I can’t imagine traveling without my smart phone.  It was instrumental in helping us plan our stops, where to stay, what to do and where to fuel up.  I know quite a few people laughed at the size of my iPhone 6 Plus but I knew I would be using it to look up information as we traveled down the road.  It is much easier to use the phone than it is to pull out the computer or iPad and hook up to the phone as a hot spot.  The larger screen of the iPhone 6 Plus made it easier to read.  I have compiled a list of some of our favorite apps for travel.

1. Walmart ONP (overnight parking) by All Stays.  Walmarts are a great location for spending the night between 2 big travel days.  Why pay for a campground when all you are going to do is sleep?  This is a great app that shows you the locations of all Walmarts and color codes them according to wether or not they allow overnight parking.  There is a quick link to the phone number to the store and I recommend calling before you park overnight.  The store manager can let you know the recommended spot for overnight parking.  The other helpful part of this app is you can read reviews by other travelers on the Walmart and how conducive it is to parking.  We found some great places to spend the night using this app.
2. Rest stops by All Stays-  I used this app a ton.  We wanted to make sure we stopped about every 150 miles to stretch our legs and to give Gizmo a chance to stretch his.  This app shows you all the rest stops on a highway along with the side of the highway they are on (West/East, North/South)  It gives details about the amenities available at each of the stops
3. Gas Buddy- This is helpful if you are traveling by car or by RV.  Gas Buddy is a great way to find the best priced gas in your area.  Occasionally there are pictures of the gas station.  This is very helpful when you want to know how hard it is going to be to navigate an RV with car in tow up to the pump.
4. Passport America- I’ve talked about this camping membership before but they have a great little app that helps you find passport america campgrounds along your route.  We stayed in many passport america campgrounds as we traveled west.  You can’t beat paying 1/2 price for campground fees.
5. Good Sam’s Camping-  Great way to find campgrounds and to read reviews and ratings about them.  I prefer to know as much as I can about a place before we drive to it.
6. Verizon Wireless App-  Got to keep track of the data use when you are using the phone as much as we do.
7. One more app that we like that isn’t really related to traveling is MIPC.  This is the app that goes with our security cameras at home.  It gives us the peace of mind to be able to login and look at our home anytime we want (plus it’s great to see home when you feel a bit homesick).  We have set up a thermometer near the camera so we can keep an eye on the temperature inside our house.  The camera has a motion sensor on it and sends us an alert (and photo) any time motion is detected. This was a great purchase from Amazon and helps us rest easy knowing it is there.