Your smart phone can be your best travel companion. The trick to getting the most out of this great resource is loading it with the right software. Here are some mobile apps no world traveler should be without:
Lonely Planet Guides. As a world traveler, it’s likely you already have an entire collection of Lonely Planet travel guides on your bookshelf. Now you can stock your smart phone up in the same way. There is a Lonely Planet guide for virtually any location you want to go, so you might also want to download the Lonely Planet catch-all app that enables you to organize all of your guides in one place.
Google Translate. Need a translation in a jiffy? There is perhaps no simpler a solution than Google Translate. Just type in what you want translated, choose your languages, and click a button to receive instant, and accurate, translations.
TripIt. This app has completely revolutionized the task of itinerary planning. Simply have all of your flight confirmations forwarded to your TripIt email address and the app will consolidate all of the information it gets, organize it into a chronologically-ordered itinerary, and place it right at your fingertips. So, for example, if you check out Zicasso’s Peru tour, you can store all of your itinerary and extra info in one place.
Kayak. This is one of the most widely used travel sites on the web, and for good reason. You can use Kayak to compare flights details (dates, times, layovers, prices, etc.) in order to find your best option, and can even view a map of the world, marked with dollar amounts of what it would cost you to fly to any location on the map. Now you can take advantage of all the greatness Kayak.com has to offer, by way of this handy app.
Trip Journal. If you prefer to document your trips (and that’s one of the great things about travel, isn’t it?), then you should be using this award-winning app to manage everything from travel blog posts to photo tagging, all in one place.
XE Currency Exchange. Currency conversion is a process that eludes even the savviest world traveler. Take the guesswork (and potential for mistake) out of it by using this app to calculate conversion rates with utmost timeliness and accuracy.
Wikitude. As you probably know, Wikitravel is a treasure trove of travel information, no matter what your travel destination. This great app puts all of that information at your disposal, and even points you in the direction of nearby tourist attractions.
Today’s traveler has some major advantages, thanks to technology. Get the most out of your globetrotting my making use of these great travel apps.