The right smartphone or tablet app can make travel that much easier – something Baby Boomers are well aware of. Travellers over 60 have shown us they’re a tech-savvy bunch who embrace technology in order to make their trip easier and more enjoyable. Here are the 10 apps you said you can’t live without.
Tripit is great for keeping all of your travel plans in one place. You can load in your itinerary and travel documents as well as the documents of your travel partners. You can also share this information with anyone, such as people back home so they know where you are. Tripit can be synced to other apps in your phone, too, such as your calendar and emails so everything is in one place. Travel at 60 reader, Janet, a traveller who uses the app, said it comes in handy after her holiday as well. “After the trip I use it to confirm dates and places for my scrapbook journaling … love it,” she said.
Pauline says she uses CityMaps2Go because it allows her to download maps of the cities she’s visiting so when you’re there and don’t have internet access, you can use the maps offline. Google Maps has a similar function where you can download maps and use them offline. Find out how to do that here.
Rome2rio is an app that will help you plan the best way to get from A to B in any given place. Just type in the place you want to go and it will come up with plane, train, bus, car, ferry, bike sharing, driving and walking options. It lets you view previous searches offline to refer to as well.
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The TripAdvisor app is a great tool to see what other travellers think of hotels and restaurants. You can see photos others have posted of the hotel or restaurant that will often paint a more accurate picture than the company’s own professional photography. You can see how other people have rated their stay or meal, which then ranks the place out of five stars. Look for places with lots of good reviews as these will often be the most reputable and reliable places.
Travelling to countries where you don’t speak the language can be tricky. Thankfully, if you need to ask where the toilet is or figure out a menu that isn’t in English, the Google Translate app can be a lifesaver. You can type in what you’d like to say or use your phone’s camera to hover over foreign text to have it translated. Amazing! It also has an offline function for 52 different languages. Jenny said it was enormously helpful. “Could not have travelled in Russia without it,” she said.
Geospike is your pocket travel journal without having to carry an extra book around. Log where you’ve been, add photos and write comments about your day and the places you’ve been. At the end of the trip you’ll have a map of your journey full of photos and memories.
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The Trivago app is handy for comparing hotel prices on the go. Simply type in the destination you’d like to stay in and see tonnes of hotel deals. The app is affiliated with booking apps such as booking.com and wotif and it will redirect you to book if you click on the deal.
Whatsapp offers a free service to keep in touch with friends and family with messaging and calling services. The messages are secured with encryption, so no third party can read or listen to them. Think of it as a more private version of Facebook messenger.
This camping app is for Aussies who like to hit the road. It provides travellers with up-to-date information about campgrounds, caravan parks, day-use areas and points of interest. Download your points of interest before you leave home and you won’t have to worry about Wi-Fi or phone signal, either. Once you’ve found a campsite through the search function, it will provide you with directions as well.
If you have a smartphone, chances are you already have a world clock function within your clock app that came with the phone. Open your clock app and check the bottom left corner – it should say ‘world clock’. If your phone or tablet doesn’t have the function, there are many free world clock apps available for download.