Travel Apps

By Wayne Maruna

I write this after having just returned from a 2,400 mile road trip necessitated by the desire to see family members dispersed across the mid-south due to job requirements.  It’s a sad but familiar tale in our mobile society.  While taking the family car deprives the TSA airport agents of sights they’d probably rather not see in their scanners anyway, it does mean we can pack all sorts of stuff that we’d otherwise be paying $70 baggage fees for.  For the modern, connected family, that pile of stuff includes a laptop, iPad, smart phone, and GPS.

 There were several applications we found very useful on this and past trips.  You may want to explore them for yourself the next time you’re putting the ol’ swim trunks in the duffel bag.

 Trip Advisor is a great source of information, a collection of reviews of restaurants, hotels, and attractions, posted by users like you and me.  You search by city to find what you are looking for.  If using a laptop, you can go to www.tripadvisor.com to do your search.  If you are using an iPad or smart phone, go to your device’s ‘store’ and look for the free Trip Advisor app to download and install.  I always check out hotels and attractions on Trip Advisor before making a commitment.  Trip Advisor is not a perfect resource, because it reflects ‘different strokes for different folks’.  You’ll find diametrically opposed opinions on just about anything, which will leave you scratching your head. Still, ratings are aggregated into average scores which should prove helpful. Links can also direct you to the address and phone number of the location in which you are interested.

 If you’re going to Orlando to visit a certain mouse, you’ll likely find Disney World by Undercover Tourist very helpful. This is a smart phone app that gives you an indication of how crowded each of the four parks are, so you can make an informed decision on what direction to head off to on any given day.  Even better, you’ll find up to date wait times for each ride throughout the day, so after you’ve grabbed your Fast Passes, you can decide your best ride route to take.  The wait time updates depend on the army of users to tap in the latest posted times at the rides, so this does require some interactive participation.  But it’s reasonably accurate and very helpful.  The app also provides on-premise restaurant info.

 Getting wherever you’re going is supposed to be half the fun (yeah, right) but sometimes things don’t go according to plan.  If you’re a AAA member, you’ll want to load up your smart phone with one of the several AAA apps, like TripTik to have your route info easily at hand, or the AAA Roadside Assistance app in case things really go sour.  Make sure to set up your profile with membership number before heading off.  The roadside assistance app is handy to have even around town if bad luck befalls.

 If you’re directionally challenged and you don’t have a stand-alone GPS device, put a GPS app on your smart phone.  Google’s Navigation app provides spoken turn by turn instructions, assuming you have GPS capability on your phone.  The spoken voice sounds pretty robotic, but with some imagination and better hearing than I have, you’ll find the app quite useful.  My son has ditched his dedicated GPS in favor of the handy nature of a GPS unit built into his phone.  And you can’t beat the usual Google price of free, plus it’s always up to date.

 So you’ve been cruising around and you think that maybe you could see yourself living in the area you’re exploring.  That’s when you’ll make use of your Trulia app for your phone.  It’s like having a realtor in your pocket.  OK, maybe that doesn’t sound like the greatest thing in the world, but with Trulia and your phone’s GPS capability, the app will alert you to the location of homes for sale in the exact area you are, and even display the address and asking price, along with a photo of the property, a detailed listing, and broker contact info.  No need to get out of the car for one of those data sheets.

 Finally, because you live in the real world, you may want to install SitOrSquat on your smart phone.  Hey, when you’re on the go, sometimes you just gotta go.  It’s sponsored by Charmin – I’m not making this up - if that helps you understand what sort of info the app provides.  The program does require you to log into your Facebook account, which somehow seems apropos.  Toilet/Bathroom Finder is a competing app which gets better user reviews, but while the name is more descriptive, it’s not nearly as entertaining.

 So while the cost and hassle of flying may result in using transportation methods that harken back a half century to when my dad bundled up his family in the old Chevy and drove from Ohio to Florida before the interstate system came to be, the wonder of electronics is helping to take some of the uncertainty out of our wanderings.  Plus, the person not driving gets to play Angry Birds!