Whether you’re heading out of town for a graduation, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, or any other occasion, traveling light has its advantages: you will have to remember fewer items to pack, you’ll have an easier time navigating crowded streets, and simply won’t have to carry as much. The big hotel chains also have their own apps, and they’re usually worth installing to cut down on the amount of paperwork you have to take with you on your travels. The free Hyatt Hotels app for Android and iOS, for instance, stores your booking details and room charges, will let you check in early, and you can use it to request items to your room. In some locations, the app even lets you use your phone as a room key. Other apps allow you to collect information from multiple sources in one place. TripIt, which is free for Android and iOS, is one of the best examples. If you forward all your confirmation booking emails to TripIt, it will build a custom itinerary, tell you exactly where you need to be at what time, and help you manage everything from flights to hired cars. If you pay $49 per year for a Pro subscription, you’ll get extras including real-time flight alerts and notifications about the length of the airport security queue. Most map and guide apps let you download content for offline viewing, so it’s a good idea to do this before you head off and potentially encounter expensive data charges. Visit A City (free for Android and iOS), for example, covers more than 3,000 destinations and works offline, giving you access to a host of pre-made itineraries, lists of things to do, and recommendations for the best attractions. Here’s a neat trick for Google Maps (free on Android or iOS): if you open the app menu, tap your avatar, and choose Offline maps, you can download sections of the map to your phone before you start traveling. It’s handy in areas where you won’t or can’t, get any signal, and it’s something Apple Maps doesn’t yet offer. If you’re vacationing in a place where web access won’t be a problem, Google Maps and Apple Maps can offer up a host of recommendations about what to see and do. In the Google Maps app, just drag up the Explore tab to look for bars, restaurants, events, and more. In Apple Maps, tap inside the search box to see a similar list of options for finding notable spots and attractions near you.
Ditch the camera
Your smartphone comes with a camera, of course, so it might be time to think about saving the space taken up by a dedicated digital camera and making do with what your phone can offer instead. This is especially true if you’ve got one of the newest handsets on the market, which may feature optical zoom, optical image stabilization, and special night mode enhancements. You might consider packing some small extras to improve the quality of your vacation snaps. A portable, multifunctional tripod stand, for example, will make sure your photos stay rock-steady, and also means you can make full use of the camera timer on your phone to get yourself in the shot. Don’t forget the software either. Apps such as Halide (starting at $3 a month for iOS) and Camera FV-5 ($5 for Android) give you access to extra ISO, white balance, aperture, and color settings that you don’t get with the stock camera app on your phone. If you’re going to a place where people may not speak your native language, Google Translate can help. It’s free for Android and iOS, and fulfills the job once held by bulky foreign language dictionaries. It supports more than 100 languages, can work offline with no data signal, and can use your phone’s camera to translate text if you point it towards signs and menus. We should also mention the wealth of mobile games available for Android and iOS, all of which you can find through the respective app stores on your device. How does this help you travel light? Well, you might be able to leave the Nintendo Switch or Scrabble board at home if you’ve got enough games to entertain you. A digital copy of Scrabble, for example, is free for Android and iOS and lets you play against friends of your choosing. At least some of the suggestions we’ve come up with should prove useful in lightening the load for your next trip, but don’t forget you can also use your phone to look for cheaper travel deals and get around easily while you’re away from home. Just make sure you don’t lose your smartphone along the way.
