Useful iPhone Apps for Travel

For the longest time, I was totally uninterested in iPhone apps.  To me, when I thought of iPhone apps, I thought of video games or iFart or the one where it tells you what kind of cry (sleepy/hungry/wet) your baby was crying.  Useless and a waste of time.

Change that: now, I'm addicted.  What changed?  Well, I actually went to the iTunes app store and started browsing.  And now, I have suggestions.

Yelp:  For those of you who use Yelp religiously on your computer, why wouldn't you also want it on the go?  And it's FREE!  Yelp gives you user reviews of anything you can think of in the city you are visiting:  restaurants, tailors, manicures, parks -- you name it!  Whether it's business travel or a vacation: The bigger the city, the more reviews.  I find the service essential.

Currency Converter Pro: For a mere ninety-nine cents, this app gives you over 220 currencies to convert -- and not just into dollars -- into any other currency.  It's easy to use and it's one less thing you have to concern yourself with.  Especially if you're bad at math and a nervous Nelly while you travel.

Flashlight: This seems a little silly, but it's always good to have a flashlight with you.  Dark hotel room.  Don't want to wake your husband. .  It's a free app that turns your iPhone very very BRIGHT.  Hence, the name.

Sit or Squat:  Bathroom Finder  When I lived in New York City, I prided myself on where to find the most luxurious public bathrooms (Bendel's on Fifth, downstairs -- like a studio apartment!  My god, you have to see this bathroom!) because I was always on the go.  Now, I don't have to work so hard.  When you're in a strange place, you want a stable, clean toilet.  Am I right?

Audiobooks: I just blogged about it recently, but it bears repeating.  This app gets you thousands of free, public domain books that are read by volunteers streamed or downloaded to your iPhone.  For $.99, it's a huge bang for the buck.

Pocket Express:  Also a free app, this one gives you all sorts of general information.  The weather is what I've keyed into.  It's easy to use and you really need to know what to wear in the morning, boots or sandals.

I was also going to tell you about Trip It: it's a free app, but for the past 72 hours, the website that accompanies it is down.  That's a LONG time.  Not sure what's happening.  Well, if it's just a blip, it's a great place to congregate all of your travel plans, no matter where you booked them: hotel, car, appointments, etc.

Go ahead to the iTunes store and start poking around.  I guarantee that you'll find something useful.  Even if it's just a game to while away the time while you're waiting for your delayed flight to arrive.

Not For Tourists: New iPhone App

I was asked to check out the new iPhone app from Not For Tourists. It’s like a mini-Yelp, a self-described “ultimate guide for the savvy city-dweller.” So far, there are three editions: Manhattan, San Francisco and London. My gut reaction was “why is this better than the Yelp iPhone application?” And now I realize that I have to back up: do you know what Yelp is?

Yelp is like a new-fangled Zagat guide of EVERYTHING. Dentists, restaurants, parks — you name it, Yelpers have written reviews about it. (Unless you’re in a city like say, Boise.) And unlike Zagat, Yelp does not edit their users’ reviews so you get the whole shebang of what people thought. Some helpful, some mean, some are friends of the owner of the restaurant being reviewed, some are just having a bad day and taking it out on the coffee shop — but it’s pretty easy to read between the lines with just a little experience.

So, back to NFT.  The organization on the app is well done: you can search by neighborhood, by category (restaurant, hotel, hospital) and then when you figure out where you want to go, you can search for other places nearby.  You can even bookmark your faves.  The one crucial category that they left out is “Bathrooms.”  It’s so key to know where the good bathrooms are in New York, even if you live and work there.  (Free tip:  Best Bathroom is in Henri Bendel’s on 5th, downstairs.  It’s like a studio apartment.)

Here’s why it’s worth $4.99 for the app: you don’t have to be online to get the information, like you do with Yelp.  This is helpful if you’re somewhere in New York and can’t get a signal.  Or don’t want to pay for a signal.  Whenever you sync your iPhone, it will update the information.  That’s nice.  And even when I was an expert on Manhattan, you really can’t know EVERYTHING.  The downside is that there is not a conglomoration of reviews like on Yelp — but then again, do you really need to read 170 reviews about Hotel Gansevoort when you’re on-the-go?  Do that at home.  On Yelp.

I say get it.  At the very least, it’s good entertainment on the subway for all of you closet know-it-alls.  And you know who you are.

The Definition of a Vacation -- along with an iPhone App

My last vacation was a helluva long time ago.  Before kids.  Yes, I have traveled since I've had my (2) kids (ages 4 and 5), but those were "trips," not vacations.  A vacation is where you don't have responsibilities to pick up after/feed/referee your small children.

So, I have frequent flier miles to use and I no longer live in the same town as my parents, so there is actually the possibility that my mom and dad will come to our home to take care of the children while we go away -- ON VACATION.  When we all lived in LA together, our house was kinda shabby and their house was kinda far away (45 minutes in traffic) from the kids' school, so it was not a great situation.  Now that we live in Boise where life is easy (seriously, Boise is Shangri-La), we have a dedicated guest room and the local ski resort is free for seniors (!), I believe I can make a vacation happen for my husband and me.  My parents miss my children tremendously.

We can't go far (international travel is out, dang), and we want to go someplace warm and fun -- and that seems like another country.  Miami.  Last time I was there, we stayed in a shabby hotel.  Not sure why.  Oh, right.  We were poor.  This time, if I can make it work, here is where I would like to stay:

You can't really go wrong with the Four Seasons, right?  (Until you get the bill, that is.)  I've stayed at a Four Seasons in Chaing Mai and in Los Angeles:  calm, extreme attention to detail (in a good way) and the most excellent beds ever.  But the Miami Four Seasons is in the Business District.  I'd prefer to be in South Beach (who wouldn't?).

Last time I was there, I wandered through the Delano lobby.  Fabulous Phillipe Starck design.  Very kid unfriendly.  I liked this place.  The rooms are all white.  To me, that screams "VACATION!"  This is a place where I can be an adult and not a parent.  Despite the too-cool-for-school vibe, I would feel relaxed here.

Another option would be the Albion, also in South Beach.

(by the way, I'm getting my reserach done on Oyster.com -- they have photos and reviews from real people who PAID for their lodging themselves -- problem is, they only have seven cities' hotels reviewed right now.  Can someone please invest in this company?  it's like the yelp/Zagat of hotels -- but will all the photos, you get a much more in depth view.)

The Albion is a more modestly priced hotel, 2 blocks from the beach and is purported to be one of South Beach's best values.  Hey, I can do a value vacation.  No kids?  Still a vacation.

Now, what I would really like is for Oyster.com to get an iPhone app (please, investors?) so that I can do all of this research in-between shuttling my kids from school to their activities.  I would just be able to enter: South Beach, Kid-Unfriendly, and Value (you know my priorities).  This is something that Oyster could accomplish in two weeks.  Come on, guys!  I would even pay 99 Cents for it!

This is a TravelingMom dedicated post.