In this day and age technology plays a central part in our lives, the fact that most of us carry a smartphone everywhere we go is a testament to that. In the beginning we used our mobiles for calls and messages but as wireless internet technology progressed, our phones now carry an endless supply of apps for all uses, from games to social networking, these apps have become necessary for a comfortable everyday life.
Some of those apps allow travel to become an easy one-tap activity. Here are my seven
indispensable apps for an easy traveling life style.
To Begin with: Passport, Flight and Money
Can't travel without a passport, that's just basic knowledge, but there are certain places that need more than a passport: a visa. Passport Index is an app that gives you real-time visa requirements for any country you're planning on visiting based on your passport, it also lets you save the dates of all your international travels and manages multiple passports in case you need to. The world's passports in your pocket.
You have a passport, time to get a flight, a cheap flight. Momondo is the app that allows you to look for and compare cheap flights from all over. It includes a very useful "price calendar" that shows you the dates were flights are the cheapest. The Momondo search engine also saves your preferences making every search tailored to you saving you precious time as well as money.
Speaking of money, currency changes depending on the country you're traveling to, a simple way to keep up is by downloading a currency converter app. Currency app is a simple yet powerful app for such goal, rates over 160currencies and exchange rates, great for when you travel abroad.
Don't get Lost: Maps
I mean not getting lost in travel is basic and most smartphones come with a maps' app. Be it Google Maps or Apple Maps, personally I use Google Maps for the facility it has finding addresses in different languages and saving my preferences. Sometimes it has the schedule for public transportation, like in London, Quebec, and New York. Extremely useful.
Where to Stay: Accommodation
Now we got all the documents and tickets ready, what's next? A place to stay. There're many options for accommodation these days, some free and some quite expensive, allow me to list you some options here:
Your first choice is free accommodation: Couchsurfing. This is one of my preferred methods to stay anywhere as you make lifelong friends and you stay with real locals. Over 12 million people use Couchsurfing as a choice for free accommodation plus creating a profile is quick and easy. You have friends around the world, you just haven't met them yet.
Next is the cheap choice which also happens to be the most fun! Hostelworld. The world's leading travel app for wanderlusts on a budget who want to stay in a hostel and mix with like-minded travelers as well as locals. Hostelworld presents you with many options for accommodation, yet I recommend you to take the information of the hostel of your preferences and contact them directly. Most of them will have special discounts if you book directly.
The last app could be either cheap or pretty expensive depending on your choices, I'm talking about AirBnB. This is more of a vacation home rentals and apartments service, you can choose from over 6 million places in over 191 countries. The search engine allows you to look for specific prices, neighborhoods and amenities in any city you are.
Leaving a Review
Honestly, I hate review sites with a passion. As someone that worked a good decade in the food and drink industry I can tell you most of those reviews are left by people that had a bad day and took it out on any particular establishment. Understandably not everything is black and white, you can find actual good advice in certain apps and sites. My weapon of choice is TripAdvisor, reviews there're fairly easy to leave and the system of points is well-balanced.
The actual use I have for this app is comparison. I check the stats of a hostel in Hostelworld and then in TripAdvisor to make sure I do not book the incorrect hostel. That's it.
BONUS: The Experience
There're many ways to travel the world and one of them is with voluntary work. The app I use for such endeavor is Worldpackers, this app allows you to choose from a multitude of experiences and volunteer work in over 130 countries. You can choose to work in a hostel or even work for impact in a special community. Over 1.5 million travelers use this app.
In this article I could not give its deserved justice, I will elaborate in another one, promise.
Download & Travel
These are my picks for the indispensable apps anyone needs to start a traveler lifestyle, give them a try you might be surprised by the results!
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