If your upcoming vacation plans include international travel, some great FREE mobile apps will help you save time, money and stress before, during and after your trip. I rely on these as a bona fide road warrior.
For most of us, the basic free versions are enough, or you can opt to upgrade to paid versions for additional features.
ecoxplorer travel tips:
renew your Passport now
avoiding identity theft on the road
Money Matters
XE Currency For some of us, figuring out the cost of Euros, Pesos or Rands is easy. The rest of us need this app, which updates in real time and can display multiple currencies simultaneously. The basic version, which includes most popular is FREE or you upgrade to the $2.29 paid version to monitor additional currencies. You can also check the XE website.
Get Organized
TripIt This travel organizer is especially helpful if you are traveling with a group of family or friends. Everybody can add their various hotel, flight, car rental, concert and restaurant reservations to a single email address and get a single digital itinerary that tracks everybody. An added feature is alert for airline gate changes. The basic version is FREE, or upgrade to the $49 annual subscription that adds fare refund alerts, seat assignments, and allows you to keep track of your rewards points and miles. Download TripIt
Say What?
Google Translate Want to know how to say ‘Where is the bathroom?” in Swahili or Latvian, or translate road signs so you don’t make a wrong turn? Then this app is for you, loaded with more than 100 languages. Perhaps its most handy feature allows you to tap the camera icon on your phone or tablet and hold it up to a menu or description of an art work in a museum, and see a translation. It’s FREE and offers language help for words or phrases you speak, type or draw on your device’s screen. I also use it often on my desktop, also FREE. Download Google Translate
Bravolol This app company puts basic foreign phrases and vocabulary on your device, and also speaks it aloud so you know how to pronounce it. Thank you. Download individual languages FREE including French, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic, or upgrade to the $4.99 paid version for additional categories such as “driving” and “sightseeing.” There’s also a FREE general all-purpose phrasebook with multiple languages.
What to Wear Today
MyRadar NOAA Radar Pro This weather app has accurate hourly and weekly forecasts, which you can customize for forecasts including rain, snow and fog. The basic version is FREE, or upgrade tothe $1.99 version, which is ad-free and has seven-day forecasts (the free version has three). The paid version also has severe weather notifications, including a hurricane tracker. Download for Apple devices
What’s your favorite travel app, free or not?
What do you think? We value your comments and love hearing from you.