5 useful travel apps every student should download

When it comes to travelling, international students are no strangers. They often need to travel back and forth from their home country, and quickly become experts on immigration checkpoints, booking flights, luggage requirements, and all that fun stuff that come with travelling overseas.

Most students make use of their time abroad by visiting places in their host country or neighbouring regions, so they’re quite familiar with travelling.

That being said, we’re sure there are times when you could use some help. Since there’s an app for practically everything, there are of course several apps that can make a student’s travelling experience much easier.

Here are our picks for the most useful and helpful travel apps every student should download on their phones. Making sure not to add to your travel expenses, we’ve narrowed them down to ones that are free, too!

PackPoint

This handy app helps you pack the essentials for a particular trip. Source: PackPoint

Does anyone really love packing? It’s a chore for most of us, especially when we’re headed somewhere new and aren’t exactly sure what to pack.

This nifty, easy-to-use app helps you by creating weather-specific checklists so you don’t miss out anything important.

Based on your length of travel, weather, and activities planned during your holiday, it creates and organises a list for you, where you can choose which items you want.

Travelling with others? You can also share your packing list with them by sending them a website link of your saved list.

Google Translate

There are many ways to translate foreign languages with Google Translate. Source: The Next Web

This one is a must if you’re headed to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language well, or at all. Sure, you can always google the words, but nothing beats the convenience of an app that does it for you!

The great thing about the Google Translate app is that it works even if you don’t have an internet connection.

Need to translate a menu, signboard, or any other text? Simply snap a photo and Google Translate will help you figure out what it means.

You can also translate conversations on the fly so you’re not stopping to look up every single word, making communication much easier!

SitorSquat Restroom Finder

This app makes it easier to locate a public restroom. Source: iTunes

The public toilet situation in foreign countries is an issue that we don’t talk about enough. For travellers visiting countries where toilets can be confusing and strange places, there’s an app to help you feel a bit more comfortable.

This restroom-searching app is loaded with over 100,000 public restrooms that can even pinpoint the one closest to your location.

Plus, they come with ratings – ‘Sit’ if they are clean, or ‘Squat’ if they aren’t – and handy information like if a particular public restroom has a diaper-changing table, or if they charge per entry.

This community-based app allows users to rate toilets as well as add new ones to the database so you can also share your experience if you want.

XE Currency

Check currency exchange rates easily with this app. Source: YouTube

Need to exchange foreign currency and not sure of the rate? With this free currency-converting app, you can access live exchange rates, view historical charts, and calculate prices.

It’s easy to use, free, and the rates you see are the most recent so you don’t get duped when you need to convert your cash. Plus, it will help you stay on track with your budget when you need to buy something and aren’t sure how much it costs in the currency you’re familiar with.

WiFi Map

Need to find a connection nearby? This app is perfect for that. Source: WiFi Map

It can be expensive to pay for data roaming in foreign cities, and you don’t want to buy a prepaid line just for a short trip. You never know when you might need to use the internet urgently, whether to google a tourist spot or complete some homework overseas.

WiFi map helps you find and connect to reliable hotspots near you using their secure VPN, so you can choose from the strongest connection if there are multiple around you.

It’s a global app that supports crowd-sourcing so it’s always being updated. Never again be stuck without a good connection while you’re abroad!

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