So you want to be where you are not. Me too. The academic year is starting back up again, and while I love doing what I do, I’m also wistfully thinking about the honeymoon my fiancée and I plan to take (but not until after she passes the bar, sigh). I figure, with summer coming to a close, I can’t be the only one thinking about getting away. Here’s some technology to travel easier, from planning to execution. And we’re starting with my number one fave:
BaseTrip
The BaseTrip website is magic. Seriously. Pick the country you’re from and the country you’re going to, and it’ll give you TONS of useful information. Things you’d think to ask, like general weather questions, how expensive things are compared to where you’re from, what the electrical sockets look like and what the visa requirements are. Things you might think to ask depending, like emergency numbers, what kinds of things are illegal and what sort of permits you need to drive a car. Things you’d NEVER think to ask but seem like really useful information to know — when hunting season is and what signs denote an area where people are shooting, for example, or what sorts of natural phenomenon you might need to be aware of if you are hiking or camping. I checked the information for France because I know it pretty okay, having lived there a short time, and all the information makes sense to me. Then I checked on a few other countries and it’s really fascinating to know all these things? Like, even if I’m not planning on going. Highly, highly recommend. It’s super cool. And it’s also FREE.
Hopper
Hopper tells you when to fly and when to buy for the best deal on a flight, which is perfect for me personally because I cannot be arsed to shop around. This app claims to save you up to 40%, but obviously that sentence says “up to,” so I tried this out for you. I’m watching a flight I need to book to speak at the Books In Browsers conference in San Francisco later this year. The app PREDICTS it’ll save me $55 per ticket by watching this flight, which frankly sounds good to me. I would like to have fifty-five more dollars than I otherwise would. It’s going to send me a push notification when prices drop, so I don’t have to expend any actual effort. This also sounds good to me. And if it sounds good to me, it probably sounds good to you too. Saving money with little effort is pretty cool. Quick warning, though, they do charge a booking fee if you choose to book through Hopper. But I’ll take the notification for certain.
Hopper is free for both iOS and Android.
BringFido
I know to whom I am speaking, here. I am speaking to a population well-known for its love of pets. Dogs and cats. If you’re taking a road trip or even flying with an animal, BringFido compiles a bunch of resources you might need. While it’s heavily leaning toward the side of dog lesbians, there are great resources for both sides of the divide. Pet-friendly hotel accommodations, for example, or a handy guide breaking down air travel rules for people traveling with pets by airline. There are quirkier asks as well, like a list of Dog Beaches, Dog Friendly B&Bs, and yes, even a Dog Event Calendar on which I learned there’s a haunted tour in Wilmington, NC that allows you to bring your dog. You learn something new every day.
TripCase
I have to try really hard to be organized. My natural state is chaos whirlwind. If you are also like that, TripCase reduces the effort required to be organized about travel. Each time you book something, whether it’s a flight or an AirBNB or a haunted tour on which you can bring your dog, you email it to TripCase using the email you signed up with. It keeps it all in one place for you, and all in a handy app on your iOS or Android device. And as you’re on the go, you can add places you stumble across and like for future itineraries. Plus it has this neat feature where you can follow other people’s trips, so if you’re picking someone up from the airport and their flight is delayed, TripCase has got you so you don’t spend one million hours at the airport.
CityMaps2Go
I have two words for you: Offline. Maps. I do not have the money nor the inclination to travel internationally with my data plan. And while I’d rather grab a tiny, pocket-sized book of city maps, I have to admit — CityMaps2Go does have its advantages. Like being searchable, zoom-able and customizable so you can add things you run across and places you want to go or are booked to stay. If you grab the free version for either iOS or Android, you get one free map download. If you’re a more frequent traveler, consider the pro version, which is $6 for Android and $10 for iOS. Just remember — while the app doesn’t need to connect to the internet after you download the map, make sure you’re connected to download the map initially. And also make sure to turn off your data and data roaming while you travel so the app DOESN’T connect to the internet where you don’t want it to and cost you a bunch of money.
Tile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-B7EzSZKgo
I’m not at all saying you are likely to lose things or that things are more likely to get stolen while you’re abroad (that sounds like something people say to fear monger, actually). But the hardship is much grander if you lose your wallet or passport halfway around the world in a place that might not be super familiar to you. Enter Tile. They make two different styles of tracker that make it easy to call your passport and make it ring. Wallet, keys, you name it — attach a tile to it and make it ring. And if you lose it, ask to be notified when it’s found. When any other tile user comes near it, you’ll get a notification with its last known location.
Only one con here: batteries are not replaceable, so these have a life of a year only. I feel weird about that. But it might be worth it to you to be able to phone your passport on your big international journey. Tile Slims are $30 a piece, and Tile Originals are $25. The app will notify you when it’s time for a replacement.
Well that’s all for my favorite travel technology of the moment — what about you? Where are you off to, and what tech are you using to make your life easier?
As far as offline maps go Google maps has a new feature where you can save a certain area before hand and do pretty much everything you could do online, offline. Its a lifesaver but more importantly it’s free for as much map as you want
I am planning a trip this very morning! Excellent timing.
BaseTrip is awesome.
I’m starting to plan out some trips for the coming year, and this is ideally timed.
Thanks, Ali!
Ooh, these will be so useful, thank you!
Next, what I need is an app where I can input a multi-stop itinerary, and the program will identify the nearest best value hotels by price and rating, book a room according to my specs at each stop, plan out Google Maps directions to each hotel from the nearest airport/train station, and have a taxi waiting for me if it’s too far to walk. That’s plausible, right?
Have you tried Rome2Rio? They don’t do all of that (sadly) but I used them for my backpacking trip in Europe and it was a great way to assess the costs of different modes of travel between stops, as well as keeping track of my itinerary (and you can book hotels via it, I think).
I haven’t, but thank you very much for the suggestion! I will definitely check it out.
That’s called a personal assistant. Ha.
;)
Hi Chandra. Check out http://www.mytripkarma.com it’s a free tool for planning and booking multi stop trips with best deals on flights, hotels and transfers in each stop/destination. Its particularly useful if you’re travelling with others as it allows you to invite Co-travellers into the app and collaboratively build your itinerary and also plan your trip expenses.
Cool, thanks!
Great list! I’d also recommend http://www.mytripkarma.com it’s a free tool for planning and booking multi stop trips with best deals on flights, hotels and transfers in each stop/destination. Its particularly useful if you’re travelling with others as it allows you to invite Co-travellers into the app and collaboratively build your itinerary and also plan your trip expenses.
Perfect timing, I’m going to travel soon as well! BaseTrip, hopper and TripCase sound particularly useful.
However, I would suggest using “maps.me” for completely free offline maps and an offline dictionary like “QuickDic” and “Tourist language learn & speak” (or is this just me being European and wanting to communicate with people in the local language? ;-))
Gaia GPS is definitely worth purchasing if you like to hike, or need topo maps for any other reason. I’m using it on my cross Canada bike trip right now, it’s way better than Google Maps’ frustrating elevation display. I think it’s $6 or something on Android, but totally worth it.
Just an FYI, Project FI ( the phone plan provided by Google) has an awesome data policy in which data abroad costs the same amount as domestic. So go nuts!
Excellent suggestions, thanks Ali.
I’m currently planning a North American trip for Jan/Feb. Does anyone have some awesome tips? I plan on doing a bit on each coast of the US and Vancouver. If someone on the east coast could shed some light on how cold it gets in real terms (how many layers are required) that would be amazing! It doesn’t get cold where I live so i’m clueless.
These look super cool! A recent discovery of mine (since I moved to the city) is Transit App. It’s free for iOS and Android, and it’s pretty awesome. You put in point A and point B and it gives you several public transit route options, estimates the cost of an Uber, shows you locations for car/bike sharing services, and shows you bike routes.
My favourite part is that it works accross multiple transit systems. I live in Gatineau but go to school in Ottawa, and if my destination is outside the STO service area, it can tell me which OC bus to transfer to, which the OC Transpo app doesn’t do, and the STO website does badly.
Right now, the app works in pretty much every major Canadian city, plus a bunch in the States, and some in France, the UK, Germany, Australia, Italy, Mexico and Kenya, and you can request other places. The app is standard in every city, so you don’t need to download separate transit apps or go to their websites every time you’re in a new place and want to take public transit. It’s just really convenient and practical and well-designed, and there’s no ads and the release notes are really funny. Obviously it might not be the best option for international travel, if you don’t have a data roaming plan, but I’ll definitely be using it when I go to other cities in Canada.
It was helpful for me. I also like to plan my trip in advance. I like it when all the details are thought out and you just have to relax and not think about anything. Most often we just use the services https://www.azur-limousines.com/en/french-riviera-limo-service/ , and not only to ensure that we are comfortably picked up from the airport, but also book excursions. These emotions and memories are for life, everything goes just perfectly