5 Best Apps for Road Trips

Thank you to Verizon Wireless for sponsoring this post. Don’t head out on your next family vacation without downloading the 5 Best Apps for Road Trips. From the best maps to reviews, this list has it all! 

The Best Apps for Road Trips

My husband and I both work from home and are pretty high tech users. So it’s no surprise that our girls have followed in our steps. 

Brady and Colby each have an old iPhone and have skipped birthday parties in favor of gaming consoles. And they know, that if mom and dad don’t know the answer to a question Google or Alexa has the answer.

Does this sound familiar? It seems to be the trend in our group of friends.

Since April our family has been traveling each weekend and that’s the plan throughout summer. We’re AirBNBing out our house on weekend to offset our family trips together. 

We try to limit our use of technology when we’re on vacation. But everything is online and that includes the best apps for family vacations to make the trip as smooth and enjoyable as possible.

The list below has my picks for the 5 best apps for family travel. These are the apps that I use most often when we’re away from home and make travel easier.

5 Best Apps for Summer Road Trips

1. Waze.

There are few things I hate more than sitting in traffic. Give me surface streets where I’m actually moving any day.

This summer we’re primarily going to be traveling in our RV. That means lots and lots of driving.

Waze is my go-to map app because it not only gives directions and traffic updates, it also reroutes you to faster routes. I know I’ve saved countless hours by using Waze whenever I get in the car.

2. Gas Buddy.

Running out of gas sucks. Running out of gas on a road trip with the family is even worse. 

Gas Buddy to the rescue! This app will tell you where the nearest gas stations are, if they’re open, and the prices. 

And in gas shortage situations like Hurricane Michael, it’ll also tell if they have gas and/or electricity to pump it. It was such a relief to be able to locate gas in a crisis with this app.

3. TripIt.

TripIt allows you to organize all of your travel docs in one spot. Creating an itinerary is super easy too.

Just forward your confirmation emails to TripIt and they will create an itinerary for you. Or if you’re data conscious, you can always manually create your own itinerary online or in the app.

4. Trip Advisor.

When you’re on a road trip, you get tired of eating the same old things. How many times have you decided to venture out and try some local flavor only to be disappointed? Or found yourself tired and in need of a last minute hotel room?

Don’t end up in a shady hotel or eat subpar food, check Trip Advisor instead. You’ll find reviews from other travelers and easily see what the best options are wherever you are.

5. Spotify.

Everything great road trip needs a soundtrack. Spotify makes it easy to create playlists on the go and listen to all of your favorite songs no matter where you are. 

And in the event, you think you might be in a dead spot for very long (I’m looking at you Hwy 20 in Florida) or on a flight, you can always download the songs directly to your phone.

While you can’t control the internet speeds while you’re on a road trip, you can control speeds at home. And chances are you don’t already have it. If you want the fastest internet speeds out there, you need to get 5G from Verizon.

Bonus 6. Nest.

If you have a Nest learning thermostat, then you already have the app. If not, you need to get a Nest ASAP.

The app is such an amazing tool when you’re traveling. You can set the Nest vacation mode to save energy while you’re away. And when you’re on your way home, you can deactivate the Nest away mode and have your home at the perfect temperature when you return!

What is 5G?

Remember the brick cell phones of our old childhood? Those were 1G, or the first generation of analog cell phone technology. 

Fast forward through all of the other years of cell phone innovations to today. With every “G” our cell phones have gotten better and faster.

Welcome to the 5th generation of wireless technology. You’ll find out that 5G is the fastest it’s ever been. And the Verizon 5G network is built with Ultra Wide Band technology (UWB) making it the fastest, most reliable technology to date.

That means not only faster downloads and better coverage. But it also means that you can stay connected to the digital world around you. 

Is your home 5G-ready? You need to find out here because right now when you sign up, you get a FREE 3-month trial, plus FREE YouTube TV during the trial. 

With the Verizon 5G trial, there are no annual contracts, hidden taxes, or fees. You don’t even have to cancel your existing service during the trial! 

Don’t need home service? Check out this awesome deal! Right now when you preorder the Galaxy S10 5G, exclusively on Verizon for a limited time, you can get up to $650 off! 

Right now Verizon 5G is only available in Houston, LA, Sacramento, and Indianapolis. But later this year, Verizon 5G Home will be available in 20 new cities like Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, and more! Get the full list of cities here. 

Do you have a passion for technology? Learn more about the Verizon 5G Challenge here.

More family travel tips:

• Best Headphones for Traveling with Kids
• Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine
• Kid Friendly Las Vegas
• Road Trip Tips with Kids
• Seattle with Kids

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