Yes sometimes we travel to escape the blue light of our laptops and phones. The constant refreshing on our browsers and scrolling of our social media apps, taking a break from being sucked into a time lapse where 2 hours feels like 10 minutes and sometimes the unfortunate comparison-vortex takes over until we realise time spent on Instagram just ruined our self esteem for the day!
BUT… (A big positive but ladies!) we stand by that there are definitely some awesome, fun and even vital apps out there to make any solo female traveller feel safer and lets be honest – even less alone. We’re running down our list of the best ones which can add genuine value to your solo journey! Also downloading these apps is a great time-killer after anxiously arriving at the airport 5 hours before you actually needed to board that flight! 😉
“Connectivity is key, even when you're seeking 'you time'.”
Tourlina
Basically Tinder but for friends! It’s truly not a dating app – the emphasis is on friendship! Before discovering this beauty, I admittedly did actually use Tinder to try and connect with other female travellers in Thailand – changing my settings to only women, and my bio to clearly state I wasn’t looking to date but just to make friends and hang out with other travellers in the area.
This didn’t exactly fail – but let’s just say there were a lot of interesting conversations had before meeting some cool chick for a boat trip! Fast forward a year and I was recommended TOURLINA – this is a great way to meet other female travellers in the same area as you!
We can’t praise this app enough, especially if you’re nervous being somewhere solo, or you’ve been loving every independent moment but just fancy a little company some time!
DOWNLOAD HERE: TOURLINA
📸 laurapist via @ludorossi
Sit or Squat
Whether sitting beach front, taking in the sunset or strolling through the cobbled hills of Lisbon, nature still calls. AKA we still need to pee. Yep. Reality! There are few things worse than wandering around an unfamiliar city holding it in… Especially if you have limited language skills to ask locals for the nearest bathroom, not to mention conversation of toilet-stops is not exactly the most interesting/polite subject to practise your language skills with locals!
So, save your bladder and dignity with this genius app (I’m gonna go ahead and guess it was an awesome woman who came up with this?!) Sit or Squat, is a free app that lists 95,000 bathrooms worldwide! Users rate their experiences with a Sit (thumbs up) or Squat (so-so) and can even upload their photos (LOL!) to give other travellers an idea of what to expect!
The interactive location based map helps direct you to the nearest one, and you can even filter by elements such as disabled access and baby changing facilities. We’ve all had a terrible backpacking toilet experience, and yep it’s part of travelling, but we’re just saying not EVERY public bathroom moment has to be a disaster, thanks to Sit Or Squat!
DOWNLOAD HERE: SIT OR SQUAT
Pack Point
Are you someone who loves to travel light, and keep the luggage weight to a minimum? Or maybe you’re an extra queen who loves to accessorise and have outfit options, even when backpacking? Pack Point is an app that’s SO useful for all solo travellers, perfect for planning ahead and making sure you don’t forget anything, or bring too much! The app is designed as a free travel list organiser, which allows you to organise your shizzle by the activities you’ll be doing, for example, if you intend to go swimming or hiking, you need to pack gym clothes, but if you are having a luxury dinner, you want to pack some fancy-ass outfits to dress to impress! There’s loads of cool elements – like weather checking, duration recommendations and splitting by necessities and luxury items!
DOWNLOAD HERE: PACKPOINT
PIC VIA www.instagram.com/andreafcannon
All the safety apps we are loving!
Safety Map Worldwide
Safety Map Worldwide features maps around the world that will recommend the safest routes, advise you on the best district to travel or stay in, and guide you away from high-crime areas.
Rescuer Rescuer
This is a hands-free safety alert app that allows you to text your location, pictures, and audio of whatever unsafe situation you’re in to emergency contacts with a personalised voice key phrase.
GeoSure
GeoSure is one of the best safety apps for female travellers. It has both women-specific & LGBTQ-specific safety feature to help you navigate the different neighbourhoods around the world.
Our other fave apps to bring along!
CityMapper
An obvi but a goodie! CityMapper is a must-have to plan routes which have real-time departures of public transport and alerts if there are any changes and disruptions, as well as Uber integration. The app does require data access and it’s best to use when the GPS is turned on, but it can make planning routes much simpler.
Meet Up
There are tons of networking sites and FB groups but one of our faves is MEETUP. When you get to your destination, Meetup will connect you to fun local group activities, events and like-minded people. A great way to meet people beyond just your hostel!
Eatwith
All you travelling foodies out there should 100% download the EATWITH app, this culinary wonder puts you in touch with locals in the area who are hosting dinner parties. This is a super cool way to mix with the authentic local life and to try some real good food of course!
