- Smartphones have changed the way we do almost everything.
We start and end each day with them,
propped up on our stomachs while we lay in bed,
and they're never really that far from our hands
for the remainder of the day.
One of the most direct benefits of having a smart phone
is the availability of information at a moment's notice.
And there's a particular time that
that can't be anymore beneficial,
when traveling abroad.
So in this video I thought I'd show you
some of the best apps for your iPhone when traveling.
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It would be hard to find someone
who isn't familiar with Skype.
And since it's free, it's definitely a must have.
Skype allows you to communicate
with text, videos, photos, et cetera,
like most other modern chatting apps.
The big benefit of Skype, though,
is that you can use it to make voice calls
to actual phone numbers,
and not just to other people with that app.
When you're connected to Wi-Fi,
which is increasingly available throughout the world,
those Skype to Skype connections are entirely free.
And Skype to cell or landline connections are super cheap
compared to the crazy roaming rates
that you'll pay if you try to just make a call normally.
Citymapper is a pretty good a to b travel app
that will help you get from place to place,
while in a city you don't quite know.
It has an ever growing list of cities and countries,
and is one of the best tools
to help you utilize public transportation.
You'll find real time departure time tables
and information on delays, transit maps,
bike routing, bike sharing services,
which is one of my favorite ways
to get around when I travel, frankly.
And Citymapper even connects
with a few ride sharing services as well.
Airbnb is a household name,
and with good reason.
Whether it's as a benefit to travel,
or to potential hosts,
Airbnb has changed the paradigm
for people looking for short term stays
in different cities or countries.
When you're abroad and looking for places to stay,
Airbnb undercuts hotels by offering far cheaper prices,
and typically a more local like feel,
that I frankly really appreciate.
I pretty much exclusively use Airbnb for traveling,
when I'm staying in different places,
and I use hotels for my backup
if I can't find a good Airbnb.
As an added incentive,
Airbnb recently added a feature called Trips.
Which offers curated events you can partake in
with local guides.
I haven't used any of these yet,
as I prefer to have less of a plan when I travel,
but I have to admit that some of them sound kinda cool.
Now if you're traveling for business,
Expensify will save your life.
Expensify makes it easy to create an expense report
and start adding receipts as you go.
Whether you type in the information
or take a picture with your phone's camera,
which is super convenient,
the information is automatically scanned
into an easy to read report
that is ready to pass along for reimbursement
to whomever you need to do that to.
For anyone that has dealt
with a messy stack of receipts
to try and get travel reimbursements from
your company's financial department,
Expensify will become your best friend.
So some were initially skeptical about
whether travelers would wanna
delay making hotel reservations to the last minute,
but Hotel Tonight,
an app built entirely around this concept,
has proven that that concern isn't quite right.
Hotel Tonight has had great success
getting consumers to buy into their business concept.
Providing them a great deal on hotel rooms
that haven't been sold for either the same or next day.
And judging by the reviews,
it seems like people really like it.
The upshot is that consumers get great deals,
hotels get to fill their empty rooms,
searches for rooms can be done by more than just the city,
you can do things like attractions,
distance to xyz, et cetera.
And it can help you choose where you wanna stay.
If you can deal with the inherent fear
of waiting til last minute,
and aren't quite a type a person,
it can help you get some good deals on hotels.
Now I still go for Airbnb first,
but it's not a bad last minute backup.
Now of course none of this would be any good
if you have to talk to people while abroad,
and don't speak the language.
That's where Google Translate comes in.
It provides text translations
between 103 different languages online,
and 52 languages that you can save offline.
Which is really important when you don't always have
an internet connection where you are,
and still need to ask for the bathroom.
In addition to typing translations,
Google Translate provides instant camera translations,
a conversation mode that actually gives
two way instant speech translation
in 32 different languages,
and even has a handwriting translator
that can work in 93 languages.
It's kind of nuts, actually.
I'm still waiting for the day that like,
we put something in our ear,
and it just like instantly translates as people talk.
And you can maybe like give another one to the other person,
and then they can hear you.
That's cool.
I think that's coming.
But in the meantime, Google Translate.
By the way,
if you're in the U.S. and planning to travel overseas,
you should probably check out my
how to use your phone overseas video.
It'll show you how to use your phone overseas,
but without incurring those crazy expensive carrier charges
that we always get charged when we travel.
And there you go guys,
let me know what you think of this list.
I'm sure I've left some off that you guys like,
so please leave those in the comments below.
I love to see what your favorites are,
and I'm sure other people watching this video
would like to see them as well.
Now if you liked this video,
please thumbs up it or share it,
it is greatly appreciated.
And if you want more videos like this,
please check out my channel.
There's a link somewhere around here.
And if you like what you see there, please subscribe.
And as always, thanks for watching.
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