An application not only helps with communicating to others. They also help when it comes to preparing travels and traveling itself. In times of digitization, smartphones and internet there are a few hidden champions and obvious big players. Some of these applications will be obvious to you but i hope that I will still be able to give you some helpful recommendations!
Preparing your Travel journey
Getting there
FLIGHT – Skyscanner: If you’re looking for a good overview of cheap flights, this app is for you! With the alarm function, I get price changes directly to my phone and can book at the cheapest conditions.
BUS – Flixbus: Useful when I travel within Germany or the surrounding countries. I always like to use the Bus for traveling, hence the Flixbus app. Even if I only get the connections of one provider, this application offers the most connections in my opinion. The price fluctuations are limited, so that a spontaneous trip is no longer a problem!
TRAIN – DB Navigator: Perfect for traveling in Europe by train. This application offers to search for train connections from Deutsche Bahn but other connected providers as well. Fast, but not recommended for spontaneous bookings due to high price fluctuations. They say that you can find the best prices about 90 days before departure. Browsing through the so called ‘Sparpreisfinder‘ you get the cheapest options displayed – which are unfortunately not always really cheap. An other website that I want to recommend is Trainline.eu where you can find even cheaper tickets sometimes!!
Accommodation
Airbnb: When I’m not traveling alone and I look for accommodation in a certain city, I first open this application. You always feel right at home and you can share the cost per night with your travel buddy! If the host also lives in the apartment during your stay, you can benefit from recommendations. And believe me… they are mostly very valuable.
Hostelworld: For low budget traveler. Without sacrificing my travel experience, I consider Hostelworld to be my top application for finding accommodation when traveling alone. You always meet people from all over the world and can exchange ideas and thoughts. That represents a huge added value for me. Although the nights are filled by constant comings and goings and sometimes snoring… it is a good and cheap option.
Couchsurfing: Couchsurfing is a really great option if you’re looking for free accommodation. Practically, as the name implies, you sleep on the couch or in a free bed, with the residents also present in the apartment. The clear advantage of this model is that you can talk to each other and sometimes the hosts even takes you places in the city and becomes your personal local travel guide which is super great. I especially recommend this app and way of accommodation for solo travelers!
GoCambio: While not an application directly, GoCambio is also a free option in terms of accommodations. The only difference to couchsurfing is that it offers a place to sleep in return for language skills. Say, the host wants to improve his language skills, for example, in English. Hence he or she offers a place to sleep and you as a guest can help the host with improving his or her English.
Information about the travel destination
Safe travel: In order to avoid being exposed to unwanted surprises (visas, vaccinations, …) I check this app before every trip to inform myself about entry requirements and the country itself. For more information on customs regulations during the journey, I occasionally use the app 
customs and travel. Disclaimer: this application is in german and the information displayed in the App ist valid for german citizens only.
Pack for the journey
I usually pack clothes that are practical and easy to combine with each other. But of course, camera, technology and much more is not to be missed in my travel backpack. To keep the overview while getting everything ready, I enter the most important items in my 
packing list app. You can also save your packing lists and characterize them with weather situations and countries, so that you have a ready-made packing list for every situation.
Travel
Maps
Travel apps are especially relevant to me if they include the two magic words: download offline. Not only can you save money, you can also save on data usage. Therefore, I either download the map of the city or the country before the journey starts or in the hostel’s own wireless lan. The best offline maps with lots of info on sightseeing spots and off the grid places are 
Maps.me, 
Google Maps and 
Visitacity. The latter also offers the possibility to download information and pre-made travel plans and thus download a complete city package.
Communication and food
As described in the previously, it is always good to keep data usage as low as possible. In order to communicate with family and friends as well as newly formed acquaintances while abroad, I use 
Whatsapp and the 
Messenger Lite App. The latter doesn’t include all the features from the normal version. Calls and text are of course still possible and where in one way or another a true savior.
As far as food is concerned, I am always keen to try local cuisine to get to know the country from a different angle. Here I always like to trust recommendations from friends or acquaintances who have been there before or even from locals directly. If I do not have these, I like to go on 
TripAdvisor . It might be obvious but I know many people who think, that TripAdvisor only recommends completely touristy places but I have to admit I have never been disappointed.
I hope I could help you and give you a little insight into my travel app world and hope that you can take one or two tips to make your next trip even more comfortable and exciting at the same time.
