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One of the things I love most about summer is the opportunity to travel. This year we took several trips including Cabo San Lucas,  Santa Barbara, and New York. We also recently took a wonderful trip to Monaco and Italy. I like to maximize our travel time so I use the help of technology to do so. There are a few timesaving apps that I love to use and I would recommend them all for travel. These travel apps all saved me hours of searching and I think you will find them helpful. By the way, nearly all of these apps are free!

My Favorite Timesaving Travel Apps

TripCase

This app is great to organize your trip and keep many details that you want to keep handy all in one handy app. You can incorporate your travel details by forwarding confirmation emails to [email protected]  or you can input them yourself. The app creates a detailed daily itinerary with your hotel, airline, rental care, reservations etc. all in one handy spot. You can also share travel information with others and access your trip information offline.

 

 

Wifi Finder

This free app will help you find free and public WiFi near you.

 

It will give you a list of nearby locations where you can join. This is really helpful because you can not only tell what network is nearby, it will also tell what type of establishment that is offering it. I tend to like hotels, coffee shops and major restaurants. It will also show you the locations in a map format.

GlobeConvert Currency and Units

This currency converter app was so very helpful in Europe. Yes, you could compute the number of dollars something that is 19.95 Euros in your head if you happen to know the daily rate, but this app does it quickly and also computes dollars into Euros, or Yen or Deutsche marks  . The list of currencies available on this app are more tha

n I will ever need. Also, this app converts Celsius to Fahrenheit for your weather needs and includes several weight, speed and time conversions. This app costs $.99 but it is worth it, in my opinion.  

Yelp

If you do not know what Yelp is I will be surprised, but just in case, it is a great app to find local restaurants, bars, shopping, hospitals, etc. Yelp uses your location to give you a list of recommended places (based on user feedback) and also shows you the information with a map for those of us that like visual tools. What I also love about this app, is that you can filter it with types of food, what is open now, and where there are special deals. I also love to see the comments from users on menu items, discounts and tips. You can also contribute by posting your own reviews and receive discounts by checking in with the app.

ParkMohile

 

The ParkMobile app saves me time when parking because it allows you to quickly pay for on-street and garage parking without having to use a meter or kiosk. Also, ParkMobile offers parking reservations at stadium venues and parks for concerts, festivals and sporting events. I personally just discovered this app, but Parkmobile currently has 1,000,000+ parking spaces available in over 350 cities across the country and they are expanding all the time, according to their Twitter account. I have used the app and I love that you can pay electronically and even receive notifications on your phone when your time is nearly up. Then you can add money via your phone – brilliant!

 

Google Maps

Having a map in a location that you are not familiar with is priceless, in my opinion. What I like about Google maps is that you can get voice instructions one where you are trying to go whether you are driving a car, bike, walking or taking public transportation. They also offer street views photos which is great since it can be really easy to miss a location if you do not know what you are looking for. Sometimes the building or entrance is very different than what I am expecting, but now with this app. I use google maps quite a bit when I am home, for the live traffic information. I have saved a lot of time using this app.

 

One thing to note, when traveling outside of your country, you most likely will want ot restrict cellular data usage when you are not using these apps, lest you rack up loads of data charges. Be sure to check with your cellular provider for special travel options before you leave. What apps do you use when you travel?

Want to hear about other apps I love?  Click on the photo for my favorite productivity apps.