In our modern age of advanced technology, globetrotting is easier and more enjoyable than ever. Below you will find a few useful traveling technology tips for you and your traveling partner to consider while on the road, boat, plane, train — or maybe even camel!
Navigating a New City
Navigating a new area used to be very map dependent, which offered a laundry list of possible issues. These days, finding your way in a new city is much simpler. With the assistance of a smartphone or GPS, you can navigate through your travels about as flawlessly as possible. Smartphones allow users to select their mode of transportation as well as several different routes. They’ll also translate the names of stops for you, making navigation more possible. This is helpful because it’s to forget the native names of famous landmarks. For example, the Mona Lisa is called “La Gioconda” or “La Joconde.”
What to do Once You’ve Reached Your Destination
Your vacation wouldn’t be compete unless you got out and saw the sights. There are several websites and apps that will aggregate local businesses for you to choose from.Yelp.com and Urbanspoon.com allow people to rate and review various attractions like restaurants, specialty shops and other merchants. All you have to do is log on to the app; input the place you are visiting and indicate the type of business you are looking for. Then, you will be able to see all of the local shops in that category, which also feature star ratings from other customers. The app includes detailed reviews from others who were either pleased or dissatisfied with their experience. If urban travel is not your style, HearPlanet is a great app for discovering local natural attractions. This app even has an automation voice that will read you the Wikipedia entry on your destination. The Internet is also flooded with travel sites and blogs. Simply Googling “Hawaii hotspots” or “What to do in Chicago” will get you very far into planning an exiting trip.
Share Your Experience
A definite highlight of traveling is sharing the experience. Sharing could mean giving advice to others making a similar trip or just bragging about it to anyone who will listen. Twitter and its many companion photo apps are probably the easiest way to share your travel musings. Blogging platforms WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr allow you to easily set-up a blog for free. To further help your cultural transition, check out the World Customs app that will advise you on culturally accepted practices. Lastly, Skype is a great app if you get a bit homesick on your travels; it is a free, or at least a very inexpensive way to communicate to far off loved ones.
