The Must Have Travel Apps
Google Maps (Donde Esta la Biblioteca!?)
This is hands down my most utilized app. I use this every day whether I’m going to the gym or the airport. Google Maps will give you a real-time estimate to get from Point A to Point B for driving, public transportation, taxi, walking, or biking. It’s surprising how often taking the train or biking is faster than an Uber.
When I’m researching restaurants, activities and bars before traveling somewhere new, I always save them in my Google Maps App. All you have to do is search the place and click “save.” You can even add notes like “bar where Mark locked himself in the bathroom!” I love it because when you open up Google Maps all the places you’ve saved are automatically pinned on the app. It’s also useful when giving your friends recommendations. Just open the app and the places you saved from Bangkok last year are still pinned and saved. I even use it at home in Chicago to tag new places I want to check out.
Uber and Lyft
I basically never take taxis anymore. Ride Shares are much more convenient, cheaper and smell much better than cabs. I usually switch off between Uber and Lyft based on what’s cheaper (one of them is always cheaper and they often give a discount if you go a week or so without using). Uber is available in 700 cities and 63 countries, while Lyft operates in 350 North American cities. I’ve used Uber everywhere from Iowa City to Capetown, South Africa. If a city doesn’t have Uber, open up Google Maps and it will typically suggest the local rideshare program with a button to download. The “Free Now” app connects you to over 100 cities in Europe and the “GO” App in Bali is a must.
Airbnb
I stay at Airbnb’s 75% of the time I travel and their platform makes it incredibly easy to communicate with hosts and manage multiple stays on long trips (like my trip in Airbnb’s from Budapest- Vienna- Prague- Berlin). Airbnb “Experiences” are also transforming travel along with their home-stays. Through the Airbnb app you can now book a bike tour, cooking class, food tour or even an ATV tour through the Saharan Desert (like I did in Dubai and I highly recommend). Airbnb Experiences are hosted by locals and have a max of 10 people. I really like the intimacy of these smaller tours. It’s nice to get to know the guide and guests, and sometimes I even meet up with the other participants later in the day for drinks.
Culture Trip
This App has tons of useful recommendations from just about every corner of the world. I use Culture Trip for restaurant and bar recommendations all the time. When using it in Berlin I found one of my favorite bars in Europe, “Bar St Jean” in the Mitte. It even breaks down cities into neighborhoods so you can really go deep….. like if you’re by chance looking for “The Best Falafel Restaurants in Mitte, Berlin.”
This is basically how everyone outside the U.S.A. communicates with each other. This is how I stay in touch with my friends in Europe and Canada. It’s essentially the same interface as regular texting and calling from your phone (except Facebook owns it). I’ve stayed at several boutique hotels in Tulum, Mexico where WhatsApp is the only way to communicate with the front desk.
Apple Pay
It takes 30 seconds to connect your credit card to your phone. I love using it when I’m in London and can just tap my phone to enter the Tube station’s gates (the lines to get a transit card at most airports are very long). Apple Pay also works on public transit in other places like NYC, Chicago, China, Japan, Russia, Sydney, Vancouver and Singapore. Apple Pay is also accepted at many credit card machines, though in my experience it seems more common in Europe than the US.
Splitwise
This is a must have for group trips. When you go on group trips have everyone download it and create a group. “Greece Lightning” is the best name my friends and I have come up with so far! It’s the easiest way to share expenses with friends and family. You can keep track of who pays next and then settle up (In the U.S.A. Splitwise is even connected to Venmo for electronic payment).
The Weather Channel App
This is the first app I look at before packing for any trip. It’s always good to know if I should pack sunscreen, an umbrella or a jumper (the cute British word for a sweater). You can view the hourly weather forecast 48 hours in advance and the daily forecast two weeks in advance. This is the first app I open every morning.
Lastly, I always have Google Translate queued up in Safari just in case I need to translate something quickly.... like when I’m looking for the library in Mexico :)
Am I missing any other “Must Have” Apps?
