5 apps for planning and sharing your travels

Posted by Gio Palatucci

It’s hard to go a day without reading about the launch of another travel app or site to make planning, taking, or sharing a trip easier. I love the outpouring of travel apps especially ones with a social component, because I think connecting with like-minded travelers helps you make local discoveries and have authentic experiences.

Only time (and the best user interface) will tell which of the many travel apps will survive. For now, I continue to be a bit of a purist when it comes to travel planning, using general social networking sites-- Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare-- to plan my trips. However, I do use a few select apps to help me get where I want to go. 

Here are fives apps I use to plan and share my trips:

1. Flights
   Despite Hipmunk's adorable mascot, my go-to flight search engine is Kayak. I like the interface: how easy it is to sort and filter flights, enter flex dates, and sign up for fare alerts. I know these functions are available on many other booking sites, but I simply trust Kayak to get me the best deal. When I find a fare I like, I try to book on Wednesdays between 12 a.m. and 10 a.m. because that's when airlines post the best fares. Kayak also fuels my wanderlust. On days when I feel like I have to get away, it's fun to fire up the Kayak app for a bit of travel roulette. If that flight to Rome is a steal, how could I say no?
   
   
2. Trip Research
   For me, planning my trip is almost as fun as taking it. I don't set up a strict or structured itinerary, rather I research a laundry list of places to visit, stay, and eat to give my trip a loose framework. For example, I like to be familiar with a few great restaurants, the destination's signature dish, and which cocktail or craft brew best compliments the local cuisine, so no matter where I end up for dinner, I can have a few authentic bites.
   
   I do 90 percent of my research online and keeping track of all the links, articles, and addresses used to be a major headache until I discovered Duffel. I love Duffel. I've sung its praises on Nat Geo Traveler's Intelligent Travel blog and gush about it to all my friends. Which is why I rather hate to admit that, over time, Duffel's interface has become rather sub-par (not sure the last time they updated the website or app). Regardless, the bulletin board feature still functions as a great way to organize all your trip research in one single place. I continue find it extremely useful as a trip planning tool.
   
   A yet-to-launch app called Dcovery might have the chops to surpass Duffel as my favorite trip planning tool. It functions similar to Duffel as a way to save online trip research with a click of a button, but takes a lot of work out of the process by scanning travel articles to generate places, addresses, and websites. I can't wait to see more of this app.
   
   
3. Hotels
   I’ve also professed my love to HotelTonight on Intelligent Travel but it's worth another mention. HotelTonight is a last-minute hotel booking site that allows users to secure discounted rates at select properties across the U.S. It's the perfect tool for the spontaneous traveler, business traveler, or instances when your flight gets canceled. For longer trips, I feel more comfortable having lodging secured before I depart, therefore I'll often use HT for research. The creators behind the app do a great job of scouting and vetting unique and fun properties for the app. I often book hotels featured in the app because someone I trust has given the property their stamp of approval.
   
   
4. Photos
   I love using Instagram to capture and share my travels while I'm on the road, but the app restricts me from sharing those photos with family or friends who are not online or use the app (read: grandparents). Postagram solves that problem by turning Instagram photos into postcards and mailing them for only 99 cents. (Yes. Real mail!)
   
   
5. Inspiration
   I couldn’t go too long before mentioning Pinterest on this blog. Although I still haven’t figured out how I’d like to use the new rockstar social network for myself, I do enjoy browsing other users' pins for travel inspiration. Pins of gorgeous travel photos by my friends @MalloryOnTravel and @EverywhereTrip ignite my wanderlust, as does the creative team over at @GAdventures who pin images of their amazing group tours. I also love the way destinations and CVBs are getting into the Pinterest game to entice visitors to their city or state... but more on that later.
   
   

What apps do you use to plan and share your travels? 

GP

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