As a Virtual Assistant for an online company, I often find that my smartphone is just as important to me as my laptop because I am constantly on the move.
I chose this profession so that I could move around the world, work from anywhere and explore as many places as I possibly can before I inevitably get too long-in-the-tooth for life on the road.
And my smartphone helps me to do that without getting stressed out. Over the years, I have found these 5 apps to be the most useful...
Lounge Buddy
I didn’t become a Virtual Assistant for the money, which often means I find myself taking the cheapest flights. Unfortunately, 'cheapest' seems to be synonymous with long layovers, which often means a lot of waiting around in airports for seemingly completely random connections.
However, these long waits do allow me to get quite a lot of work done. Sitting on the floor with your back up against a pillar or window is not the most comfortable of writing positions, so I had to find an alternative.
An airport lounge can feel like an oasis amongst all these connecting flights and certainly takes the pain out of sitting on the floor. Lounge Buddy tells you which lounges you can access at any given airport, including free lounges or ones you can purchase a day pass for. It’s free, really easy to use and can get you access to some great food and a hot shower!
Voice Recorder
My memory isn’t brilliant and one of my job roles is to write content, so I need to make plenty of notes while I am visiting places to use later when I sit down to write an article. But I don’t want to constantly have to take time out from exploring to write stuff down, so I record myself as I am going along.
Judging by some of the looks I get, people must think I am completely mad as I walk around talking to myself, but I keep doing it because recording my thoughts has many benefits. It allows me to easily document the places I am going to write about as I experience them, helps to recall ideas, and helps with my wellbeing by tracking my moods.
I have tried a number of recording options over the years and like the Voice Recorder the best due to its high-quality playback, ease of use and no time limits. I find it picks up the sound of my voice very well, even when walking along in windy conditions or with a lot of ambient noise.
Day One
Do you carry a notebook with you when you travel and find it to be rather cumbersome? Perhaps you are someone that jots things down on whatever you have to hand and then struggles to put all the pieces in order at the end of your trip.
I am both of these, so was thrilled to discover Day One is now available on Android as well as iOS. This app is great for keeping regular daily notes of your trip, or day-to-day life in general. It features several kinds of logs (daily, event, activity), allows you to tag your location, and add photos to your posts.
It is a private journal of your thoughts and memories of the adventurous life you have chosen to live, that is kept safe with a passcode lock. All your logs can be saved and accessed later by uploading to a cloud service or downloaded to a PDF file.
Hotel Tonight
I enjoy the planning phase of travel so I’ve usually done my research before I arrive in a new place. But, sometimes, if I am on a tight deadline to finish an article, I just haven’t had the time and find myself looking for places to spend my first night while waiting for one of those tedious connecting flights.
My go-to app in these situations is Hotel Tonight. The app shows you the best deals at hotels in the area you want to stay in, ranging from luxury to budget. Plus, it provides photos of the rooms that actually offer value.
The app is simple to use, and it doesn’t take long to reserve a room. You can search by city or attraction, or on the map, and then see the reviews from other travelers to help inform your choice.
TripAdvisor
Everyone needs to have a decent meal before they sit down to tackle work, but often hotel food just isn’t the fix you are looking for.
I try to move around a lot to give life exciting and don’t tend to stay in one place for very long. I might get a month somewhere, but often I am visiting for a week or less, so I need a little help in finding good spots to eat. That’s where TripAdvisor comes in.
I spent April traveling around northern India and ate out for practically every meal. I used TripAdvisor to find recommended restaurants in each city I went to, and enjoyed the most delicious curries I’ve ever had (and will ever have - they are in a completely different ballpark from any I’ve had before!), and didn’t get ill once (I only picked restaurants that had the highest cleanliness rating)
Conclusion
These are the five apps that I use most often (well, constantly) when I am on the move, and I absolutely love them.
But I know there are loads of other equally brilliant apps out there doing similar things, and if you have a some favourites then please feel free to share your experiences with them in the comments section below.
Lets see if we can get a good list going for everyone to make use of.
