This is a guest post by Morgan Large, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas.
Gone are the days of pulling out the paper map while sitting in the driver’s side seat to try and find out if you are on the right state route, and gone are the days of asking a local in person for the best place in town to eat. Thanks to today’s ever advancing technologies, there is an app for that! Smartphone applications can track your workouts to tracking how you sleep.
The seven phone apps below are the ones you cannot afford to be without before your next travel adventure.
1. The Weather Channel–
An offshoot from the television network, this app keeps you up to date on the weather while you are traveling. The app offers a radar map, videos, and detailed forecasts for your favorite travel locations.
This app by the Weather Channel is the go to app before deciding to wear flip-flops or a raincoat on your next travel outing.
2. Urbanspoon–
No need to ask a local about the best seafood in town. Urbanspoon is the answer to your prayers. This app allows you to search your location, cuisine, price, or picks from a local to choose your Sunday night dinner.
The app features locations that are nearby, a search for a particular restaurant or cuisine, or a “shake” option that will pick a restaurant destination for you.
Not only is the price, location, directions to that location included, often times there are photos of the menu items, the actual menu and reviewer comments listed on the app making your decision that much easier.
3. Google Maps–
Google Maps is an excellent web mapping application. The app offers turn-by-turn directions to and from any location making those paper maps of days gone by obsolete.
The app allows you to choose a driving, walking or public transit option as to however you are traveling, and it calculates the distance and time it will take to get there.
Applications like Google Maps have skyrocketed us into the next century and created this new way of traveling.
4. Banking application–
Whatever bank you have, be sure to download their mobile application. Most banks today have a mobile app to make banking easier on the go and as stress free as possible.
With a mobile banking app, you can keep track of your accounts to make sure you are spending what you should while you are traveling, make deposits of checks, transfer money, and so much more all at the touch of your fingertips.
This kind of application makes ensures a relaxing travel experience when you know and have control of your finances while on the go.
5. TripAdvisor–
TripAdvisor is the ultimate go to Smartphone application while traveling.
The user can search their current location or other locations to find hotels, restaurants, things to do, and flights along with consumer reviews.
This app has a little bit of everything and serves as an excellent travel tool for your next excursion.
6. Yelp–
Yelp serves to give the user the ins and outs of any travel location.
Need a drugstore? Search it on Yelp. Need an auto repair shop? Search it on Yelp.
Like some of the other apps, Yelp does offer restaurant options and reviews, but Yelp is so much more than that. Almost anything you need in a given location can be found on Yelp.
Next time you are out of town and need a quick haircut and color, search Yelp. The app will be sure to point you in the right direction.
7. GasBuddy–
Granted this application only applies if you are driving to your travel destination, but it is one of the best resources while traveling.
No more guessing which interstate exit has the cheapest gasoline prices, GasBuddy does the work for you. The user chooses which kind of fuel they want and whether they would like the locations to come up by the closest in distance or by the price of the fuel.
The app offers a listing of the service stations or a visual map so the user can see where the stations are in relation to their location.
20 years ago who would have ever thought we would have the technology like these phone apps to meet our traveling needs?
What phone apps do you use most when traveling?
Morgan Large loves to explore the world. She’s traveled across the United States and to 11 countries.
Originally from Ohio, Morgan currently lives in Arkansas with her Australian Shepherd, Oxley.
A graduate student at the University of Arkansas, Morgan’s studies are focused in agricultural communications. Her blog, RazorBuck: A Midwestern girl living in a Southern world highlights her adventures in photography, cooking and travel.
For more travel tips, check out these posts”;.