Top 10 travel apps for iPhone, iPad and smartphones

Dion Wick    ash, Top 10s, Travel Gear     Adventure Travel, iPad, National Geographic, Technology, Travel, Travel apps, travel gear, travel technology, trekking

When travelling, technology is sometimes a lifesaver. And now with web enabled phones, it’s really easy to get travel apps for your iPhone, iPad or smartphone that help point you in the right direction. Some work like modern day maps, others just show you where to find great food.

Travel Apps: there's one for every journey. Image: Flickr/John.Karakatsanis

Travellers are increasingly looking to pick up languages skills and destination advice long before they’ve packed their bags. And there are travel apps for these too.

There’s even an app that turns your phone into a flashlight. And if you like to write as you roll, we’ve sourced a travel app that lets you upload your own destination reviews.

If you are already using an app not featured, let us know and we’ll check it out and add it to our list.

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Mr Lightfoot: How Andrew Skurka trekked Alaska

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts, trekkingholidays     Adventure Travel, Alaska, canoeing, Kayaking, National Geographic, Skiing, trekking, Trekking in Alaska, winter sports

When choosing a rucksack one observation will serve you well: ‘Buy a bigger rucksack and you’ll only take more gear’, something Andrew Skurka knows well.

Andrew is one of a generation of trekkers who travel on foot, travel light, and travel fast. So when it came to planning his epic circumnavigation of Alaska, every gram counted.

Alaska, for all its state parks and picnic places, is a testing place: tundra-carpeted plateaus, massive mountain ranges, and waterways and rivers flowing full with glacial water. And it’s cold, real cold. Temperatures tumble and islets freeze – as do fingertips…

Photo: Michael Christopher Brown/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Leaving Kotezebue, his aim was to be the first person to trek around Alaska, self propelled. The first section was on skis, and he unclipped to walk or canoe where the terrain demanded.

The distances he covered are vast, but still shorter than on earlier exploits – previous wanderings saw him complete 7,778 miles from the US Atlantic to Pacific coast!

Choosing to travel alone rarely leaves you alone – eventually, there’s always someone around to share the trials and trails. Still, on foot Alaska can seem boundless, so part of the test for Andrew was to remain motivated, focused and determined to see his journey through.

He prepared well –always vital no matter what adventure you are planning – taking first place in the 2009 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic adventure race must have helped him, but clearly he wasn’t prepared for the emotional impact…

In one moment he ignored his map, preferring to follow caribou along a route they’d proved for hundreds of years, and it was here, tears flowing, that he found his place…

Andrew’s trekking around Alaska is covered in more detail in a National Geographic piece by Dan Koeppel.

For more images of this incredible journey, please look at the National Geographic photo gallery or look in the March 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine, on newsstands February 22.