Five Fabulous Apps for Travel Which are Not Technically Travel Apps

You can find articles about great travel apps all over the Internet and in every travel magazine but this is not one of those articles. There are some truly great travel apps out there which have transformed travel and made it much easier to map your routes and figure out how to get around and what to do when you reach a destination. This article is not about those apps because I never think about how helpful those apps might be until I am in a situation where I need one and I have no wif connection so they take forever to download and by that time I have already solved the problem myself.

Although, in hindsight, I can see how it would be helpful to have some apps you might theoretically use at some point in the future. Food for thought.

I’m sure you are much more app-savvy than me and have already downloaded all those apps.

This an article about apps that I use when I travel which I have already downloaded so I can actually use them and they are extremely  helpful.

I am not that person who has hundreds of apps on their iPhone because they are just so super cool and at some point in the future, you just might possibly have a use for that app. That person would be my husband. I am the person who has just a few apps and they are apps that I actually use.

This is a totally foreign concept to him as he loves to page through all of his hundreds of apps, gloating and laughing maniacally as he does so.

OK, he doesn’t technically do that but it does frustrate him immeasurably that I don’t share his love of app hoarding. However, here’s some that I actually find helpful.

TV Guide. When some people travel, they spend hardly any time in their hotel room. They are dancing, partying, and generally having a raucous and unimaginably merry time. Those people are not us. We are the people who, after indulging in a perfectly lovely dinner, go back to our room to put on our pajamas and watch tv. So it’s particularly frustrating to spend time when we are traveling to keep switching channels trying to figure out what is on and which channel it is on. This is when the TV Guide app comes in handy. Install it on your iPhone or Android phone or, as we prefer since it’s easier to read, on your iPad. Just program it with the local zip code and the provider and you have a handy and updated reference for your evening of tv watching.

Grocery Gadget. When we travel, our accommodations of choice always have a kitchen or at least kitchenette or possibly only a fridge. We love to have snacks and drinks in our room because it saves money on eating out and it’s nice to have plenty of snacks for all that tv watching! When you realize you are running out of snacks and drinks or even something as basic as shampoo or sunscreen, just add it to the grocery gadget app. One of the nicest things about this app is that you can put it on both your phones and iPads and it will update the app from any location no matter which one of you is updating it. This does away with those pesky arguments about why didn’t you put those barbecued potato chips on the list because you knew I wanted some because he knows perfectly well how to put it on the list himself. Anyway, I prefer sour cream and onion chips and those I will put on the list.

Around Me. I was introduced to this app recently by my app-obsessed husband when we both decided we wanted a specific fast food location for lunch and wondered if one was close by. Voila! The Around Me app tells you what restaurants are nearby, how far away they might be, and has a link directly to their website so you can check out the menu. We also found this app helpful recently because it lists local movie theatres, how far away they are, and even what movies are playing at what time. The app also includes local gas stations, supermarkets, hospitals, etc.

IMDB. Since we are avid tv viewers and movie goers, naturally this results in some arguments about who that particular actress is, what that actor last starred in, and just how old that actress is who looks 20 but must be at least 60. These arguments are easily solved with this app which has all kinds of info about tv, movies and the actors and actresses you are arguing about. We might have been known to keep a list of how many times each one of us has been right and I’m sure I am the winner on that list. Since I am writing this article, I’m definitely going to say I am.

Trailers. This app is wonderful especially if, like us, you adore movie previews and you would never dream of arriving at a movie late as this would mean you miss the previews. Those people who arrive late to the theater in the middle of the previews and have the nerve to walk in front of the screen or, even more audaciously, clamber over you to get to an unoccupied seat should be immediately be removed from the theater.  Along with those people who persist in checking text messages during the movie. Actually, there should be a master list of those people like the list of no-fly terrorists the airlines keep and they should never be admitted. Let them go home and watch television and read all the texts they want. This app is all about the previews and you can easily while away a substantial amount of time deciding what movies you want to see and wondering why in the world anyone would want to see that particular atrocity, which then promptly wins an Academy Award.

What about you? Any fabulous non-travel apps which will work for travel you would like to share?

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