Organize your travel plans in one place with TripIt by forwarding your itinerary emails to the app. It will organize your flight information, driving directions, reservations, and hotel information, and you can edit the plans as you go. Or, sync it with your calendar or webmail and share the information via email or social media.
Sit or Squat is powered by Charmin, and will help you track down public restrooms nearby. Search, review, and rate bathrooms all over the world. Simply choose “sit” or “squat” depending on how nice the bathroom was.
For many people, the best part of road trips is the crazy roadside attractions you can find while driving down the highway. With this app, you don’t have to miss out on any of the weird pit stops, and you can easily find your way back to your route.
Road Ninja has been popular for quite some time. It is a companion for interstate travel, offering information about what’s coming up at the next exit, deals and promotions, contact information, and directions.
This app offers last-minute deals for hotels while you’re on the road. The hotels provide their unsold rooms, and you can book them easily and securely on your smartphone.
This app, a trip journal of sorts, was created at Ball State University, and it will definitely come in handy. It organizes photos, video shorts, audio, and GPS locations to make it easy for you to record your trip. Google Maps is built in as well so users can retrace their steps if they’d like to return to the same landmark or location.
Battery Guru only works on Snapdragon-powered (Android) devices. Install the app, and it picks up on your smartphone behavior after just a few days. It operates in the background and tells you how to better extend the battery life of your phone or device, optimizing connectivity and apps to do so.
While you’re on a road trip, use Project Noah to share and learn about wildlife encounters. Use the “spottings” tab to tag where and what you find, see what types of plants and animals have been located near you, and use “field missions” to work with environmental groups and other organizations. The missions can be as simple as photographing wildlife, or even helping with tracking migratory patterns of birds.
We can’t forget about the kids in the backseat — and with this app, they can navigate their own personal road trip while you are driving down the interstate. Critter Cruise allows children to explore the US and Canada by reading about some of the most famous roadside attractions and doing fun quizzes about what they see. They can customize vehicles and collect bumper stickers as well.
Lyndsey Gilpin is a former Staff Writer for TechRepublic, covering sustainability and entrepreneurship. She's co-author of the book Follow the Geeks.
