6 Tips to Get The Most From Your Phone During Your Travels

By now, everyone knows your smartphone is important for any vacation. But it’s not just about the comforting feeling of having it in your hand and keeping up with everything going on back home.

Experienced travelers that know how to get the most from their phone wherever they go often find they have a much more enjoyable time. Again, your phone is more than just a security blanket. It can transform your travel and vacation experience for the better, and here are six tips to achieve this.

Staying in Touch

The days of sending postcards or chatting across unreliable lines on public phones are long gone. Now, there are so many ways for you to stay in touch with friends and family – and even your clients – that you can make sure you check in as often as you like.

But, long-distance calls are still expensive, which is why apps are the way forward. Facebook and WhatsApp provide free calling as long as you have a data connection, but as this is often unreliable depending on where you go, opt for wifi above all else.

Finding Your Way

It’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed in a big, unfamiliar city. If you haven’t yet got a local SIM card, you might struggle to get around. You can download maps for your new area, but these usually only work with driving routes rather than walking, which can affect your whole perception of where you are and where you are going.

Instead, consider an offline map that gives you every possible route, whether you’re walking, driving, or even cycling. These maps will work wherever you are, including in remote beach towns or deep in the mountains, so it will be easy to find your way.

Capturing Moments

Why lug around a bulky professional camera while many current-gen smartphones have just as much (if not more) power behind them? Capturing memories is one of the best things about traveling, but it’s so much more than snapping a quick picture along the route.

If you want to make your photos stand out on social media, look at different ways to take a picture. Traveling introduces you to a wide range of new environments where you can experiment with silhouette photography, among other techniques that will give your shots a professional appeal even if you’re still an amateur.

Communicating

Before traveling anywhere, travelers should try to learn the basics of any language. You don’t need to be fluent, but knowing directions and numbers will make your life much easier. It’s not always as simple as this, though.

Sometimes, you need to discuss other issues, whether this is going to the hospital or explaining a theft to the police. Although most countries can speak English, you shouldn’t rely on this. Wherever you go, download translation packages to help explain more complicated subjects and make it easier for you and your travel group to get around.

Keeping Entertained

If you’re someone who chooses the long and cheap bus journey over the quick but expensive flight, you want to make sure you’re entertained no matter where you’re going. Lots of music, games, and TV shows will do wonders for this, but you need to be careful.

By now, you should know which apps are most likely to drain your battery, and the last thing you want is to see 0% still with half a journey left. A portable charger can help with this, but you may want to rethink which apps you use during longer journeys to keep yourself entertained the entire way.

Staying Connected Anywhere

Wifi and data connection is often taken for granted at home, and you may struggle to find a decent connection during your travels. A local SIM with a decent data package can be enough to overcome this, but it’s not the only solution.

Portable data hubs are an excellent way to stay connected no matter where you are in the world. They will identify the strongest local connection and latch onto it, allowing you to connect. This is ideal if you need to contact someone in an emergency, and it will make those longer journeys a little more bearable.

The Most

Your smartphone is much more useful than you think it is. While everyone will use it to take pictures and message your parents that you’re okay, you can take it to a brand new level that guarantees the best experience you’ve ever had. Knowing how to get the most from your phone will keep you entertained, safe, and help you find your way around unfamiliar places.