The Adventures of Rob & Lauren

Use your iPhone to track your flights, and also set an alarm so you won’t miss those 5AM take-offs. Now if only it could massage your tired feet….oh wait! It can!

We traveled with a 2G iPhone when they first were released. It turned out to be one of the best travel tools we had. We had to jailbreak ours because Rogers wasn’t selling them in Canada at the time, but it gave us the opportunity to just pop in a SIM card in India and easily make calls. 

Now we have a locked 3GS but it’s still a great tool (even if we can’t swap SIM cards). Here are few ways we used our iPhone while traveling.

Alarm clock - extremely useful and essential when you have a really early flight to catch!

Calculator - who even knows how to add anymore?

World clock - for keeping track of multiple time zones. I guess people don’t dig it when you call them at 4AM…

Notepad - I’m a a notes person, and this sure beats carrying around a notebook while traveling

Camera - This has come in very useful for quickly photographing documents, maps, hotels (you probably won’t remember the name of all your hotels, why not take a photo!)

Voice Recorder - So great to record thoughts, ideas, or anything else, especially if you can’t write quickly enough, or have a lot to say!

Weather - I love knowing the temperature of a place before I even step off the plane. Am I fine in this sweater or do I need to pull out my jacket?

Maps - Great all around app. Craving a Chicken Maharaja Mac while in India? Now you can find the closest MacDonalds! Huzzah!

myLite App - A useful flashlight when it’s dark and you’re trying to find your room key.

XE Currency App - Today’s rates. Make sure you’re not getting totally ripped off when buying that souvenir. 

Fring - A Google Talk and Skype tie in. Find a wireless hotspot while traveling and phone home for free!

FlightTrack - We actually haven’t used this one yet, but I’ve heard great things. Track your flights, and stay up to date with delays and weather. 

You may or may not know that you can use your iPhone to tether internet access for your laptop! Incredible. While you might incur roaming charges for voice, the data rate remains the same where ever you are in the country (for Rogers in Canada). This has saved us a ton in internet charges when we’re staying at hotels!

When out of the country we usually keep our phones in airplane mode unless we need to make a call. But you can also turn on wireless while still staying disconnected from a cell network carrier. This is awesome! It means you can access all of the above functions and apps (minus tethering) while you’re in a wireless hotspot. We do this all the time to find free wireless hot spots, at which point we break out the laptop.

If you want to see Apple’s suggestions for apps for travelers, check out this link!