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Aside from your passport, a smartphone may be the most essential and versatile item on your packing list. It can help you find your way around unfamiliar cities, figure out how to order lunch in the local language and even plan your daily outfits – it’s the modern-day equivalent to a Swiss army knife. These are our favourite apps to make your next holiday more efficient, seamless and memorable:
PackPoint creates a customised packing list for your holiday, factoring variables like weather, types of activities, and the duration of your holiday. Whether you prefer to fling everything in a bag at the last minute and hope for the best, or you never leave home without colour coded spreadsheets and carefully curated outfits, the app is designed to make packing for holidays painless.
For an even more customised packing plan, try the Whering app: it lets you upload images of everything in your wardrobe, then mixes and matches to create a day-by-day style guide.
If you love travelling but struggle with adjusting to different time zones, the TimeShifter app might be the ideal solution. It uses sleep science to create personalised sleep and light exposure plans, complete with reminders that keep you on track, so you arrive at your destination feeling refreshed and ready to go.
In many cities, knowing how to make the most of the local public transport network can make all the difference if you want a truly authentic experience. Apps like CityMapper and Rome2Rio are packed with detailed information on how to get from A to B using different methods of transport – including buses, trains, planes and on foot – across town or across the world.
If you’re laden with luggage or prefer a more personalised, door-to-door form of transport, ride-sharing apps like Uber, Grab (Asia) and Lyft (North America) make it easy to find and book private transfers. Google Maps and Waze are particularly helpful on self-drive holidays, using real-time traffic data to help you figure out the best route while avoiding traffic congestion and other hazards.
Splitwise makes it easy to manage your holiday finances and share incidental costs like meals and taxis. It keeps track of expenses and automatically calculates each person’s share, tracks who owes money to whom and will even send a gentle reminder to ensure that everyone pays their share.
XE.com is another handy travel tool to add to your home screen, making it easy to convert local pricing to Australian currency. You can even arrange an international money transfer if you find yourself in need of extra cash for a major souvenir purchase.
The Travelex Travel Money app also lets you order foreign currency for pickup at a local Travelex branch. If you opt for a Travel Money Card, loaded with multiple currencies that you can use for purchases and ATM withdrawals while travelling, you can easily track your transactions via the app.
Forget about flicking frantically through a dog-eared phrase book to find the Kyrgyz word for pharmacy: the Google Translate app ensures you can ask for directions or strike up a conversation anywhere in the world without fear of miscommunication. The app supports voice input and output so your new friends can speak directly into your device and you’ll receive an instant translation. The Camera Translation function is great for translating signs, menus and documents – just take a picture of the text, and the app will do the rest.
PolarSteps is a fantastic app for keeping a detailed record of each holiday and sharing the highlights with your friends. It lets you automatically track each stage of your trip, journal your experiences, organise your photos, and share real time updates with loved ones at home. You don’t need phone service or Wi-Fi to use many of the app’s features, and when you return home, you can use it to create a stunning hardcover book that captures all the highlights of your adventure.
Your mobile phone provider can’t always provide the roaming and data you need to stay connected while you’re travelling, and finding the best option for a local SIM card can be a hassle. One popular solution is the aloSIM app, which lets you buy and activate eSIM data plans for a variety of destinations – you just choose the data plans that best suit your itinerary, activate online, and you’re all set.
With more than 400,000 hiking, running and mountain biking trails in its every-growing database, AllTrails is one of our favourite ways to get off the beaten track in a new destination. You can search for trails in a specific location, then filter the results according to activity type, difficulty level, distance, average time and elevation gain. User-generated photos and reviews ensure that you know what to expect on the trails, and you can use the app’s GPS capability to track your own progress in real time. If you’re planning to head into terrain where coverage is patchy, it’s worth paying for the upgrade to the Pro version so that you can download maps for offline use.
When you’re ready to start planning your next adventure, Wanderlog can serve as a scrap book for all your ideas and inspiration. It will search the web for recommendations on everything from the best brunch spots to must-do attractions, which you can add to your trip to create a day-by-day itinerary. The app integrates with Google Maps so you can plot all your planned stops on a map and get directions between locations. There’s a budgeting feature that helps keep track of costs, and you can invite travelling companions to collaborate on the planning process.
When all the planning and packing is complete, there are countless apps that can help you to manage every aspect of your itinerary. Airline apps provide easy access to schedule changes while streamlining the check-in process, while apps like Trip Plans and TripIt allow you to integrate various aspects of your holiday, from restaurant reservations to day trips.
Travel tool apps are revolutionising the way we travel, adding greater flexibility, connectivity, and enjoyment to every holiday experience – and you don’t have to be a tech genius to appreciate their usefulness.
The TravelManagers app is simple to use – in fact, it’s almost like taking your personal travel manager on holiday with you. You can view every component of your itinerary, including flights, accommodation, car hire, trains, cruises and tours, plus you can browse local destination guides and access useful travel tools such as currency conversion, maps and weather forecasts.
There’s a secure travel locker where you can store valuable information such as passport, visa and driver’s licence details. Best of all, the app makes it easy to get in touch with your personal travel manager if your plans change or you need assistance while you’re away.
TravelManagers respects and honours the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands where we work and gather, and those we visit.
