Taking off Travel blog

I love my Nokia smartphone and on my recent trip it once again proved its worth as one of my favorite travel accessories. I’ve had it for a couple of years and have previously written about the Ovi Maps application which is now better than ever. Instead of hiring GPS when we picked up our rental from the Fort Lauderdale airport parking lot, we opted to go with the built-in application. After all, it couldn’t possibly be any worse than the Gremlin.

Having learned my lesson from the last trip, where the maps failed to load after a software update, I decided not to install the latest update and just go with what I had. I’d already installed the voice guidance files and was hopeful that it would work well when it was time to travel. I got started while waiting for the rental car paperwork by switching on the Maps application so I could store the rental car center for our return trip. That worked well, and since I already had the hotel details stored, I tested the system.

It took a while to load up, but then suddenly chimed in with the right directions. We named our GPS voice (which was in UK English) Jane, and she got us safely to our hotel without incident. A couple more tests on the first day showed that she knew what she was talking about, so we felt comfortable trying her on a longer trip to a sporting goods store we hadn’t visited before. Once we’d searched for the name and zip code, navigation was simple.

Other things I noticed in this trial:

• Using GPS really takes a toll on the battery, so an in-car charger is a must. We had one, but occasionally the movement of the car jolted it and it didn’t actually charge.
• Since it took a while to find the current location whenever the app started, sometimes we got some strange distances and times for navigation as Jane assumed we were at our last known position.
• There’s a great feature that allows you to estimate trip time. We didn’t really make the most of this.

The one time we didn’t use Jane we really regretted it. We’d had what we thought were straightforward directions from the staff at an eco-reserve we were planning to visit. What we didn’t know was that there was no sign for State Road 31 from the highway. If we’d had Jane switched on, we’d have saved an hour, made our booking and been able to squeeze in another trip. Lesson learned!

All in all, Ovi Maps is a great application and it has one major advantage – you can download the maps and use them offline so it’s not constantly searching for updates. I’d love to see Nokia make this into a standalone app which could run on other platforms.

(Photo: vermegrigio)

A recent article on cutting the cost of road trips sent me running to do some research. I wanted to find out which are some of the great apps if you’re going on a road trip. I know we’ve already done a roundup of the best iPhone apps for travelers, but what if you’re going on the road rather than in the air? Here are some iPhone and Android apps to consider.

GasBuddy

GasBuddy helps you find gas stations near you – or near where you’re going to be. Plug in the zip code to see a list of gas stations sorted by price and you can pick the kind of gas, too. Stations are also shown on a map, so you can easily navigate to them. This free app is available for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone.

UrbanSpoon

Available for iPhone and Android (or via your mobile browser), Urbanspoon provides restaurant recommendations for meals on the go. The app version works like a slot machine – just shake it to find a place near you to try. You can also see lists of all nearby eating establishments, as well as a comprehensive range of reviews. This app is free.

Yelp

If you need more than just food, then consider Yelp. It has a large database of places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play and you can narrow your search by location, distance and price. You can also find businesses near you. There are versions of Yelp for practically every phone OS so you won’t have to miss out.

Trip It

Trip It, available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry, is a free app that helps you track your itinerary. Plan your trip, email your confirmations to the Tripit email address and get your itinerary in one easy-to-browse screen.

Trapster

Want to know where speed traps and other hazards are on your road trip? Then you need Trapster, available for a range of smartphones as well as GPS devices. Trapster uses GPS to keep track of your current location and provides an early warning system for police checkpoints and the like. It also incorporates functions from some of the other apps, such as displaying a range of businesses (including parking lots) on the map. You can report your own traps too.

Bonus: Foursquare

If you want to have a little social fun on your road trip, add Foursquare to your mobile device, so you can check in wherever you are. Be warned, though, you may not always want to make your check-ins public, especially if your home is empty.

Watch out for two posts on road trips later in the week!

As another ash cloud affects European air travel, the news is that train and boat companies are cleaning up (not unexpected, I admit). There’s no end date in sight for the eruption, causing many to choose a form of travel that they know won’t be disrupted – and who could blame them. In wondering if something similar could ever happen here, I checked the latest updates on US volcanoes, only to find that one was  on yellow alert, and another on orange. It’s hard to think of any geological situation which would close down all of our airspace, but I still wonder how long the chaos in Europe will continue to affect our global carriers. Call me a pessimist, but when airlines lose money, isn’t it the passenger who pays?

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