How can you use GPS to track a lost passport? What is the best way to make free phone calls, video calls or send text messages anywhere in the world? Why is a water bottle that turns local tap water into safe drinking water one of the most valuable things you can pack? Learn how to travel smarter in 2014 with these 10 travel app and gadget recommendations by technology expert Melissa Thompson.
Viber App + (friend with) Viber App = Free Calls (Seriously)
The Viber app allows users to make free phone calls, video calls or send text messages, over 4G or WiFi, anywhere in the world, free of charge (as long as both users are connecting through the Viber application). The app is available on all mobile devices and with 200 million active global users, has become one of the largest disruptors in the online global communication space.
(Free; runs on: Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Phone)
GPS for your passport
Despite the finger scanners and facial recognition currently in use, travelers cannot travel internationally without that antiquated booklet. Avoid the last minute, “I can’t find my passport!” craze with a DIY digitization. Tile, one of Kickstarter’s hottest projects of the year, is a matchbook-sized, thin, white plastic square. This self-adhesive device, equipped with GPS, allows any item to be tracked using the owners smartphone app and Tile’s low-Bluetooth technology. Can’t find your passport? If prepared and equipped with a Tile affixed to the passport’s back or case, the owner can located the passport on a map and remotely send the device a signal to emit a sound, hopefully putting an end to the search-and-rescue. This simple device is the “find my iPhone,” for all physical items. Tile, which does not require battery changes or charging, can be pre-ordered for summer 2014 delivery. Tile for travel could keep your passport and checked-luggage always in your pocket. ($19.95 for one Tile, $59.85 for four Tiles, thetileapp.com)
Rove hands-free, with your automated travel diary
The next time relatives ask to hear all about your trip? Just “Share” from the Rove app and email a link to the trip’s timeline. This free app is an automated timeline, which tracks users’ movements through GPS, estimates the method of travel, and inserts pictures, maps and locations into a timeline. The result is a beautiful visual travel journal– no inputs required. Want to keep Rove personal? The app is 100% private unless users choose to share. (Free in the iTunes store)
Stay hydrated and healthy with TSA approved LifeStraw by Vestergaard
Described as “one of the ten things that will change the way we live” by Forbes, take this (empty!) water bottle on the road, mitigate the risk of illness, and turn local tap water anywhere in the world into safe drinking water. The filtration technology integrated into the LifeStraw Go water bottle reduces the risk of bacterial and parasitic water-borne disease transmission. Through advanced filtration technology, water is forced through fibers that only allow the clean water to pass through, keeping contaminants away from consumption. ($34.95,buylifestraw.com or at select retail stores)
Bring extra juice
There are many options on the market to pack power for on-the-go charging. Dark Reservoir’s sleekly designed device is on the higher end of the price rage, but with the pocket-sized device you can quadruple the power of your portable device and charge anything with a micro-USB charger.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Depending on your temperament, trip planning is a process nearly as much fun as the vacation itself, or it’s a daunting task better left to professionals. If you’re like me, it involves a bit of both.
But no matter where you stand on the topic, here’s the truth: modern trip planning = technology.
From booking flights and finding the best places to eat and drink, to staying informed with mobile alerts for flight changes or delays, technology is changing the way we travel.
And with new apps and digital travel tools being released daily.
How can travelers keep up with it all?
Discover my recommendations for 10 Travel Technology Tools for Easier Trip Planning now online at TheWayfarers.com.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
One of my favorite yearly projects is creating a gift guide for travelers. It gets me in the spirit of giving and reminds me how much fun it is to share cool products that help make exploring easier and more enjoyable.
Wondering what to get the traveler in your clan? Check out my short-list of travel gifts now online at THE ADVENTURE BLOG or view the collection in the slide show below. For more ideas, see last year’s list as well.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Is technology the enemy on vacation? Maybe. Maybe not.
Once-upon-a-time only business travelers tethered themselves to BlackBerrys and laptops. Nowadays staying connected via technology is an indispensable part of most people’s journeys.
But, technology should work for you, not the other way around.
Check out these 5 tips to help you stay connected on vacation while still embracing the moment.
Read more at The Adventure Blog
photo via istockphoto.com
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Point. Snap. Postcard. A new iPhone app makes sending vacation postcards as easy as a push of the finger. World Nomads (http://www.worldnomads.com/) announces the WorldNomads.com Postcard App for the iPhone thats guaranteed to secure travel memories on refrigerator doors.
Here’s how it works. Users simply download the free app from iTunes. Using the app via PayPal they purchase stamps (the cost of $2 per stamp works for delivery anywhere in the world). Users then snap a photo that is then turned into a postcard image. Type a message for the back. Add a delivery address and then submit everything electronically. The postcard is printed in the USA on real high-quality gloss paper, stamped and then sent to the address on the card anywhere in the world.
“It’s that easy,” explains Chris Noble, general manager of World Nomads. “The cost is comparable to locally purchasing a card and postage, but without the Post Office lines!”
When making stamp purchases there’s also an opportunity to donate to one of World Nomads’ Footprints Projects that help change lives by funding community development projects that fight poverty worldwide. See: http://www.footprintsnetwork.org/openprojects.aspx.
For more information visit: http://journals.worldnomads.com/travel-tips/story/58495/Worldwide/Point-Snap-Postcard-make-real-postcards-with-your-iPhone
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
A friend just turned me onto a fabulous new resource that if you’re into traveling and photography you’ll want to know about…
Photography for Travellers is a new website that helps people to get more from their photos. It’s not a technical site for geeks, but a rich source of philosophies and useful tips on how to take better photos when you travel.
by Ewen BellOffering information and inspiration about the world of photography outside the studio, PhotographyforTravellers.com is a fabulous free resource where photography and travel enthusiasts can learn more about taking great pictures.
It’s about getting real with the camera - no models and lights, just real life and lots of advice on how to capture the emotion of your journeys on digital film.
Ideas we can all use to bring home photos that reveal the true spirit of the places we visit.
Developed by travel journalist Ewen Bell (named 2007 Travel Photographer of the Year by the Australian Society of Travel Writers), Photography for Travellers has great, easy-to-follow advice, and anyone can take something away to improve as a photographer.
Check it out at www.PhotographyforTravellers.com and let me know what you think using the comment link below.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".