As a certified road warrior, with an average of 200+ days on\r\nthe road each year, I have found several applications that make travel a little\r\neasier. These are a few of my favorites, all of which are available on iOS and\r\nAndroid smartphones, and in many cases, as web services or on other phone and\r\ntablet platforms.
NOTE: This gallery is also available as an article.
When your stomach starts growling, you can quickly see if it’s\r\nworth forgoing the cheeseburger advertised at the next exit for a healthy\r\noption down the road — or know that you’re about to enter a stretch with\r\nlimited food or gas options. As you’d expect, the app allows you to tap a\r\nprovider to quickly call them, a helpful capability when searching for hotels\r\nor open venues when you’re plying the roads late at night.
In another boon for\r\ninternational travellers concerned about data roaming costs, as well as\r\nsubterranean subway dwellers with a spotty signal, MetrO lets you download cities and perform all the routing without being connected to a mobile\r\nnetwork.
GateGuru also provides\r\ncommunity reviews and ratings, allowing you to find a decent bite to eat and\r\noccasional discount when stranded at the airport.
It’s fairly easy to search for\r\na local restaurant in a given category, review a few well-rated choices, and\r\nthen get directions using your smartphone’s mapping app. I’ve found some real\r\ngems, and if nothing else am usually able to keep myself sated and away from\r\nchain restaurants while on the road.
Patrick Gray works for a leading global professional services firm, where he helps companies rapidly invent and launch new businesses. He is the author of Breakthrough IT: Supercharging Organizational Value through Technology as well as the companion e-book The Breakthrough CIO's Companion. He has spent over two decades providing strategy consulting services to Fortune 500 Companies and the world's top brands across the globe. Patrick can be reached at patrick.gray@prevoyancegroup.com. All opinions are his and may not represent those of his employer.
