There’s a reason I keep a folder called “Travel” on my iPhone. I like the ability to move it to the home screen, which is usually bereft of folders, whenever I go on a long trip away from home. I like that there are certain apps that resonate more with my on the road than anywhere else, and by keeping them in that folder I always know where to look for them.
Here are the 7 iPhone apps I keep in my Travel folder in order to help me have a better overall travel experience:
1. TripIt
This has been my go-to travel app for a long time. I don’t pay for TripIt Pro any longer (although I may start again now that I’m traveling more than ever), but TripIt’s basic features gives me my itinerary in one glance. That’s the kind of feature that keeps me moving when I’m on the go, and not worrying about where I need to look next to find out what’s coming up on the travel agenda. TripIt covers that for me, and I’m grateful for that.
2. Perfect Weather
I’ve put a lot of weather apps through the paces over the years, but Perfect Weather won out for a number of reasons. The user interface is stunning; it’s clean and simple to navigate. It has worked in Canada from day one, which is important since, well, I live in Canada. It has several other bells and whistles that I’ve not even played with, but for my needs Perfect Weather does the job exceedingly well.
I’m a big fan of Contrast’s apps (Mileage Log+, Launch Center Pro) and Perfect Weather is another example of the fine work the company delivers time and time again.
3. FaceTime
Whenever I’m away I want to be able to speak to my kids, and FaceTime gives me that and more. I rarely use FaceTime outside of when I’m traveling, and my daughter really enjoys the fact that she can initiate a FaceTime call from her iPod Touch so she can talk to me about what’s going on in her life during my occasional work trips.
Since I mainly use FaceTime for this purpose, keeping it in my Travel folder actually keeps it closer to top of mind while I’m traveling.
4. Uber
Uber doesn’t serve everywhere I go, but when I am in a city that has it then I’m glad i’ve got this app in my Travel folder. When I was in San Francisco for my creativeLIVE workshop, I used Uber to get around in the evening. When I was in New York City for BookExpoAmerica, I used Uber to get from LaGuardia to Manhattan quickly and easily.
Knowing I’ve got Uber at the ready in my travel folder gives me transportation options in a lot of places — and I like having options.
5. Maps/Google Maps
I’ve never really had a problem with Apple’s stock Maps app, but I keep Google Maps around just to have my bases covered. Much like Perfect Weather, both of these apps serve my needs well enough.
It only makes sense to keep them in this folder.
6. Trip Saver
There are other budgeting/finance apps I use regularly (You Need A Budget is my main one, Neat is what I use to track receipts for bookkeeping) but when I go on trips and I want to keep my spending in check, Trip Saver is the app I rely on. There are several parameters you can set based on your trip criteria, and once you’re done setting those then you’ve got a budget that you can look to throughout the duration of your travels. It’s the app I open and use most while traveling, as I’m adding expenditures to it regularly every day.
If you’re looking for a budgeting app that is designed specifically for helping you stick to a budget on the road, then give Trip Saver a long look.
7. Evernote Food/Evernote Hello
I don’t use either of these apps as often as I should, but when I’m traveling I call on them regularly.
Evernote Food comes out to play when I’m eating a dish that is absolutely stunning while traveling. For example, while in Hamilton for VoxPopCon, I ate some incredibly food at The Harbour Diner. Both of those dishes got captured into Evernote via Evernote Food.
I’ve only recently started using Evernote Hello again, and it’s taking some real routine-building to do that. But it creates a little more engagement when I take a photo of the person I’m meeting and then pass them the phone to finish entering their information because they are somewhat fascinated by the app itself and it also allows me to better connect with them in future conversations. That’s because Evernote Hello does something that other contact managers don’t do from the get-go: create context around the contact. I’m going to spend more time in this app over the next few weeks and will have more to write about it then, but I plan to keep using Evernote Hello so I can establish a better “contact management workflow” over the long term.
What travel apps do you use? Do you keep them in a folder and make them more readily available when traveling? I’d love to hear what apps, tools, tips, and tactics you use to make your travel experiences more effective and efficient in the comments below.
