These are some of the essential apps you should have when traveling.

Before GPS technology or the possibilities of smartphones and Waze, Google Maps, and other apps that help travelers reach their destination, visiting a foreign country without a tour meant carrying a physical map of the city to explore and a book translated from your native language into English, French, Italian, or the language of the country you were in.

Even with these physical and paper tools, it was common to get lost, unable to find the route on the map to get to the museum you were looking for or the hotel where you would be staying. It was usually more effective to communicate with a local using sign language to ask where a bathroom or train station was. If you were lucky, you would find someone who understood your language and would help you with your questions, but you could also run the risk of finding answers in exchange for money or being scammed if you didn't fully understand the local currency.

These scenarios are no longer a risk or a concern for the less experienced traveler. There are tools that save you the embarrassment of translating or mispronouncing a word, avoid contact with others when trying to find out where a certain place is , and make life easier for you and your travel group.

Technological developments allow you, for example, to translate advertisements or product labels in languages ​​like Japanese or Mandarin, which don't have translations and aren't accessible to Spanish speakers; to communicate with another person from Spanish to German; or to view augmented reality information about the location your cell phone camera is pointing at. Here are some recommended apps that will help and improve your life while traveling abroad.

Everyone has experienced the experience of needing a bathroom while exploring a city. Many opt to go to the nearest cafe, buy a bottle of water, and ask permission to use the restroom. With Flush, taking care of your needs while traveling is easier. This app tracks and shows you all the public restrooms near your location, and also gives you information on which ones are accessible to people with disabilities and which ones are free, charge a fee, or require a key or password. Flush has registered more than 200,000 restrooms worldwide, and is completely free to download and use.

If you travel frequently without buying a SIM card with data, or if you're someone who burns through the internet very quickly, these apps will be very useful. Both show you the nearest free connections. Simply download the map of the city you're traveling to and you're done. You can check it as many times as you like offline. Both are free, but they also have a paid version.

This app is your best friend when packing for a trip. PackPoint suggests a list of everything you need, based on your destination , the length of your vacation, planned activities, and the weather. You can customize it to your liking. As you pack, you can check off what you've already packed. The basic version is free, and the premium version allows you to sync with other travel apps like TripIt, for example.

This app offers tourist-friendly maps of cities, focusing on highlighting places of interest with photos, while also providing information such as the site's history, opening hours, admission costs, free days, website, and more. It works offline and features "hidden gems" that you may not have considered when researching places to visit, recommended by experienced travelers and travel editors. It also helps you plan your day-to-day life. Tripomatic is free, but there is a paid version to get the most out of it.

This app is useful for checking the safety situation in the country you're visiting . It's very helpful for understanding travel conditions for women exploring alone or for people in the LGBT community. GeoSure offers seven days of free use.

This app will be useful for real-time currency conversions. It works offline, but it's recommended to open it once a day when connected to the internet to receive the daily exchange rate updates. XE also allows you to make international transfers.

With TripIt, you simply purchase the necessary tickets, admissions, and reservations, send them to [email protected], and the app takes care of the rest. In a matter of seconds, TripIt can create your itinerary and sync it with your calendar. Here you'll have all your trip details centralized, including flights, hotels, tours, and more. The best part is that you can access this information offline and share it with other travelers. The above refers to the free features. The paid version offers real-time alerts, such as flight cancellations, gate changes, and reminders about what time you should check out of your hotel to catch your train.

This app turns your device into your personal travel guide. Bummel offers immersive audio quality to help you learn more about the places you visit. You set the route at your own pace. The best part is that it's multilingual, so you can learn in your own language. This app also makes recommendations based on your preferences. In addition to being self-guided, Questo adds a game component: it poses puzzles that, when solved, unlock stories. It offers routes in more than 715 cities.

This app compares the time it takes and the cost of getting around a city by public transportation , car, bicycle, and walking. It shows you the route for each option. If you choose public transportation, it tells you the departure time of the next train, the journey time from one station to another, guides you through transfers, and even recommends where to stand on the train or subway. It's free, but has a premium version. It's not available in Latin America.

Like Citymapper, this app helps you navigate public transportation in any city. It shows you routes, transfers, number of stops, estimated travel time, schedules, and more.