Eleven Apps to Download Before Your Next Trip

Leaning on your Virtuoso travel advisor for planning and managing your trip is a great idea, but frankly, we have a lot of help to get you where you're going. Fact is, we have our own helpers when we travel, and these apps are among them. I wrote about 10 other phone apps here, so check those out first if you missed them almost two years ago.

Those are still among my favorites, and now add these to the list:

Smart Traveler

This is the only app I'll repeat from my first article; I think it's that important. This app connects travelers to the U.S. State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which lets you register a trip with the nearest international embassy or consulate so they can receive safety alerts or be contacted in the event of an emergency. It’s a must for solo travel.

Flyover Country

This app fits the bill for education and entertainment in flight. Funded by the National Science Foundation, Flyover Country is like an educational Google Maps. Travelers input their flight (or driving) route and the app highlights the geological features they're passing over (or by) in real time, from landscape features to fossil sites, ocean core samples, and more. For example, your flight from Seattle to Florida will produce a laundry list of mountains, rivers, and canyons – and points out a spot outside of Tupelo, Mississippi, where plesiosaur fossils were once discovered.

Duolingo Brush up on more than 30 languages with which "gamifies learning via interactive themed modules and quizzes". You probably won’t become a fluent speaker if you're only using Duolingo, but even ten minutes a day for a few weeks can help you polish your German beer hall order or pick up some “restaurant Italian” before a trip to Rome.

Google Translate

Need in-the-moment language assistance? Google Translate is loaded with translation capabilities for more than 100 languages; travelers can also snap photos of signs in foreign languages for translation and record their own voice and have it translated and played back via “conversation mode.”

Tap A not-so-fun fact: More than 1 million plastic bottles are purchased every minute. Enter Tap, which aims to mitigate the trend by revealing its own nearby filtered-water-refilling stations. The app guides travelers to where they can refill worldwide.

Seafood Watch Created by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch provides up-to-date recommendations for consuming sustainable seafood and sushi. Learn which fish species you should avoid eating (yellowtail flounder and Pacific bluefin tuna, for example), and find restaurants where you’re traveling that serve ocean-friendly options.

Spinlister

This global peer-to-peer bike-rental platform makes it easier to go car-free – and experience destinations like a local – on your next vacation. Search by city or zip code to connect with a bike owner nearby, and the app will handle the rest of the rental logistics.

Pzizz Better sleep comes with the push of a button and psycho-acoustic principles in the science-backed Pzizz app. Set the timer and snooze away to a soothing dreamscape that algorithmically mixes relaxing music, sound effects, and narrations; you’ll wake to a built-in alarm feeling refreshed and ready to roll for the day's activities.

Insight Timer Social media gets mindful with Insight Timer, which connects meditators around the globe in like-minded community groups. The app offers thousands of free music tracks and guided meditations led by top experts and teachers.

Fooducate

Want to know how many grams of trans fat are in a fast-food sandwich or how well that energy bar fits in with your keto diet? Fooducate easily tracks food intake by scanning the bar code on tens of thousands of items, analyzing nutrition panels and ingredient lists, then providing personalized nutritional information and healthier alternatives.

A fitness app

I'm not going to recommend one here. I've used many in addition to my gym membership, and I think that the one you like best is the one you'll use. Your app store has a bazillion of them, so if you cant decide I'll gonna throw out some names - FitOn, 8Fit, Asana Rebel for you yogis, Plank Workout, Workout.

That's all for now. I suppose I'll visit this topic again in another two years. Stick with me in the meantime.

'til next week!

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