By now in our digital evolution, many people have used websites and native apps to plan vacations, book hotel stays and airline tickets, or buy tickets to shows at their travel destination: Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, Priceline, TripAdvisor, and Hotels.com are among the “legacy” brands of vacation-planning technology.
In the limitless digital world, the technology and app choices around leisure and business travel are growing sharply. With plenty of summer days still ahead, here’s a look at some great technology and apps to use for vacations from the Jersey Shore to tropical locales.
Gadgets for the Beach or Pool
To make sure you’re protected from the sun, the iTanSmart app measures how much exposure you are getting based on: current UV index, environment (park, beach, yard, city), time of day, your skin type, and the type of sun protection you use. Start the app’s built-in timer when you head out and it will alert you when it’s time to go inside.
Logitech’s UE Boom “splashproof” speaker helps you enjoy your preferred tunes on these portable Bluetooth audio system anywhere–at this spa, poolside, included.
Sony’s Xperia Z1s water-resistant phone includes a 20. 7 megapixel camera and will be submerged in water around 5 feet for 30 a few minutes so just take excellent underwater pictures. Bonus: There isn’t any charge regarding international walking around.
Sennheiser’s PXC 250-II noise-canceling headsets are comfy to have on, pack easily in tiny bags, and shut the entire world out in order to snooze or even unwind without having interruption anyplace.
Other handy gadgets include portable instant routers, super-thin howacever durable laptop computer and tablet covers, travel battery chargers, as well as shockproof/waterproof smart phone cases.
Surf’s Up!
Before you hit the beach or break out the surf board, check these apps for the latest weather, UV levels, wind conditions and updates on swells at your location.
WeatherPro reports wind speeds, detailed daily weather and forecasts, and UV index by location. The SunWise UV index also suggests clothing to wear to protect you against those harmful rays.
Serious surfers will want to check in on Oakley’s Surf Report 2.0 for every pertinent surfing detail you need: swells and tide times at your location, information about weather, surf conditions, tides, current air and water temperatures, and more. Plus you can see the weather in real time by connecting to one of their 140 live streaming HD cameras (through Surfline.com).
You can get updated surfing conditions and user insights about breaks from surfers around the world at MagicSeaWeed.com, with regional reports on New Jersey and New York beaches.
Boaters Beware
It’s important to know about high and low tides before you head out; Tides Near Me is a simple app that give you tidal conditions around the world, for up to seven days in advance. It also gives you times for sun and moon rising and setting.
Designated Driver Service
Too much Beach Blanket Bingo? Tap an app like Uber or STEARCLEAR and get home safely. These car services bring rides right to you and are available in many beach communities between Sandy Hook and Cape May in New Jersey and on Eastern Long Island.
Summer Camping
For those who love the great outdoors and camping trips, there are many camping apps to choose from to help you find campgrounds (Camp Finder), get recipes for campsite cooking, even apps to help you survive in the wilderness.
What Knot to Do in the Great Outdoors for the iPhone provides detailed instructions on how to tie 70 knots in six categories.
Localeikki (for iPhone/iPad) provides detailed routes for running, walking, hiking and mountain biking where you are. It allows users to upload and share favorite trails.
All Stays has a suite of apps that tell you about campgrounds (tents and RVs), rest stops, truck stops, outdoor stores and lots more.
Entertainment
No one likes to be bored when they travel (adults or children) but relief is here for those traveling with mobile devices. Load yours up with child-friendly games and activities, and books for everyone.
E-readers Kindle and Nook are now joined by Apple’s free iBook app.
Stargazing on the beach at night is all the more spectacular with Star Walk which uses the smartphone’s camera as an interactive cosmos guide; the camera follows your movements to reveal the constellations and celestial bodies you are looking at. Google Sky Map one-ups this with a real-time annotated map and augmented reality view of the night sky.
If you don’t want to read in the sun or just want to listen, download Amazon’s Audible, which offers thousands of audio book titles. This is an essential app for users with vision impairments as well.
Making Plans
There are hundreds of websites and apps designed specifically for planning trips and gathering information about all sorts of destinations.
Spend more time sunbathing and less time chasing down your travel plans with Tripit. You can forward all your flight, hotel, car rental and restaurant confirmation emails to the all-in-one travel plan organizer; it will create a detailed daily itinerary with all your information in one place, accessible on any device. Edit your information and synch it to your calendar for smooth sailing along the way.
For those traveling to more distant spots, Triposo offers personalized suggestions of where to go and what to do, maps, and shared experiences from millions of travelers in 25,000 destinations worldwide. You can read up about the history and culture of your destination, get practical information about local currencies and languages, discover places to eat or stay… even book a day trip.
written by: zekuhzetu
