Your iPhone can be a great travel tool, as long as you remember to pack some external battery power. Today in Head to Head we'll take a look at multimedia travel journal apps, and the featured app is certain to come in handy for anyone prone to getting lost in the middle of nowhere.
If you're planning a jaunt into the wilderness, be sure to grab the SAS Survival Guide before you go.
The guide has a smart, straight-forward user interface, with easy access to more than 400 pages of survival skills from "The SAS Survival Guide," written by John Wiseman, a survival expert and former member of Britain's special forces.
($6.99) SAS Survival Guide. Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Click here to launch the iTunes page.
The app is divided into interactive sub-categories and offers a search option for quick access to specific topics. The main menu features fast access to emergency tips, as well as quick lessons on how to build a fire or shelter. If you feel you're a true survivalist you can test your knowledge with a challenging survivor quiz.
The amount of information is impressive and extensive. Even a simple tutorial about building a fire contains added tips for extreme polar, desert, and tropical climates.
The app also features 16 videos, narrated by Wiseman, ranging from tips for celestial navigation to how to make a stove with fuel and sand.
With added tools survival check lists, sun compass, Morse code transmitter and a photo glossary of medicinal, poisonous and edible plants, this app has you covered.
And of course, like any good survival app, it works offline.
Head to Head: GPS Social Travel Journals.
OnTheRoad.to provides an easy way to share your adventure highlights with friends and family - in real time.
Using GPS data, this app tracks the location of an event and allows you to attach comments, pictures and videos.
(Free) Travel app. Also available for Android. Click here to launch the iTunes page.
Using your location, your family and friends can see how your trip is going on a map from home. which displays your route in real time. They use an online comment feature to suggest a great restaurant or a nice lookout spot.
There is also a useful "near by" feature which will assist travelers you in finding places like camp grounds and gas stations. One thing about this feature, however, is that you'll need to be at least within 100m of a location for it to register.
There is a privacy feature, allowing you to select who will be able to get caught up on the details of your trip. And for those of you who can't get enough of social networking, OnTheRoad.to also links up to popular sites like Twitter and Facebook.
The map available to your friends isn't available within the app, so can be a bit tricky to see how it's all coming together. There's a link to visit your "trip book" from the app, but it requires internet access, which isn't always convenient
EveryTrailPro adds a serious twist to travel blogging, allowing you to explore over 300,000 trails across the world, and use a route recorder to share your own
Using your iPhone's GPS capabilities, EveryTrailPro maps every step of your way, whether you are walking, hiking, boating or driving, and displays useful stats like distance, elevation and speed.
($3.99) Travel app. Also available for Android, Windows Mobile and Blackberry. Click here to launch the iTunes page.
During the trip, you can snap pictures, take videos, and add notes to stops along the way.
Aside from creating your own travel diary, the app gives you access to the EveryTrail community, which is a great resource for finding new routes. Searching the community's archives, you can specify by activity types (biking, hiking, fishing) and distance in kilometers. For example, if you were visiting a provincial park you'd likely find something like "Kayak Adventure" coupled with pictures/videos and the ability to add/overlay the trail path into your map.
If you find a cool route, the app gives you the option of downloading a 3D Google Earth map to have on hand, a great added feature.
This app also features Twitter and Facebook sharing. From the EveryTrail website you can grab a widget that displays your pictures and travel statistics on a map. Friends and family can also keep tabs on your journey by logging on to the EveryTrail site.
The Bottom Line:
While OnTheRoad.to is great for a free app, the implementation of community trails and the ability to record your entire route makes EveryTrailPro the ideal travel diary & guide of the future.