April 4th, 2018: My Favourite Overlanding Apps

I’ve had a lot of questions lately about some of the tools I use on a day to day basis… Here is a list of my favourite Overlander apps on my iPhone to make life a bit easier so I can concentrate on my riding vs stressing about where I’m going to eat, sleep or fill up with fuel.

Maps.me: Free GPS mapping app that routes and navigates without data. I actually left Canada with a Garmin and have removed it from my bike and solely use my iPhone with Maps.me to navigate now.

iOverlander: Free mapping app with loads of information of camp spots, hotels, hostels, fuel stations, places of interest, restaurants, etc. This also works offline without data but works a bit better when online. It links with Maps.me so when you find a place you like in the map section, you can share it to Maps.me and drop a pin to route to.

Google Translate: This is a must have on your phone… Obviously when you’re traveling in countries that don’t speak your mother tongue, you need to translate often. Make sure to download the language pack and click on the “camera” icon. Your camera will open up and if you scan over another language say over a restaurant menu, it will translate to english on your screen. Straight up Star Trek shit right there. And yes, it’s free !

XE Currency Converter: When you’re living and spending in local currencies and converting in you’re mind to your own home currency, this is a must have tool on hand. You can download when online up to 10 foreign currencies, so you can convert offline when buying so you know if it’s a good deal or not. It’s free, so go get it…

Trello: This is a “List” organization app. It can be used in various different scenarios. I store my things I need to do, the maintenance that I’ve done on the bike so I can refer back to later, I store peoples info that I meet on the road, etc. This is more of an organization app than navigation tool, but I wouldn’t have a smart phone without an app like this now…

Google Sheets: When traveling in foreign countries, you are most likely buying supplies with cash from ATM’s so not using your debit or credit card. If you’re using cash, it is really easy to loose track of where you’ve spent your money. Within 3 weeks of me leaving, I created an online Google Sheets spreadsheet where I can input how much I spend in local currency on Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Fuel, Accommodation, etc, and it converts to Canadian. I need to track my daily spend so I don’t overspend and my trip gets cut short. This is complete ocd and my Overlander friends make fun of me, but I can go back however far and tell them how much I spent on that Hotel room in Popayan, Colombia…

If you have any questions, send me a message. If you have a must have App, leave it in the comments section…