1. Aurora Alert
A trip to Iceland is usually planned around one major thing (epic geysers, cute ponies and blue lagoon aside). Yep, we’re talking those green tinges sprawled across the night sky like a Monet painting. You’ll be spotting Aurora Borealis like it ain’t no thang with this handy app which provides advanced forecasts, automatically alerts when auroral activity is high and shows Kp readings in your location. Genius.
Available here.
2. Adventurely
Adventurely is the ultimate bucket list matchmaker. Input your travel dates and tourist attractions you want to visit, and it matches you with other rad people who are doing the same thing. A buddy to explore a new city with > previously going solo. Bam.
It’s currently only available for New York City but they’re surely releasing more destinations as you read this. (Read: take the hint, Adventurely.)
Get it here. Like, now.
3. Postagram
Do you often take photos and then think, “damn, that’s postcard worthy!”? Or feel bad that you’re not sending enough love to Grandma?
Postagram brings the sentimental hand written postcard to the 21st century. Using photos from your camera roll, Facey or Insta account, the app creates a customised postcard you can edit on your phone, and then send to any address in the world for $1.99. Amaze.
Grab it here.
4. Bravolol
Unless you’re a polyglot, you’re going to want to learn a few phrases native to the countries you’re visiting. Bravolol has 13 languages and lets you tag your fave phrases to use, so you’ll always have a joke prepared, in any language. Make new friends, ask for directions, etc, all without needing internet. That to me spells handy, in anyone’s language.
Download here.
5. Periscope
For all the famous bloggers, photographers, ‘grammers and reviewers out there, Periscope allows you to broadcast live video out to your audience from anywhere on earth. In turn, they can “explore the world through the eyes of somebody else”. Win win.
Download here.
6. 6Hourly
It’s the bane of most in-transit people’s lives: you’ve got a red eye to catch at 11pm but you have to check out of the hotel at 10am that morning. After squeezing in another day of sightseeing, shopping and feasting, you know you’re going to arrive at the airport foul with gross hair, which trumps your chances of ever getting that upgrade.
There’s only one thing for it – 6Hourly. At the moment it’s only available in India, but deffo rolling out in other nations soon. It lets you book a hotel room for as little as six hours, meaning you can get some shut eye, a good hot shower and freshen up before that arduous flight. This app gives us calming feelings.
Grab it and never let go, here.
7. Topdeck
Introducing the brand spanking new app from yours truly.
With so many handy features, this baby is like the Swiss Army Knife of travel apps. Plug in your personal details, check your itinerary, track your holiday budget across multiple currencies, and basically plan your trip like a pro. Like a 24/7 Trip Leader, it’s got the latest trip info, weather, maps and city guides, all in the palm of your hand. Plus, you can chat with your fellow passengers and share all your pics on social (keeping your friends back home jelly, one Instagram snap at a time).
And introducing, Topdeck MOVE. A wellbeing feature of the Topdeck app, MOVE currently hosts a series of Bucket List Runs in iconic cities such as London, Barcelona, Berlin, Amsterdam and Rome. Available both online and offline, the runs provide Topdeck travellers with safe, scenic routes, which pass through some hidden gems. Stay fit(ish) between all that gelato AND tick off bucket list items while you’re at it. Yes please.
Download it here.
8. Diptic
Diptic lets you make a collage of multiple images within one frame, and houses a huge range of shapes to lay your images within (i.e. your image can sit within a peace sign as the cut-out). It’s got the whole kit and caboodle with filters and elements too – you can change the border texture, colour and size.
Here and here for a well-spent buck.
9. Carousel by Dropbox
Getting your stuff stolen on holidays/running out of memory is the worst, so avoid the agony of never seeing your precious images come to life with Carousel. It handily organises your images into a gallery, and is even linked to the Dropbox cloud so you can keep your images forever. FOREVER.
Available for iTunes and GooglePlay.
10. Rome to Rio
Rome to Rio pulls together all possible routes to get from one place to another, wherever you are in the world. Visiting France and want to check out Croatia before you head home? R2R will gather flights, trains, buses, ferries and water taxis to choose from for the journey.
*No confirmation that you can travel across a sea on a water taxi.
11. Skyscanner
Skyscanner is literally the BEST app to look for cheap flights. It pulls up millions of flights to find the cheapest one, yet unlike some other apps, it also gets info from smaller airlines and can even search from wherever you’re taking off from to “everywhere”, as in, anywhere in the world. It’s like the mystery adventure you never had.
On iTunes and Google Play.
