Being a vagabond festival wizard poses its own challenges. Traveling quickly between festivals and trying to stay under budget is a balancing act. Having spent the summer (100 days to be exact) traveling to over twenty countries, I used more than a few apps and online services to help me to navigate the byways of Europe. Here are a few of my favorites.
Skyscanner
On the surface, Skyscanner appears to be like any number of flight search websites — until you add the destination “everywhere” into your search. Then Skyscanner transforms into the ultimate spontaneous trip planner finding me $20 tickets to Romania and $175 return flights to the United States.
Maps.ME
There was a time in my life when I lived for Google Maps, but the last few releases have transformed it into a bloated mess that still leaves out the one thing that I desperately need — offline maps. Enter Maps.ME which lets you download maps from specific countries and states. Combined with your phone’s GPS navigation, I found my way to secret hiking trails, nearby train stations, and used it as an international communication device for hitching around Switzerland (and by “international communications” I mean that I pointed at my phone and said “this is where I’m heading”.)
Snapseed
This mobile photo editing app is like having Adobe Lightroom in your pocket. It boasts plenty of adjustment features like shadows, highlights, and sharpness along with a selection of filters. I mean, c’mon, did you really this photo was #nofilter?
BlaBlaCar
The French car sharing service is the new hip and easy way to get around Europe. BlaBlaCar matches drivers with riders who are willing to pay the completely reasonable fee. Cheaper than a bus and quicker than a train, I met more than a few people using this to travel between festivals this summer.
Facebook Messenger
Besides my suspicion that Facebook is mining all my conversations to use in a futuristic advertising campaign, this seemed to be the easiest way to stay in touch with the hundreds of people I met over the summer. The negatives are that it has an absolutely terrible interface and cat stickers which is why most Europeans use WhatsApp instead.
WhatsApp
I had never heard of the most popular messenger service in Europe until I hit my first festival. It’s the best way for internationals to text to each other. It’s easy to use, lets you send pictures, and makes group texting a breeze. It’s also not Facebook.