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While travel was full during the rise of the Omicron variant, people still dream of their next escape. There are even new apps that make it easy to plan trips and have fun. Some were introduced (and some old favorites were updated) while the travel stopped. Wondering which one to try? Here’s a selection of well thought-out solutions – how to turn rewards points into a hotel suite, join a ranger for a hike in a national park, listen to the history of where you’re driving, see the latest Covid-19 travel protocols – to help. Tap and swipe your way, hoping it will be the year of adventure.
National Park Service
From Acadia to Zion, there’s finally one official park service application For America’s more than 400 national parks. Created by National Park Service staff, the app puts practical information at your fingertips, including fees, hours, directions, webcams, where to find food and restrooms, park news and events (hiking tours, talks, volunteer opportunities). Search for parks near you or search by island, state, activity (like horse walking, caving, dog sledding) or subject (African American heritage, climate change, volcanoes). According to the app, if you want to dog sledding in national parks and preserves, you should visit Alaska, but if horseback trekking is your speed, there are dozens of national areas to choose from. Download park details for offline use on mountain trails and other spots where you don’t have cell phone service, and keep a constant list of parks you’ve visited. Free.
HearHere — Travel Companion
Any number of images can come to mind when taking a road trip, and Kevin Costner probably isn’t one of them. However, that may be about to change. The actor and director are the founding partners of the company. Hear Here, an app that uses your location and interests to play audio snippets (some narrated by Mr. Costner) about the history, culture and natural wonders of the places you drive through. There are morsels of things you see (like landmarks) and things you don’t see, like the people who walked this land before you. Launched last year, the app recently announced an expansion from travel stories set on the West Coast to more than 8,700 stories in the United States, including details on the early history of Portland, Maine; the burning of Washington by British troops in 1814; and the first racially integrated housing in Philadelphia. Available only on iOS. Cost: Free for the first five stories; $29.99 for 30 days of unlimited access after that; $35.99 for a one-year unlimited subscription; $69.99 for three years.
bublup
bublup is a cloud storage service where you can save and organize all kinds of content (photos, videos, documents, links, PDFs) in eye-catching folders and share them with others if you wish. For example, let’s say you’re planning a trip to Vermont. With a few taps, you can create a holiday folder and choose from the app’s templates to add a packing checklist and a note about things you want to do. You can easily forward flight or car rental confirmation emails, import inspiring photos and videos, and add links to travel articles and possible bed and breakfasts. One of the things that makes the app (and the desktop version) enjoyable for visual planners is that you can choose the colors of your folders and even put your own photos in front of them and as background images. Each type of content you add to a folder (whether it’s a link or a photo) appears in its own organized box, making navigating information more like a vacation than work. To get started, try Bublup’s “vacation planning” template, which includes handy folders for flight information, food and drink, location, accommodation options, and must-sees that you can customize later. Tap “invite” to let other travelers view or collaborate on your itinerary by adding and editing content. Check out more ways to use the app for vacation planning Bublup’s blog. Cost: Free for three gigabytes of storage; More storage and features for $2.99 to $9.99 per month, or $27.60 to $94.80 if paid annually. Pricing details: bublup.com/premium-features.
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