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My Essential Travel Apps After 15 Years of Solo Travel
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items I started traveling before I even had a mobile phone. How far we've come! I've tried enough apps to know which ones deserve my phone's storage space. These are the ones that made the cut. My top picks for flights, accommodation, insurance, navigation...
Sections
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Health & Safety 🤕
Money 💰
Trip Organizer ✏️
Flight Search ✈️
Accommodations 🛏️
Tours/Experiences 👀
Health & Safety 🤕
I got dengue fever in Asia and spent time in a hospital, convinced my French bank's premium gold card had me covered. It did not. The reimbursement took two years, involved so many calls and documents. And so I learned: Legit travel insurance should ...
Peace of mind at an affordable price. So affordable that I buy it for my family, too.
Subscribe monthly or pay only for the dates you're traveling.
But keep in mind that they focus exclusively on health insurance, so you’ll need to look elsewhere for coverage on aspects like trip cancellation, interruption, or lost luggage.
Safety Wing is marketed to digital nomads, but they cover anyone until 69 years old.
Subscribe monthly or pay only for the dates you're traveling.
But keep in mind that they focus exclusively on health insurance, so you’ll need to look elsewhere for coverage on aspects like trip cancellation, interruption, or lost luggage.
Safety Wing is marketed to digital nomads, but they cover anyone until 69 years old.
SafetyWing - Highly affordable, impressive coverage. Not just for digital nomads.
My worst travel nightmare isn't missing a flight. It's being sick abroad and sitting on hold with an insurance hotline for 45 minutes. HeyMondo has a 24/7 app: customer service, remote doctor consultations, everything managed from your phone. I have ...
Heymondo - No Cash Out, Great App. Ideal for Country Chasers.
Travel constipation, anyone? Or mineral deficiency? I get both since I travel to meat-heavy countries where sometimes, a leafy salad is rare (ex: the 'Stan countries of Central Asia).
I have SuperPlants' entire line, but I never travel without my SuperPlants Multivitamin and Daily Greens. I put them in little Ziplock bags.
Also, did you know 95% of supplements out there are synthetic? Yuck. That's why I love this brand.
SuperPlants products are 100% organic, made entirely from plants, with zero fillers or synthetics. Based in the US, they also ship to the EU and UK.
I have SuperPlants' entire line, but I never travel without my SuperPlants Multivitamin and Daily Greens. I put them in little Ziplock bags.
Also, did you know 95% of supplements out there are synthetic? Yuck. That's why I love this brand.
SuperPlants products are 100% organic, made entirely from plants, with zero fillers or synthetics. Based in the US, they also ship to the EU and UK.
SuperPlants (I'm obsessed with this brand!)
Money 💰
Foreign transaction fees, bad exchange rates, and ATMs that rob you. These are the tools that keep more of your money where it belongs. In your pocket.
Dynamic Currency Conversion is a b*tch. Each time an ATM or merchant asks, "Do you want to pay in your home currency?" the answer is always no. That little trap is called Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) and might've been charging you unnecessary fe...
Wise's “Spend Like a Local” feature lets you auto-convert your home currency at the best rate, helping you dodge the DCC trap that many tourists fall into.
Use Wise to send money abroad in 50+ currencies, or spend at the real exchange rate when you travel or shop online.
Sign up through my link and get a free something.
Wise's “Spend Like a Local” feature lets you auto-convert your home currency at the best rate, helping you dodge the DCC trap that many tourists fall into.
Use Wise to send money abroad in 50+ currencies, or spend at the real exchange rate when you travel or shop online.
Sign up through my link and get a free something.
WISE - Easiest way to move money across in 50+ currencies
My #1 favorite neobank. I've tried so many neo-banks, and Revolut is the best for me. Lets me manage my money and investments from my phone.
I have a paid plan, but you can enjoy so many features from the free standard account.
My favorite features:
- Multiple currencies
- Digital cards - for online security, I use “disposable” card details for online payments
- easy to send money to other countries (sometimes you just need a person's card number)
- travel perks (travel lounge, hotels, tours, fights)
I have a paid plan, but you can enjoy so many features from the free standard account.
My favorite features:
- Multiple currencies
- Digital cards - for online security, I use “disposable” card details for online payments
- easy to send money to other countries (sometimes you just need a person's card number)
- travel perks (travel lounge, hotels, tours, fights)
Revolut - My favorite neobank
Gives you on-the-spot currency conversions. No mental maths needed.
Xe: Currency Exchange Rates
Trip Organizer ✏️
Keep track of all your plans, expenses, and countries visited in one place.
Forward your confirmation emails and TripIt builds your entire itinerary automatically. Hotels, flights, activities, tours, car rentals—all in one place, in order.
You can upgrade to Pro to get access to features such as Points Trackers and Inner Circle. But I personally get everything I need from the free version.
You can upgrade to Pro to get access to features such as Points Trackers and Inner Circle. But I personally get everything I need from the free version.
TripIt: Auto-upload your bookings in one timeline
Tracks every expense, handles currency conversions automatically, and gives you pie charts that will either delight or horrify you depending on how the trip went.
TravelSpend: Know what you spend on, wherever
Someone pays for dinner, someone else grabs the taxi, someone mysteriously never has cash. Splitwise tracks it all and tells everyone exactly what they owe at the end.
Splitwise: Split expenses with friends
Load it up with colors and emojis. Add all your upcoming adventures. Every time I look at this app, I get super excited!
Countdown is a free, easy-to-use app for important events. Use it for birthdays and anniversaries. Or, use it for all your trips!
Countdown is a free, easy-to-use app for important events. Use it for birthdays and anniversaries. Or, use it for all your trips!
Countdown App: Get excited about upcoming trips!
Track all countries, cities, and states you've been. See how the world map fills up with colors as you visit new countries
Mark O'Travel: Where I've Been
Check if you're visa-free, visa on arrival, or need to apply for a visa before your trip. Useful app especially if you have multiple passports.
Passport Index app: Know if you need a visa
Flight Search ✈️
You already know Google Flights and SkyScanner. But have you tried these sites? To find the best flight deals, I use two sites to search: Aviasales and Hopper. And another site to book: Trip.
I'm usually wary of aggregator sites. But I trust Trip. They actually have human customer service you can reach, and the in-app call feature is free. Plus, they send real-time updates (via app, email, or SMS or all three) about delays, gate changes, ...
Also, they have great promos and perks for booking everything you need, including hotels, tours, esims, airport lounges, and more.
Also, they have great promos and perks for booking everything you need, including hotels, tours, esims, airport lounges, and more.
Trip.com
I’m impressed when Aviasales sometimes pulls up small regional airlines that don’t even show up on Google or Skyscanner.
Aviasales.com
I use this app specifically for its flight watch and price prediction features—it tells you whether to buy now or wait. It’s been pretty accurate.
What I like is how the app keeps it simple: a clean interface that clearly tells me if I should book now or hold off, and how much I might save (or lose) depending on what I do. This fun, free app also plants trees in Kenya when you book (or so they ...
What I like is how the app keeps it simple: a clean interface that clearly tells me if I should book now or hold off, and how much I might save (or lose) depending on what I do. This fun, free app also plants trees in Kenya when you book (or so they ...
Hopper - Get alerts for "buy now" or "wait"
Accommodations 🛏️
Flexibility is everything. So I use these sites with member perks + free cancellation.
My top pick for hotel bookings and unique stays. The free cancellation is a great. The more you book, the more perks you'll get. For example, as a Level 3 Booking member, I always get free breakfasts and room upgrades with most hotels I book.
Booking.com: Overall best hotel app
Consistently cheaper than everywhere else for Asia. If Booking.com doesn't have the deal, Agoda does.
Agoda.com: Best hotel deals in Asia
An avocado treehouse in Rwanda. A bee house in Slovenia where you fall asleep to the frequency of actual buzzing bees. A château in France because why not. Airbnb is where I go when I want an address that makes people say, wait, you slept where?
Airbnb: Best unique stays
Tours/Experiences 👀
Just because you travel solo doesn't mean you should do things alone. I use these apps to join small-group tours or local-led experiences. It's a great way to meet people.
Millions of experiences, free cancellation on most, and real reviews from people.
Viator: Book tours and activities anywhere in the world
If Viator doesn't have it, GetYourGuide does. I find GYG is better to use in Europe.
GetYourGuide: Book things to do, attractions, & tours
The best tapas tour I've ever taken was in Barcelona through Airbnb Experiences—led by someone who lives there, eats there, and knows the owners of never-heard-of joint. While Viator and GetYourGuide run the big productions, Airbnb is where I go when...
Airbnb Experiences: Led by locals
WiFi & Online Privacy 📶
The Internet is the greatest invention of the modern world. It's also a place, where strangers will happily help themselves to your identity if you let them. I don't let them. These are the tools that keep my passwords, connections, and IP address lo...
I don't use public WiFi, especially when traveling. Dashlane is my password manager + VPN in one. Use the link to sign up and try Dashlane Premium for 6 months, free.
Dashlane: Claim 6 months of free password manager + VPN
For the price of less than two coffees, you can stay connected while traveling abroad. Airalo sells eSIMs—data plans that load directly onto your phone, no physical SIM card, no hunting for a local shop at the airport. I've used it across 10 countrie...
Get €3 off with my discount code: JENNY3742.
Get €3 off with my discount code: JENNY3742.
Airalo: Internet abroad (no physical SIM card needed)
Navigation 🗺️
Getting lost is romantic in movies. In real life, not always. These are the apps that help me know where I'm going.
Indispensable oldie but goodie. Download the offline map before you leave, and Google Maps works even without signal.
Google Maps - Works even without Internet
Discover hidden, weird, and wonderful places…and the stories behind them.
Atlas Obscura app - Find hidden, strange, unique places
Plane, train, bus, ferry, or rideshare — Rome2Rio shows you every possible route between any two points on earth, with prices and travel times.
Rome2Rio: How to get from point A to point B
Reading 📚
For your eBook and audio-book needs while traveling, I recommend:
Like Kindle + Audible on crack. A treasure trove of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, podcasts, sheet music, and PDFs.
Everand: Ebooks, audiobooks, & more. Read free for 30 days
Do you love memoirs, business, and self-development books? Shortform gives you excellent summaries and analyses of 10,000+ nonfiction books, plus thousands of articles and podcasts. Get the key points without the fluff.
Shortform - The world's best book summaries