If your travel experience mostly boils down to day trips and weekend getaways, planning a longer adventure might seem intimidating. And in many ways, it is. There are lots more moving parts to consider, expenses to track, decisions to make, and information to juggle.
Luckily, having a phone in your pocket means you’re not on your own. Preload the following apps and services onto it before that big trip and leap without fear.
1. Accommodation Tools
While there are plenty of ways to find lodgings at bargain prices, a dedicated accommodation app simplifies everything that comes after. You get to pay for and confirm reservations, read up on check-in instructions, and communicate with hosts, all in one.
Everything gets sorted and is much easier to access than trying to track down that one email where you and the host agreed on something. Having all pertinent info laid out clearly in front of you also means less overall stress or uncertainty directly before departure.
2. An Itinerary Manager
If you have a destination in mind, you’ve likely already used an itinerary planner to research all the hotspots and pack the trip with can’t-miss experiences. On the other hand, itinerary managers come in handy once you’re committed to the specifics.
They help consolidate and organize booking confirmations, track flights and check-in times, and generally help you organize all the details into easy-to-follow timelines. That way, you always know what comes next and when without having to juggle other apps, documents, and emails.
3. Document Backup Tools
Travel requires and creates a lot of scattered documents. Passport, flight tickets, room reservations… The list goes on, and misplacing just one might make for an awkward conversation at the boarding gate or cause you to miss out on a world-class attraction that was supposed to be the trip’s centerpiece.
The best thing to do is to scan or take screenshots of every relevant document and put them in one safe place easily accessible from your phone. Since they already use encrypted vaults to store credentials that only you can access, there’s no safer place for your documents than a password manager. Plus, installing one will finally get you to ditch those samey passwords and secure your accounts properly.
But if you’re going to upload confidential and personal documents to an app, let it be a reliable one. Take a look at customer sentiment online, like this NordPass review, and choose your pick according to your research.
4. Live Navigation Apps
The latest navigation tools let you get where you want to go dynamically and in real time. Rather than just provide a map overview or directions, they can include live traffic or public transport data, ETAs, rerouting notifications the moment a route becomes blocked, and more.
5. A VPN
While roughing it without internet access is fine for a while, eventually you’ll want to check up on your digital life. Most travelers do so through public Wi-Fi in airports, hotels, or restaurants without realizing that these networks can be dangerous.
Using a VPN service sidesteps the risks. The VPN encrypts the connection entirely, which prevents snooping, redirection to malicious websites, and other attacks such networks are vulnerable to. You can even use a VPN’s IP masking feature to make it look like you’re back home and enjoy the content you’re used to without geo restrictions.
6. Offline Maps
Peace of mind comes with knowing where you are at all times. Offline maps are a reliable fallback to the navigation tools mentioned above. Downloading them before an adventure lets you safely tackle challenging treks or explore the dense streets of a metropolis without having to hunt for internet access.
Don’t limit yourself to just general maps, either. Public transport maps complete with routes and departure times can be lifesavers in cities. Meanwhile, driving maps are invaluable if you’re braving the highway on cross-country road trips. If there’s a need to visualize something geographically, chances are the perfect map for it is available from your phone’s app store.
7. A Translator App
The locals might find your attempts at speaking their language endearing, but you’ll need more than “hello” and “thank you” to get around rural areas or entire countries where few people speak English. Translation apps have progressed to the point where you can engage anyone in meaningful conversation with only a minor delay.
Translation apps also make great use of augmented reality. Just point your camera at a street name, menu, or brochure, and the text will become legible in an instant.
