I went to cover a tech event today and the main theme was about the personal cloud and how it would become the center of our digital lives.
It got me thinking about my personal cloud apps and how it allowed me to be free of a USB and forwarding all documents to my e-mail.
I have many cloud apps I love but for travelling, I adore TripIt (and Google Docs’ Speadsheet).
I wrote a semi-review of TripIt last September on my now-dead tech blog. Since then, I’ve used the app for many more months and have grown really fond of it. I basically use it as my carrot–whip out my phone, see my upcoming trips before getting back to real life.
If you haven’t tried out TripIt, I’m here to convince you to do so. The light version is free anyway! I don’t have much use for the Pro version’s extra functionalities.
All trips at a glance
TripIt allows you to forward your bookings and it will turn it into a nice itinerary–or you can manually enter details to generate an itinerary.
If you have many trips, the program will list them in a nice list like the picture above. The mobile app will even give you a countdown to the trip.
It’s really convenient to have all the details in a place so I don’t have to scramble around for information when I need them. (But I also use Google Docs for tracking flight tickets too.)
Showoff!
I also like TripIt’s social function. When you link it to your social networking accounts, it will tell your friends and acquaintances when you are planning/leaving for/coming back from a trip.
With LinkedIn, it can even tell you who among your network is in the place you are travelling to.
To be honest, I only turn on Facebook broadcast because I love telling everybody that I’m off for a holiday. Sometimes people would share travel tips as well. (My sister is telling me to eat the beansprouts and curry noodles.)
Tripit iPhone app
TripIt has mobile apps for many different platform. I mentioned above that the mobile version has a countrdown too.
I do not really create itinerary on the move but use it for mild entertainment.
When travelling, I might not have wireless Internet connection so I usually printscreen my travel details as reference.
Who will find it useful?
Narcissists like me to showoff trips. Businessfolks to plan a business trip. Regular travellers to put all details in one flexible spot. Indie travellers to keep track of bookings.
Update (Apr 26, 2012)
TripIt even suggests nearby offers available during my trip. The museum ticket seems cool.
What’s your favorite travel app?
YQtravelling 