Steve’s 12 great ways to use your smartphone camera when traveling –
#1. My iPhone camera is my best travel resource – I use my iPhone to take pictures of almost everything when I travel. For example, instead of keeping all those receipts for meals I simply pull out my iPhone and click a picture and send it to the accounting department rather than stick the receipt in my wallet. Here are some other ways you can use your smartphone when traveling:
#2. Take a picture of your taxi cab number before you get into the cab (I always forget when I get out) – This is a safety valve in case I accidentally leave something in the taxi.
#3. Take a picture of your car at the airport parking lot – This is an easy way to remember where your car was when you parked it.
#4. Take a picture of your rental car – I rent so many cars that I can’t remember what type of car or even the color of the car I rented. I also walk around the car taking a video so I can prove that I did not add any dents during my rental.
#5. Take a picture of your meeting agenda –Many meetings today have meeting apps, however, they still give you a binder full of agenda’s, etc. I just take a picture of the agenda on my phone.
#6. Take a picture of your luggage – If your luggage is lost it is easy to show the airline rep what it looks like.
#7. Take a picture of your hotel room number – This is an easy way to remember your room number when you lose the cardboard key holder that the plastic room card is in.
#8. Take a picture of your credit cards (front and back) – This is an easy way to have all the info if lost or stolen.
#9. Take a picture of your passport – If you travel internationally often you have to fill out forms and this is an easy way to access your passport info without having to find it and pull it out.
#10. Take a picture of the restaurant business card where you ate – This will let you share with friends when they ask for a recommendation of a place to eat (or not eat)
#11. Take a picture of the wine bottle – If you find a great wine be sure to snap a picture and save it.
#12. Take a picture of business cards –Many people use a business card app but I find that if I take a picture of the business card along with a picture of the person. You can then add their picture to your address book. There are a lot of good apps that you can use to easily add the business card info to your address book.
Please CLICK HERE to send me a list of additional ways you use your phone camera while traveling.
There are some “tourist traps” that are still worth visiting –
Many times when I talk to people traveling I will advise them that some of the best trips I have ever taken are off the beaten track. However, I must tell you there are many “tourist traps” that are a must-see even though if you are like me you want to avoid the crowds and see how the locals live. For example, how could you go to Beijing and not visit the Great Wall, or travel to Paris and not visit the Eiffel Tower? Nothing is more kitschy than a luau in Hawaii, but if you have never seen one you will have missed out on something. Sure, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a major tourist trap but if you are traveling anywhere around Florence it is surely worth a 1-hour visit. CLICK HERE to find a great article in Budget Travel Magazine that lists 25 tourist traps around the world that you need to visit. I have visited 21 of the 25 places. Let me know if anyone has been to all 25.
