Showing posts with label TROPICAL GETAWAY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TROPICAL GETAWAY. Show all posts

Friday 4 November 2016

A Tropical Getaway: 7 Apps for Easier Travel Planning


In several recent commercial spots, JetBlue has been bragging about its efficiency: how it helps travelers arrive at their destination before they come up with their business idea or before learning about the local animals.
It’s an odd premise because, though speed is a wonderful thing, do you really want to arrive on vacation, only to realize you know nothing about where you are? Vacation is more likely to be fun and fulfilling when you have at least a few plans, even if they’re just to lie on the beach.
What you need are some easy tools to help guide you. Before you hop on that plane to enjoy a little rest and relaxation, you’ll want to download the following great travel apps.
From scuba diving to road trips, there’s an app waiting for your next adventure.

An Approved Itinerary

One of the great challenges of going on a road trip is trying to find the best stops and figuring out how to space them as you go. Now there’s a solution: Tripsee. A crowdsourced itinerary tool, Tripsee aggregates all of the information, from location to costs and hours, while also plugging in your hotel and any flights or other transit data. With insights about which spots are usually overcrowded and other knowledge you can only get from being there, Tripsee is the all-seeing app that goes anywhere you want to be.

When You’re Out of Range

Part of what makes vacationing so great is that you get to disconnect from your normal workday world. Without service, you might not be able to access your home security stream, but you also won’t have to check your work email.
The only problem with this situation is that many travel apps depend on an internet connection. For those who plan to spend their vacation on an isolated stretch of beach, however, this can pose a problem.
If you plan to be off the grid for a good portion of your trip, check out apps like Aruba’s official travel guide, which can function without an internet connection. St. Thomas has a similar app, plus advanced functionality for when you are connected, such as augmented reality tools and itinerary planning.
It’s rare to find a location-based app that doesn’t demand at least a phone signal, but they are out there.

Go Deeper

You might not be able to take your phone snorkeling and scuba diving with you, but its usefulness doesn’t have to end at water’s edge. Your phone has a lot to offer in terms of helping you plan dives, identifying the many colorful fish you will see while snorkeling, and keeping records of what you encounter down below.
DiveMate USB for Android is a perfect fit for divers of any level, and it makes it easy to transfer information between devices. Advanced divers will find a lifeline in V Planner, an app that can predict gas consumption, weather conditions, and more.

Weather the Storm

Finally, you can stop worrying about whether you’ll have sunny skies for the duration of your getaway by downloading tools that stretch a little further than your iPhone’s weather app. Leading tools include Dark Sky, a rain predictor for the notoriously rainy UK and Ireland (as well as the US), and On The Snow, a great app for avid skiers and snowboarders who want to make sure the slopes are in prime condition.
There are many other travel apps, no matter what your destination may be, so if you don’t find the solution to your vacation planning woes here, don’t worry. A quick skim of the app store is sure to turn up precisely the guide to Greenland’s tundra or outer Mongolia that you’ve been looking for.
This blog was first published on: http://smarterware.org/2016/10/tropical-getaway-7-apps-easier-travel-planning/