You booked your business trip but you’re feeling about as experienced as a monolingual UN translator. After all, you’ve been on back-to-back video calls since the big bang. You can barely remember why it’s customary to wear shoes to a meeting, much less recall the speed-networking, client-schmoozing, international jet-setter you once were. This is where your trusty smartphone comes in.
There are loads of handy traveling apps you can use to jolt your muscle memory and ease you back into ‘experienced traveler’ mode, with confidence.
Pack it up, Pack it in
While we have been traveling vast distances from bedroom to living room, the world of packing apps has progressed light years. Apps like OneBag, Easy Pack and PackTeo allow you to calculate weight and make lists using built-in templates, adding details like which bag to pack it in. Packr has similar features like auto-generated packing lists and weather forecasting, while also allowing for multiple destinations.
Time after Time
Timeshifter synchronizes your circadian rhythm with your new time zone to create a custom travel plan. Just answer a few questions about your trip and your natural sleep cycle and the app presents you with an up-to-date timeline of when to sleep, when to get some sunlight, and when to avoid caffeine more than you’re avoiding Dave in ‘Accounts.’ Alerts help you stay on track. Similar apps include Sleep Cycle and Uplift.
Planning to dial in a colleague from Rio and another from Singapore? You can’t please all the people all the time but you can try. Time Buddy lets you enter multiple cities to show the corresponding times. Gone are the days of Googling “What time is it in Paris?” What next? Self-flying planes?
There’s a Map for That
Google Maps still reigns supreme for coverage, finding the closest available latte to street-view spying on your prospect’s new office (Wait, are people using it for directions too?). There are loads of other apps that help you compare routes and travel options in real time. These range from global platforms like Rome to Rio and local scope apps like Citymapper. If you’re lucky enough to tack on a spot of leisure time, apps like AllTrails are great for hiking and biking, letting you measure air and light pollution and find nearby trails.
Living La Vida Local
Why eat a rubbery bowl of pasta in the place everyone knows is for tourists when you could sample a tasting menu from that up-and-coming chef you saw on ‘Chef’s Table’?
Apps like Spotted by Locals and Bimble let you peruse curated lists by lifestyle writers and food bloggers and keep track of your own favourite haunts. You’ll never again forget the name of that adorable café with the best croissants and ample plugs for your laptop.
Already been to the museum? Apps like Meetup and Eventbrite let you find local groups and events to suit any passion from fashion pop-ups to classical music and festivals for adult Lego fans (you do you).
Host your own gathering with one of hundreds of diverse venues found on CWT Easy Meetings.
Finally, just like you wouldn’t travel to a meeting without your shoes, don’t forget to download the award-winning myCWTapp to manage your bookings, organise your travel plans and chat to your travel counselor.
