Welcome To The Blueprint
Who doesn’t love to travel? Don’t answer that, I can totally understand the lines, towing luggage, excessive planning are enough to just forget about the whole thing. For a while, I didn’t know how to successfully plan a trip. Whether it be last minute travel/hotel accommodations or just walking around wondering what to do when I got there or just ending up with lackluster, pricey food on my plate.
Once I started, I used a few of the following apps:
Digit: A daily savings app. You can save for different things through Digit. It takes a small, percentage from your account on a daily basis. While I absolutely adore this app, I don’t recommend it unless you receive daily deposits into an account or can have disposable income in your budget. They will never pull out the same twice, and some days may be more than other and a tight budget can’t afford some hits. There are other apps. but this is what helped me best.
Hopper: Hopper offers price watching for flights. You can set a date and a location and it will keep you updated on the price and tel you when is the best price to buy at. Similar to Google Flights (who recently deleted their app). You can also put in your location and see what flight deals are currently available for your local airport.
SkyScanner: Similar to hopper. Sky Scanner also gives you a price estimate of what flight and lodging would run based on a 3 star hotel rating. I like getting a good estimate. Sometimes a deal can be too good to be true at the time when you factor in all the accommodations and expenses.
Expedia: I love it. I had a terrible experience with Air BnB, and to be honest, I’d rather deal with a hotel staff than someone renting out a room or a condo for extra cash. I’m aware of the price difference, but a peace of mind is priceless. Expedia offers great rates on local hotels, and even works with a point system. Points are your best friend when getting upgrades and accommodations for your travel experience.
Trip Advisor: I know I’m late to this. Have had some of the best experiences with TA. Finding activities, restaurants with a view, and even a few guided tours to help me understand the history a little better.
Free Now: Rome doesn’t have Uber. Surely doesn’t have Lyft. This app helped me get around at a cheaper rate than the taxis that were readily available at the airport, or having to navigate an unfamiliar language to order one just to get around.
Google Translate: Listen, I highly recommend at least having a basic understanding of a language or the ability to identify key words that sound familiar, however, constructing sentences and conveying a message on the fly is also bound to happen. This app readily translates and has useful features that assist in conversation, writing and also provides any alternate translations that may be available.
