How to Travel Like a Champion: Apps to Maximize Your Travels
Written by Connery November 30, 2015
Don't you just love irony? Taken with my smartphone.
SkyScaneer App
Rail Planner App
City Maps 2Go App
Google Maps App
Google Translate App
If it isn’t apparent by now, I’m blogging a lot more on traveling and ways to have a successful traveling experience. That being said, I’ve learned a few things that can help out with traveling in the digital age. While there are so many apps that can help your travels, I’ve narrowed it down to 5 apps that are the most beneficial to you.
I want to point out that this is coming from an Android market user, and I have no idea for the Apple store. These are also all free apps.
- Google Translate: I cannot stress this enough, there is a language difference all over Europe and while a lot of people speak English, it is still good to be able to translate what’s on a menu at a restaurant. Another great thing about Google Translate is that there’s a photo option so if you take a picture, or just hover your camera over something you want to translate, it will automatically translate to English (or whatever language you’re looking for).
- City Maps 2Go: You know what’s not fun? Spending 30 Euros to get a taxi to go to your hostel. Now, had I had a City Maps 2Go for the city I was in, I would have been able to find my way there as well as not get lost (It’s happened before, and it’s not fun). City Maps 2Go allows you to download the map of the city you’re in, and with GPS, can show you exactly where you are without using Data/WiFi. This is especially helpful when the native language uses a completely different alphabet and not many people in the country speak english.
- Google Maps: Going off my previous point, knowing where you’re going is really a good idea, especially where English is not the first language. The thing that separates this from City Maps is the directions function. While I haven’t dived too much into City Maps 2 Go, I haven’t found a directions panel, and therefore rely more on Google Maps for directions via subways, buses, train, etc.
- Rail Planner: You know what’s awesome about Europe? Their railway services are actually enjoyable and many times tickets are really cheap. That being said, it would be a good idea to know what time a train is, and how long the travel will be, as well as how many layovers to expect.
- SkyScanner: As much as I like taking the train to travel around Europe, it’s faster, and in some cases, cheaper to fly. With that, you need to know the price of flights, and who to fly with. With Skyscanner, you will be able to see the cheapest flights for your travels.
There are many more that can help your travels be more in flow, but these are the 5 main ones I used, and it’s all based on opinion. Hopefully these will enhance your travels, and remember to have fun when exploring!
Blogger: Connery, Western Michigan University
