the middle of the night feeling ill, well, that’s not good. When that happens far from home that’s even worse. Zocdoc can help you find a doctor and even make an appointment so you can see someone first thing in the morning.
I hope you don’t need Zocdoc when you’re traveling. But if you need a doctor when you’re away from home, Zocdoc is the app to have handy.
Find a doctor, see when appointments are available and read reviews. You can even book an appointment within the app.
Zocdoc has been updated recently so you can save your medical insurance card and sync with your calendar.
=> Check out You Don’t Have to Be Patient with ZocDoc! for my full review.
ZocDoc is available for doctors in the US:
OpenTable
OpenTable is a restaurant reservation app to help you discover and make reservations at restaurants. Search according to location, cuisine, reviews and prices.
OpenTable includes 31,000 restaurants around the world. Check the app to see availability and make reservations within the app. Earn Dining Rewards by making your reservations through OpenTable and get a free meal.
=> See, Open Doors with OpenTable! to learn more.
The app was recently updated to include search by hot list, cuisine, location and more.
OpenTable is available free for:
Apps for Fun
Keeping people entertained on a trip can be a challenge. Get these fun apps to make the miles fly by!
Audible
Audible is an audiobook company owned by Amazon with over 180,000 titles available. Sign up for an account to get a free audiobook to try. Check out titles such as Harry Potter, A Game of Thrones, Me Before You, Hamilton and more.
Here’s what it’s like to listen to an Audible audiobook:
https://youtu.be/UHlLI9uUjqU
Want to try short listens? Audible recently introduced Channels, a service that offers stories from 1 minute to 2 hours long.
=> See, Audible Channels – A New Way to Discover Short Listens to learn more about Audible Channels.
Tales2Go
Tales2Go is a streaming audiobook service, filled with over 5000 titles for children of all ages. Listen to an unlimited number of books with your subscription, kind of like Netflix, but for children’s audiobooks.
Try out Tales2Go on your trip with a 30-day free trial, then keep the subscription to enrich your car rides after your trip.
Tales2Go is available on iPhone/iPad, Android and computers. Check out the Tales2Go website to get the app and sign up for your 30-day free trial.
=> Learn more about Tales2Go at Tales2Go – Are We There Already?
Games
Pictoword
Pictoword is a fun game app for all ages. See two pictures side-by-side and guess what the word is.
Ear + Ring = Earring
Sand + Witch = Sandwich
See these people who traveled to Florida trying Pictoword:
https://youtu.be/C7dvrfLhAbI?list=PLPTYo2T-hQutwKPQSQe8iIfkjcGTpnP6y
Stumped? You can ask your friend on Facebook to help you guess a Pictoword puzzle.
Pictoword is available free for:
Jump! A Game of Numbers
If you have young ones traveling with you, check out Jump!, an educational app that teaches math while telling a story. Jump! teaches basic math skills, such as counting, and advances to addition and multiplication.
Cute critters called Snortles are living on an island that is threatened by a volcano. Players can help Snortles move to a safer place by helping them navigate across the water using math skills.
The app is adaptive, learning from your child’s guesses and adapting the difficulty level accordingly. Your child won’t be frustrated by a string of wrong guesses, the app adjusts the level so the fun can continue.
=> Check out my full review at: Jump! A Fun App to Show the Path for Math
Jump! is available for iPhone and iPad and free for the first level so you can try before you buy. If you like the game, you can unlock all the levels for $2.99.
Photo Editing on the Go
Fotor
Fotor has been updated this week with new editing features so you don’t have to wait to get home before editing your photos. Editing has become easier with a slider you can use to adjust your photos. You can also save your favorite editing effects to use them easily later.
If you have photos you’re particularly proud of, you can enter them into contests on Fotor and try to sell them. Hey, maybe you could pay for your vacation with Fotor!
=> Check out Fotor – Photo Editing Made Easy to learn more about Fotor.
Waterlogue
Turn your scenic photos into works of art. Waterlogue is like having an artist at-the-ready to transform your photos into watercolor paintings.
Best used on photos of places, rather than people, the app can give your memories a dreamlike quality. Choose from 14 different filters to get the colors and effects you want.
Check out the full review of Waterlogue: Waterlogue Transforms Your Photos into Beautiful Watercolors!
Waterlogue is available for iPhone/iPad for $3.99.
Your Thoughts
Do you use apps when you travel? Have you tried any of these apps when you have traveled? Do you have any travel apps you would suggest?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
* Travel image (edited) courtesy of Emiliano Libman via Flickr and Creative Commons
** Fotor image courtesy of Fotor, used with permission
Voice of America Learning English
If you’re learning English, be sure to check out Voice of America Learning English where I have a weekly tech column. My article this week is: Google Announces New Services and Products.
I just downloaded Tripit and forwarded all my confirmation emails for an upcoming trip to France. I absolutely love it! It even imported a PDF attachment in one of the emails. You then have the abaility to add activities like concerts, tours and restaurant reservations to the itinerary, share it all with fellow travelers or forward to loved ones who want to know how to reach you while away. This is a terrific app. Thanks, Carolyn! Another great restaurant app when traveling is The Fork. I’ve used it in Europe to find and book restaurants based on your actual location.
Hi Penny, I’m so glad you like TripIt. Yes, I’ve been using it for years and find it essential to organize my travel plans.
I hadn’t heard about The Fork. Thank you for the recommendation, I’ll have to check it out.
Happy travels to France, Penny!
Travelling is an awesome way to get distress after regular job & life. I think these apps will simply make your travel awesome by letting you aware about whats happening around you. I think Google translator is a must to have when you are exploring a new country & language. Thanks for sharing this awesome post.
Hi Santanu, You’re right, traveling can be stressful, but these apps can help reduce the stress. Google Translate is a very handy app to have, especially to translate signs.
Safe travels, Santanu!
This is an ultimate article for the needs of an ultimate traveller.
Hi Anirudh, I’m so glad you enjoyed this article. Happy travels!