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July 22, 2015

The Best Apps For Your Summer Road Trip

A VW van packed and parked with the best apps for your summer road trip.

Back in February, I took a plunge and bought tickets to the Eaux Claires music festival in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, complete with hipster music lineup, art installations, camping and of course, fried cheese curds. As time for the festival got ever closer, I started to dread the thought of 32 hours on the road that the trip would require. But I can happily report after making the journey with some friends this past week, it was well worth it. Long road trips can drive you slightly insane, but I have some recommendations for how your smartphone can help you keep your sanity as you’re crammed into a VW Golf hurtling at 90 miles per hour aimed straight for Wisconsin — or wherever the road takes you — with the best apps for your summer road trip.

Foursquare

Photo from @blair_knuckles on Instagram

Photo from @blair_knuckles on Instagram

If I had a nickel for every time I heard the question, “Do people still use Foursquare?”, I would have enough money to buy dinner at a great place to eat that I found on Foursquare. When we broke up our road trip with a stop in Chicago, a city I had never been, Foursquare was the perfect place to find a good beer bar, coffee shop or Chicago dog near our hostel. I’ve used it enough to trust the peer reviews, and it didn’t disappoint in Chicago: we found two delicious lattes and a real Delorean inside Wicker Park’s The Wormhole Coffee.

ChefsFeed

ChefsFeed is another “feed me” kind of app, but instead of reviews from peers, you see reviews from world-renowned chefs. Open up ChefsFeed and it will point you towards the nearest chef-raved restaurants and even list the most-loved dish at that restaurant, complete with a description from said chef. The best part: it lists everything from quick-stop joints like Taylor Gourmet or Shake Shack, to that five-star nondescript French place you didn’t realize you walked by every day.

Reddit

Oxbow Brewing Company Tasting Room in Portland, Maine

Oxbow Brewing Company Tasting Room in Portland, Maine

If I have time to really prepare and dig into a city I’ll be visiting, I’ll log in to Reddit. There is usually a subreddit for every city, where residents and natives can connect and update each other on going’s on or provide out of towners with a guide or list of things to do, see and eat, and since Reddit’s demographic seems to somewhat match my age, the recommendations are usually just what I’m looking for. While up in Maine last month, Reddit pointed me to Portland’s Oxbow Brewing Company, which is maybe the most beautiful tasting room I’ve ever been to.

Untappd

Which leads me to Untappd. If you’re like me, you’ll likely visit a brewery or two (or five) on your road trip to really get a taste for the area. Untappd is a great way to keep track of the beers you’ve tried while rating each one to keep track of how much you liked it. They also gamify it with badges (I have a level 50 Land of the Free badge, nbd) and let you see what your friends are trying too.

Podcasts

If you’re on a long road trip, chances are your phone’s music library is quickly going to get old. You could go old school and pull out your CD archive from under the seat, or you could explore the world of podcasts. Podcasts had a big moment last year with Serial, but there are plenty of other great options for any subject that interests you, from comedy or history to business or music. My all time favorites that are sure to hook you:

This American Life – This public radio stronghold also has an app and podcast component so you can access the entire library of Ira Glass’ theme-centric radio shows. Start with these:

396: #1 Party School

513: 129 Cars

The Mystery Show – A newcomer to the podcast scene, The Mystery Show has Starlee Kine solving what seem like somewhat mundane mysteries (how tall is Jake Gyllenhaal; why would someone have a license plate that says “I LUV 911”; who owned this belt buckle) in an endearing fashion. Some are hilarious, some are heartfelt, but they’re all satisfyingly conclusive. Start with these:

Case #3: Belt Buckle

Case #5: Source Code

Radiolab – WNYC’s Radiolab is in the same league as This American Life: each week Jad and Robert host a new theme that connects interesting social, science and historical stories that often times end up being incredibly emotional but undeniably interesting. Start with these:

Animal Minds

Emergence

Cameo

Remember the days of mom or dad lugging around a big VHS recorder that inevitably had to be held shut with duct tape? The intention was sweet, capturing fun family moments of vacations, and I feel like that’s something our generation has lost. Instead, we (me included) capture a 5 day road trip in three Instagrams. It’s not the same. That’s why I’m starting to use Cameo more. The Vimeo-owned app allows you to easily capture video, string your videos into a narrative, filter them, add an intro and music and export all within the app. So you can capture your moments and save them all on the same device, your phone. Here’s a video made with Cameo:

Beme

This app is hot off the presses, and while I have yet to fully let go and share “honest” moments from my life, I definitely see the draw of Beme. Beme allows you to capture moments from your life in 4-second increments and share them with friends, family or whoever else is on Beme, and the catch is you don’t get to review, edit or change these moments before they’re sent off into the internet. If you’re heading on a road trip, to a music festival or stumble upon a giant Paul Bunyon statue, try sharing those moments on Beme.

Or forget everything…

Put down the phone every once in a while and just enjoy the trip!