Best apps for your Labor Day adventure
- aug
- 31
Make the most of your extended weekend.
If you are packing up for an extended Labor Day weekend trip, you're going to want to make sure you pack a few important things, like a toothbrush, clean socks, an extra pair of shoes, and these apps, which will help you make the trip unforgettable.
TripIt
TripIt is, in my opinion, quite possibly the best vacation planning app in existence. It organizes your hotel, plane, car, and dinner reservations into trip itineraries and all you have to do is to forward your email confirmations. If you use Gmail, it does it automatically.
When you're on your vacation, use TripIt to access your travel plans, even while offline. You'll see a date and time schedules and have access to all of your confirmation numbers without having to dig through your emails. Each destination also connects to Google Maps for quick driving directions. It's a true time saver when you are lugging around a half dozen suitcases and a couple of screaming kids.
Use TripIt to keep your vacation plans organized.
OpenTable
One of my favorite things to do while vacationing in a new town is to check out the local flavor. Using OpenTable, you can search for popular restaurants in the area by going to the Discover section. Check out new and hot eateries, local favorites, and OpenTable Insider Picks.
Once you find something that makes your tummy rumble, make reservations right from the app without having to talk to anyone. You can be filling your gas tank and make plans for tonight's dinner with just a few taps.
If you love sampling local cuisine while on vacation, use OpenTable to reserve your spot.
Poison Maps
"What are we going to do today?" is a question I often ask while on vacation. When you're in an unfamiliar city, finding the hot spots can be difficult. Poison Maps shows you the points-of-interest (get it, POI-son Maps...) nearby. Check out tourist attractions, nature hikes, churches, and even the closest restroom.
If you're traveling without a car, you can get an overview of the city's airports, buses, ferries, trains, and taxis. If you plan ahead, you can scope out POIs for your trip and save them for when you arrive.
Find everything worth checking out at your vacation spot with Poison Maps.
Instagram Stories
While you're out and about on your weekend romp, your friends and family are going to be wondering what you're up too. Why not share your daily adventures with them using Instagram's Stories feature? You can create mini-movies by sharing photos and video clips of your day. Add filters, hashtags, stickers, and more. You can even hold a poll in our Instagram Stories. What should we do next: hiking or swimming? These stories disappear after 24 hours, so you can share all of your interesting vacation slides and still keep your Instagram brand on point!
Share your vacation photos and videos as they happen using Instagram Stories
Trail Wallet
As much as we want to pretend that we are independently wealthy when we go on vacation, we know we can't spend it all and often times worry about spending too much. With Trail Wallet, you can keep track of your daily spending to make sure you stay within your budget. Set a daily budget for your trip and every time you buy something, add it to your trip wallet. You'll see where you've spent the most (like food, transportation, bribes, etc.) and know how much money you have to get you through the rest of the day. If you're traveling in a foreign country, you can set the currency rate to your own or the local denomination.
Use Trail Wallet to keep you from having to sell the kids to pay for your trip.
Your favorites?
What apps are invaluable to you while you're on vacation? Share with us in the comments.
Updated August 2018: Added Instagram Stories.