My favorite 11 travel apps for my iPhone || Travel Tips

If you travel, you MOST likely have a smart phone. They are truly an awesome device to have when you travel. Not only can you take photos of your trip, but you can also organize so much of your trip on it, without needing a laptop or computer.

I get people asking me what apps I tend to favor when I travel so I thought i’d share them here with you. 🙂

1. Skyscanner

I LOVE this app. As in LOVE. 🙂 Not only does it give you the ability to check out ANY flight in the world and let you dream up your next place to visit, but once you have found a flight you like, you can get “alerts” that will email you when the price goes up or down. SUPER handy. It also shows you the list in different categories like cheapest fare, shortest trip, etc. Also SUPER handy. You can even send the link of it to, say, your parents to let them know that they are MORE than welcome to give to you travel fund for THIS trip in particular. 😉

2. Airbnb

My ALL-TIME favorite app/site to get my accomodations for EVERYWHERE I travel.

You punch in where you are going, find an awesome place and then book it. You can see below some of my favorite places I have stayed in – Casablanca and Istanbul – I actually look at their calendars before I do the searches as the places are AWESOME. I have even become friends with my Airbnb hosts!

Or if you are planning your trip you can save listing in a “wishlist” so you have easy access to find them again. HELPFUL.

3. Packpoint

The Ultimate Packing App. You put in your destination, dates of travel, length of travel and if it’s a business or pleasure trip, add the activities you will do and it generates the list. Of course I don’t pack everything on the list, as I have a way of packing everything I need for 2 weeks in a carry-on, but it’s good for most people and you can share the list – super helpful if I am traveling with a group who wants to know how to pack, in the non-Tracey carry-on-only way. 🙂 You are able to add or minus things. And email it to them. AWESOME.

4. TripAdvisor

It’s a huge app platform that covers to many aspects of travel from hotel, to things to do to restaurants. I primarily use it to find things in certain areas that I may want to check out, and to get reviews of those places. I find customer reviews are the best, on a whole…I mean that’s what my business is based on, and without my guest’s reviews I would not exist. 🙂

I am also able to leave reviews about places I visit, eat or stay, as well as put “pins” on my map as the places I have been and want to go. It’s a social site as well, so it’s fun to see where your friends are going, and you can definitely make new ones. The travel forum is super helpful as well; you can get some good reviews, post questions and get answers about specific cities, countries etc. Great tool.

5. Clock

This app comes with the iPhone and is awesome. You can set up time zones, so you know what the time is in different places, like your departure and destination points, your mom’s house, and everything in between. 🙂

6. Oanda

My favorite currency converter. you can swipe to choose the kind of rate you want, and it keeps your most recent ones in a favorites folder so you don’t have to scroll thru them all to get down to, let’s say, S for Singapore Dollar, it’s on the short list already. SUPER awesome. 🙂

7. Google Translate

I do try and learn phrases from the country I visit, but sometimes that’s just not enough. And I like to look up words while I’m traveling that I may see on a sign, or in a menu. This is definitely helpful for that.

8. Maps

Although I have a pretty good sense of direction, when I am traveling I do like to know where I am going and Maps, a built in app to my iPhone is great for that.  Its built in compass will pull up where you are, you can see around your area, search for a place, and even get directions if you are brave enough to be driving.

I was able to pull up a map for my taxi driver in Istanbul as he had NO idea what I was saying when I tried to pronounce the street but I showed him the map and he took me right to it. Genius. 🙂

9.  Facebook

Before you groan, hear me out. If you have a mom anything like mine (Love you mama!) she worries. Worries if you go there, worries if you are ok. It’s part of being a mom. Facebook allows you to check in, post photo and tag them and it will keep her mind at ease without you having to spend tons of time getting a good wifi connection, which can be hard depending where you are, to FaceTime or Skype. If you can convince her that you promise to keep your FB page updated (and only accessible to friends, as you don’t want creepers following you around!) this is a GREAT way to quickly put them at ease. Trust me on this one. 😉

10. Periscope

This is a new little app that I am just loving! It’s basically live blogging with video – COOL! I especially love it a travel host, being able to broadcast at a place I am at (if, of course, you have some strong 3G or wifi available).

You can also see who else in the world is online and see some really cool spots – in fact, I met someone who lives in Lebanon, and am thinking about doing a Travel Experience there, as what they showed me made me go, “Wow, I gotta see Lebanon!”.

It uses your twitter account as your login and you can also easily add people. Broadcasts only are accessible for 24 hrs then they disappear, but you can holler to people and “share” it to your FB or twitter. I also take it a step further and put the broadcasts I want to keep, on my YouTube channel so peeps can see those ones anytime.

Definitely try it out – it’s a fun way to “share” your travels.

11. Instagram

My all-time favorite app! I have been using it since they launched it in October 2010 and still love it as much as ever.

I am able to send snippets of my trip for friends and family to see, as well as followers of my business. I follow some great feeds and have even met some people thru it that I know know and call friends in Italy, Turkey and beyond.

You can push it to your Twitter and Facebook (remember that whole thing about the FB app and letting mom know you’re ok – this works too!), search places you are at via hashtags, and be inspired by other travel Instagrammers all over the world!

So that’s my Travel App stash. I hope you enjoyed it. If there is one that you are not using, try it. And comment and let me know which you are using…I may add it to my “must have apps” 😉

Take a look over at www.Positivehealthwellness.com for 8 great reasons why traveling is good for your health…you will be booking your next trip I am sure!

xxtracey

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