Today’s smartphone technology makes travel so much more fun and easy. It’s hard to imagine how we ever got by without it. I’ve been an android user It came pre-loaded with Google Maps, which is the ultimate navigation tool. But as someone who travels for a living the first thing I did before making a call or transferring my contacts was to install my favorite travel apps – all of which happen to be free! There are lots of variations of these available, but these are my favorites.

Expedia App (free): The new Expedia app has an easy to use interface with lots of pictures, it displays super bargain deals and allows me to “bundle” airfare, hotel & car rental to save money so I’ll have more to spend on my trip.

Currency Converter (free): Currency Converter is great for converting currencies – duh! Whenever traveling abroad, this app does the conversion to let you know how much you’ll be spending in your native currency.

Twitter (free): I know that technically Twitter is a social app, but I use it in my travels. One of the great things about twitter is that we know someone (at least virtually) almost anywhere we travel in the world. Nothing beats the advice of locals as far as knowing what to see, do and eat. And locals are also able to offer valuable tidbits like where to park, what to order (or not order) and the best times to visit.

Trip Advisor (free): Trip Advisor is invaluable for obtaining user ratings and reviews on millions of hotels, restaurants, attractions.

TripIt (free): Trip It is an app for organizing your travel itineraries. Forward your travel confirmations to Trip It and the app will generate an itinerary and keep you notified of flight delays, gate changes etc. The Pro (premium) version of the app will keep up with your frequent flyer miles, hotel and car rental points.

Sit-or-Squat (free): Sit-or-Squat is a user generated app that rates public restrooms. When on the road as much as we are, this is a great app for finding clean public restrooms. Reading various restroom reviews can be quite entertaining and help pass the time on a long road trip.

Yelp (free): We love using Yelp for finding restaurants while on the road. reading user reviews and ratings give you a good idea of what might be good and what to avoid.

Google Translate (free): Google Translate can translate printed words into your language of choice. This is especially useful in reading menus and in avoiding international incidents by walking into the wrong restroom.

Glympse (free): Glympse is a fast simple way to share your real-time location using GPS tracking, with any of your family, friends or co-workers. You can control how long someone can track you. It’s particularly on road trips for letting people know how you are progressing on your journey.

Waze (free):  Waze is a GPS app that not only navigates you to your destination, it keeps you informed about traffic, road hazards, accidents, and police.

Uber (free): Uber is a terrific ridesharing app that is cheaper alternative to limp and taxi services. Uber eliminates the need to renting a car, buying gas, looking for nearby parking, and paying to park etc.

Gas Buddy (free):  Gas Buddy helps you save money by finding the lowest priced gas stations located near wherever you are.

  What are your go to apps for travel?

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