Top Travel Apps For Your Trip!

"Traveling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." - Ibn Battuta

Traveling can be one of the greatest adventures of your life...and sometimes also some of the most stressful. New technology has allowed us to lessen this stress by having the capability to find almost any piece of information in a handheld device. It is extremely important to put down your phone and enjoy the serenity and adventure of your travel experiences; however, sometimes the technology available to us can be a great virtue. Here is a brief description of ten great apps to ease the stress, and help you enjoy more time during your travels:

Google Translate
In a previous post I talked about the Duolingo app where you can learn the language before you go; but, what do you do if you don't know the word while you are there? The Google Translate app is one of the top translation apps on the market, and allows you to translate over ninety languages. This app is unique in that it allows you to translate via typing the word/phrase, speaking, or by using the camera and taking a picture of something like a sign. One of the key things that this app boasts is the idea of "converse naturally and let Google translate." The ease of use in this app has helped many people to better understand the language in foreign environments, and in situations when working with different people.

WhatsApp Messenger
WhatsApp is a great tool to have during your trip! This app allows you to stay in communication with your family and friends who are at home in a simple way....and best yet, not having to pay the outrageous international phone bills! WhatsApp lets you text and call other people who have the app when you are connected to wifi. I used this to communicate with my family while in Italy, and my sister used it when in Mexico. During both of our trips the app worked fantastically,  and even allows you to send pictures over the app so your family can see all of your adventures! Although I haven't tried the voice messaging aspect, you can send voice messages to the other person as well.


Mapquest
Most people have used Mapquest before, but what about using it during your travels in another country? Mapquest can help you navigate the unfamiliar areas in the town or city that you are in. Also, if you plug in two locations to get directions, it will tell you the fastest routes. For example, if you go from Rome to Palermo, it will give you the route option of taking a ferry/boat between the two destinations, and tell you the estimated duration of the trip. This app is a must have for anyone who will be doing a lot of their own transportation (ie. driving, etc.) on their trip.




Weather Channel
The weather can affect your travel experiences ten-fold. Knowing what to expect for the current and upcoming days will help you to better plan what adventures you want to embark on. In the Weather Channel app, you can input multiple destinations and view the daily forecast, as well as the ten day forecast, for each location. This app will also notify you if there are any dangerous weather warnings or announcements. Additionally, you can break down the weather forecast by an hourly dimension.

Flight Apps
There are many apps that have been developed by airlines all across the world. For example, United, Delta, Southwest, American Airlines, and many more have created their own apps. These apps allow the user to track the times for their flight, and if there are any delays. The arrival and departure times are given, and some will let you know when the flight has landed so that you are at your gate in time. Also, some of these airlines have developed options to check in from your phone at the airport. Other flight applications developed include companies such as Kayak and Expedia, where you can book flights straight from your mobile device.


TripAdvisor 
TripAdvisor has many different variations of apps available at the app store. The main one is called TripAdvisor Hotels Flights Restaurants. This app lets you see reviews of different restaurants and hotels that other travelers have been to, and view their opinions/ratings of them. When you don't know anything about the area, this can be a great place to start. There are also options to find airfare and "things to do" through the app. Additionally, you can download maps and reviews ahead of time so that you can use them if you are offline. Not only can you read reviews, you can also see pictures that people have posted to the site, which you can use to gauge your interest in pursuing the hotel/restaurant/place.

TripIt
TripIt is a very highly rated app with many different features. TripIt allows you to put together a conclusive itinerary for your trip. You can set up the app by forwarding emails to the app from your inbox so that it automatically includes them into your personal itinerary. The app also automatically groups the information for each trip, with the similar dates/times so that everything is in order. From flights, directions, hotels, car pick ups, and other aspects of your trip, they will all be organized into one common place. Additionally, there are alerts built into the app to let you know if any flights have been changed, cancelled, or any gate notifications. This app is a great resource for anyone who is very busy on their trip and wants to stay organized while being on-the-go. TripIt has many options including a free version, an upgraded version that you can purchase, or buying in-app purchases within the free version itself.

My Currency Converter
How many people can quickly and easily covert the currency values in their head...especially when they change daily? The My Currency Converter app is a currency and exchange rate converter that allows the user to pick which two currencies that they would like to use, and which one they are converting to the other. For example, you can convert dollars into euros or vice-versa. It is a huge benefit to be able to stick to your budget while on your trip, and can make the difference of which experiences you get to embark on in regards to financial aspects. After looking at many other currency apps, I liked this one best for its simplicity and ease-of-use. Many others have also rated this app positively for its high quality.

Hotel Tonight
Hotel Tonight is an app that is for making last minute hotel reservations, and helps the user find the best deals. The app does this by comparing the surrounding area hotels, and showing you the prices and reviews for each. Although it says that it is for last minute bookings, you can select and book a hotel as far out as seven days in advance at the lower prices and deals.




Social Media
Of course who can forget all of the social media apps?! Don't worry, I am not going to talk a lot about each individual app right now; however, they can be important tools while on your trip. Facebook and Twitter allow you to stay up-to-date on all of the latest news, and stay in-touch with your family and friends. Additionally, these apps let you update your status to check in with your family and friends and share your adventures with them. Instagram allows you to share all of the amazing photos that you have taken during your trip with your followers. Snapchat can also be a fun app to have as a means of sending small snippets to all of your friends who are following your travel experiences!



Although you don't want to let technology overpower enjoying the "in-the-moment" aspects your trip, it can be a very useful tool to enhancing your travel experience. All of the apps above, and many more, will help you to stay in touch with others and make the most of your travels. BUT, don't forget to put your mobile devices down and enjoy the true experience of being in a new place and having new experiences while traveling.

Please leave any comments or suggestions :)

Arrivederci!

Tips for Learning the Language Before You Go: Parlando Italiano (Speaking Italian)

What do you do when you can't understand anything around you?

Imagine being completely immersed in another culture; you don't speak the language at all, and have no idea what the people around you are saying. This is a reality for many people, including yourself if you are planning on traveling abroad to Italy and are not bilingual. Italian is an amazing language, and definitely one worth learning for your trip! Knowing the language will help you tremendously, even when just walking around the beautiful cities.

Panorama Picture Walking Around Rome.

When I planned to go on my trip to Italy, I had absolutely no experience in reading or speaking Italian. The most knowledge I had were a few years of Spanish, but I did not think that would help me much in Europe. As it turns out, being able to speak Spanish will help you when you are traveling around Italy; although, a few people seemed to be annoyed with us speaking Spanish instead of Italian...but can you blame them when you are going to their country? Knowing at least the basics of the country's language you are in will make your trip all the more worthwhile, as you will be able to interact more with the people and become more involved in the culture.

I have found a few ways to help overcome this predicament, and hope they can help you on your trip.

Duolingo is a free app that you can download from the app store on your phone or computer, and it has a ton of languages within the software. The best thing about this app is that it does not just give you words and tell you to memorize them; instead, it uses a multitude of ways to help you actually remember the words and be able to use them in an appropriate context.

Duolingo App Icon

Duolingo allows you to read the sentences  in Italian, and  in addition, listen to a prerecorded voice read them to you. This gives you the visual and audio of the word, which is a tremendous help when you are in another country trying to read different signs....seriously not everywhere has little people on the bathroom signs if you aren't able to read the writing, so knowing the basics can definitely save you from some awkward situations. In addition to reading and hearing the voice say sentences, it pairs pictures with words. For example, it may show you the word "la mela" and explain it to you. It then might bring up three pictures of items and ask you to pick which one is "la mela" (it is an apple by the way).

Also, this app uses the speaker on your phone and asks you to repeat the words or phrases back to the app so that you can make sure the pronunciation is correct. Lastly, it gives you sentences in English, of which you translate back into Italian in writing.

All of the different aspects of this app allow you to become more involved with the language itself, as opposed to carrying around a dictionary with you everywhere you go....which would be an easy way to point yourself out as a tourist to everyone and become an easier target for pickpockets, etc.

This is a sign I found that was mistranslated in a bathroom on one of the islands.
French and English tourists "helped the out" with some
comments and translations themselves.

Another thing you can do is to find the basic words you will need and keep a short list of them in your pocket or purse. This is not as obvious as having your nose stuck into your phone half of the time you are out and about; instead, you can reference it quick and enjoy more of your time.

I have never personally used Rosetta Stone, but I have heard from other people I know that it really does help you learn a language. Being a college student, I cannot afford it right now, but would love to use this program in the future to learn more Spanish and Italian for future travels!

The Island of Levanzo!
You can kind of see us swimming
down at the beach.

The most important thing is to be involved in the culture. The Italian language is absolutely beautiful, and the more you interact with people, the more words and phrases you will quickly pick up. I remember being on the island of Levanzo with a small group of people from my trip after hiking to a famous cave, when a girl in our group who spoke Spanish was able to have a long conversation with a friendly native who had an amazing life story. From being in the country for awhile and learning some basic words before I went, I was able to pick up on some of what he said and hear all about his life.

Now I am not claiming to be fluent, or even a good Italian speaker or anything; actually, I only know some of the basics. However, I learned so much while I was there that it made the trip even more enjoyable! I will always remember some of the phrases I learned, and can't wait to discover more before I go back someday!

Please leave your comments and let me know what you think, or any suggestions you have on how to make the language transition easier! :)

Fino alla prossima volta! (Until next time!)