All of us take at least one trip annually, whether it be locally or overseas. As much we love them, most of us aren’t able to have trips very often. Whether it’s work, school, financial problems, there is always something that holds us back. Thus when we finally get a chance to get out it’s in our best interests to take necessary precautions to ensure that the next trip is a success. Many factors that ruin good trips include delays, insufficient information about the place you are visiting and just plain old loneliness. Here I would like to introduce to a number of useful websites that can help you make your next trip a better one.
Waiting to pick someone up at an airport can be a harrowing experience. With flight delays and the multitude of problems that can happen to delay (or advance) a flight, it can be extremely valuable to know exactly where your friend, colleague or loved one is.
Here are a few websites which can make tracking flight information easy, if not downright fun and interesting!
This website mother of all airline tracking websites.
Not only does it show the usual information: departure time, estimated arrival time, progress bar, and automatically updating map; but it also integrates in nicely with Google Earth!
A popular proverb states you don’t get anything for nothing in this world. This wise statement certainly holds true for the websites below. They are free in that you don’t have to pay money to take advantage of the service they offer. However, what they will cost you is some time and dedication.
(1) Couch Surfing / Hospitality Club - These two are completely independent communities, however the idea behind both projects is very similar, thus they share spot #1. Check out video below for a quick intro.
Couch Surfing
Need a public-transport map for international cities that is downloadable to your cell- phone ? Or even perhaps an ATM machine locator anywhere around the world? Or even just a toilet finder for the emergency situation ….
Here are a bunch of websites that are diverse, interesting and even just quirky for anyone that is planning a trip or is simply a travel-addict.
MetrO - Public Transport Guide for your mobile phone
Do you fancy yourself a world traveler? Do you like to use the Trains, Subways, Tubes or the umm… Metro, when you are in a strange place? If you do and you hate asking for directions, then this post is for you! I have been using a little free program called MetrO, for about 5 years now… That’s right 5 long years ago all the way back on my first Ipaq… But I digress.
Métro is a free worldwide public transport guide that always sits on your PDA (Palm, PocketPC, Smartphone…). It is a small database application that allows you to download different cities metro information. And it is totally search-able.
When I was a young kiddie and the apple of my mother’s eye, I would spend part of my Saturday mornings watching Swap Shop on TV. Swap Shop was presented by British cheeky chappie Noel Edmonds and people would come on the show to swap their trading cards for a GI Joe, or their little brother in exchange for Yoda, and so on. Fast-forward twenty-five years and we now have more or less the same concept online.
NOTE: These sites are pre-dominantly US sites although it may be possible to register a non-US address. Check each site for details.
