5 Essential Apps for Traveling Abroad

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{Hvar, Croatia}

En route back to Los Angeles and it's safe to say the struggle is REAL. Beyond real. The thought of going back to reality is daunting AF... 3K e-mails and counting. This trip was eye opening and inspiring in so many different ways, especially because I conquered 6 days of it by myself! A more personal post on that coming soon, but in the meantime here are the 5 apps I couldn't live without over the past 14 days (plus 3 bonus ones):

Top 5 Travel Apps

TripIt

Organizes all your travel plans in one place. This app is truly a lifesaver. As I was finalizing all my flights, train schedules, different hotels, and airbnbs, I had a minor freak out about how I was going to keep everything organized. Mentally putting everything in a timeline sounded daunting, especially with the time changes, plus having 14 days worth of tickets and confirmation numbers all in one place seemed nearly impossible. After some googling I landed on Tripit and all I can say is: best. decision. ever. After creating an account, all I had to do was fwrd all my confirmation emails to a special TripIt e-mail and the app did the work for me. It aggregates everything into a seamless timeline and stores all the information for each reservation including confirmation number, a map of the location,  contact information, flight number, etc. Additionally, I was able to share my itinerary with people which was an amazing way to make sure family and friends knew all the deets!

Google Photos

This is an app that you need ALL the time, not just for traveling. Gone are the days of hitting your iCloud/iPhone storage limits because you can just automatically back everything up to google photos and call it a day. It syncs automatically on wifi and is accessible from any device and desktop. Additionally, it creates fun animations and photo albums. The BIGGEST reason to have this app on vacay it to back up photos in case something were to happen to your phone (ie: my phone shattered half way through my trip). I made sure to sync my photos every night when I went to bed, so when my phone went to iPhone heaven, there was nothing to freak out about.

WhatsApp

Allows you to call/ text anyone who is on the app. This is great for communicating with Airbnb hosts and people who aren't on iMessage (ie: new travel friends).  Note that you still need to be on wifi to use. If you are on regular data you will use data just like any normal call or sms.

Google Maps

The key to Google Maps is the OFFLINE portion. Before we got to every city, I downloaded that city offline. This allowed me to walk around all day google mapping directions without having to depend on free wifi/using data. I mentioned via Snapchat that I also think this is a key app for traveling by yourself. Instead of holding a physical map which screams TOURIST, I had it on my phone which means I could've easily been looking at Instagram or another app.

Google Translate

Translates text, images, and voice. Like Google Maps, I downloaded Italian offline so that I could reference it whenever I needed to. Definitely a lifesaver for those times when you just need to figure out small phrases when interacting with people or what a sign actually means!

3 Bonus Apps

Spotify

 I'm lost without my tunes which is why I always download a few Spotify playlists offline for instances when I can't use data/connect on wifi. It's helpful for flights, long car rides, or just getting ready for a fun night out.

Canon Camera Connect

This is the app that connects to Canon cameras and allows remote shooting / phone uploads. I did a whole post on how to take photos remotelywhich is super helpful for traveling solo!

iBooks

 I think almost every apple device has this app, but I made sure to download all the books I wanted to read before leaving on my trip. 

Hope these help for your next adventure!

{Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy}

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let's gooooo