Top 10 Tips for Tech and Travel

	Travel Journals using Book Creator What a great way to have a record of your summer vacation! Spice up the regular travel diary with Book Creator. Kids will have fun writing a daily log of their travels and including recorded sounds, photos and videos.
	Google Maps Offline I can’t imagine my world without Google Maps and I use it all the time. When travelling, we aren’t always connected to wifi or data. The solution is to download the map while you are connected and then you will have access to the map offline.
	Packing Apps I swear by my favourite Packing apps Packing Pro (free, $4.48 for premium) and Pack Point (free, with in-app purchases). The premium Packing Pro generates expert lists for each family member - perfect when you’re travelling with family. You can add/remove items as needed. The checklist really helps to make sure you’ve remembered everything. Pack Point can generate lists too, but for 1 traveller only at this stage. The interface is considerably nicer, however!
	Packing Techniques The good folk at LifeHacker have collated a series of tips on packing techniques to help you save space and carry more. There is a little something for everyone, including my favourite tip: Invest in packing cells!
	Google Translate Google Translate is a fantastic tool when you are travelling somewhere where you don’t speak the language. It is a free app and can even be used when you aren’t connected to the internet if you download language packs.
	TripIt This amazing app and website easily organises your travel plans. Simply forward booking confirmations to plans@tripit.com to have an itinerary automatically created. Maps, directions and details are all in one place. Super handy if you have a busy itinerary. You can add plans as needed, and it prints out beautifully if you need a paper copy.
	Where to Eat The FourSquare website and app are a hungry traveller’s best friend. Do a location-based search to find the best restaurants (or coffee, nightlife, fun, shopping) nearby. Partner app Swarm allows you to check into places and have a record of your visit. Swarm links to FourSquare, so you can leave reviews for your favourite places there too.
	Where to Stay You’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard of AirBnB, the popular vacation rental website and its accompanying app. While we love AirBnB, you may not have heard of a similar service, called VRBO. VRBO does all the same things, frequently with different properties, so make sure you check it out - you might find your perfect holiday home there.
	Photo Scavenger Hunt Creating a photo scavenger hunt is a great holiday activity for kids of all ages. Grab some ideas from Pinterest, or build your own interactive one using Klikaklu. Klikaklu is a fun app designed for creating photo treasure hunts on your iPhone.
	Summer Digital Projects for Families This is a list of some great summer collaborative projects to do with kids. Everything from starting a family blog to coding and creating photo albums.

Have we missed anything? What are your favourite tech and travel tips? Please share below!

Date Night - Top Apps for Global Travelers

The following Apps are my pics for Best Travel Apps Ever, and ones I will be putting to good use this summer when I travel to Europe.

TripIt - One of the easiest & most useful travel apps is TripIt. You simply forward your flight confirmations and/or hotel bookings, and TripIt will put together a wonderful itinerary for you, complete with essential booking references, confirmation numbers and maps of surrounding areas. Best of all, it's FREE! This is my number 1 travel app of all time.

Packing Pro - If you're anything like me, you have a tendency to overpack for trips, meaning I often lug around unnecessary items. I also manage to forget at least one key item every time I travel. Well, no more! This app can give you pre-prepared lists for various types of trips, or you can customize your own lists, meaning you will be well-organised for your next trip.

Travel App Box - This provides several useful travel apps in one, including offline maps, currency converter, tip calculator, basic phrases, pictionary, emergency call numbers, travel games and more. The offline maps in particular, I think will be extremely useful for those between-wifi moments.

Google Translate - When traveling, instant translation can be your best friend. Google translate can even 'say' the words in the language you desire.

Dropbox - Putting key documentation in Dropbox when traveling can be extremely useful. I have photocopies of my passport and green card in my Dropbox, just in case.

Pocket First Aid & CPR - This app not only has great first aid information, but is a place you can store important medical information about your family, e.g. Medical insurance numbers, blood type etc. Very easy to use and handy to have in your back pocket.

Kayak - Flights, hotels, rental cars, travel planner - this free app is a great place to start planning your next vacation. This won the people's choice award at the 2011 Webby Awards.

XE Currency - A straightforward currency exchange app from the popular site with the same name.

Foursquare - Checking in to new places can give you excellent tips from other Foursquare users. I have used Foursquare to get recommendations about what to order at restaurants, and find out recommended activities in the area.

Lonely Planet (e.g. Paris) - Lonely Planet is a wonderful source of information for tourists, and they have guides for all of the major cities.

Local MRT (e.g. Paris Metro) - When traveling to a new place, I always download apps for public transport, as you never know when they might come in handy. Most are free, however some, like Paris Metro, have added value and therefore charge a fee.

Weather+ Free - Anticipating the weather in the countries you visit is always essential.

World Clock - Time Zones - Knowing what time to call home is important when traveling - no one wants to be woken at 3am, even if you are calling from Germany. This app shows the current time in a range of destinations, so there are no more excuses!

Camera360 - This amazing FREE app has a range of different features that will help you take great photos wherever you are. Each effect has a range of sub-effects, meaning the possible combinations are endless. (**if you are using the Singaporean App store, the app description will turn up in Chinese. Don't panic, the app will be in English once it's downloaded**)

TripAdvisor - The popular website is now available in app form. Search for hotels and more, and read user reviews about your upcoming travel destinations.

I hope you find these apps useful. Leave a comment with your favorite recommendations - we're always on the lookout for new apps.