Happy trails to you and yours …  

What and How to Pack Up Your Family 

Before you pack your luggage, make sure you grab the most important items you’ll need for your trip, especially if you’re flying. IDs, tickets, passes and any other documents that are required for entry into a building, destination or attraction aren’t things that can be purchased or easily replaced. Packing for a flight requires a more strategic list than that for a road trip.

Packing for Toddlers and School-Age Kids

The key to packing for an infant is to carry any and every item that will keep them happy during the journey. This is where your Gerber snacks, Baby Einstein toys and Disney storybooks become your best friends. Thankfully, your toddler or school-age children are less dependent and can help you with the packing process. Giving them this responsibility helps build their excitement for your family vacation and also teaches them organizational skills early on.

There’s an APP for That

Turn your phone into the equivalent of an electronic Swiss Army knife with 10 of the TravelChannel’s favorite road-tested travel apps. All you have to do is download them and go.

TripIt
Forward confirmation emails from airlines, hotels, bus companies and more to TripIt, and the app will instantly organize it all into a single trip itinerary that you can view on your phone (or on your computer). The service also makes it easy to share itineraries with friends, family members and co-workers.

GateGuru
Hungry, but don't have a lot of time between flights? Finished your book and need a new one for the next leg of your trip? Maybe you just want to find the nearest ATM. Skip the giant wall map of the airport terminal. Before you deplane from your first flight, get the lay of the airport land with GateGuru. The app offers gate-by-gate lists of restaurants, shops and services in, most (for now) US and Canadian airports.

Skype
If you're traveling outside the US but don't want to return home to a crazy big cell-phone bill, rely on Skype's mobile phone app, which allows you to make low-cost calls over the internet instead of using your cell-phone provider's costly per-minute international plan. Pair Skype with free Wi-Fi in the hotel lobby or café of your choice, and you can phone landlines or other cell phones for just pennies and other Skype customers for free.

HopStop
Don't get lost on that new-to-you public transportation system. Plug your start and end points into HopStop to find out the best train or bus route in the city you're visiting. The app is currently available for 16 cities, states and regions in the US and Europe, including New York City, Long Island, San Francisco, Paris and New Jersey. Yes, New Jersey.

AutoStitch
That landscape in front of you screams out for a panoramic photo, don't you think? Take 2 to 5 snaps of any scene and AutoStitch will digitally sew them together to create a panorama. Right there. In your phone. Nifty.

iTalk Lite
Photos are nice but how about a soundtrack to go with those vacation memories? With iTalk, you can capture on your phone the sounds of your trip: bird calls, street sounds and late-night sangria-fueled banter with newfound travel friends (but, please, get the friends' permission first). Use the free iTalk Sync program to download audio to your computer via Bluetooth. 

Guide Apps
As much as we enjoy some good crowd-sourced information via Twitter or Yelp, we still love a good guidebook. Or, these days, a good guide app. Companies including Not For Tourists and Sutro Media publish quality guides written by travel expert.

And as we have noted earlier this month, if you happen to decide to stay at home right here at our apartments in Austin, we’ll look forward to sharing the seasons with you!

The post TRAVELING FOR THE HOLIDAYS? THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT! appeared first on Juniper Springs A Concierge Community Blog.

With the fall season right around the corner, smart travelers are already looking for good deals and great tips on how to enjoy their holiday travel this year.  Be it Thanksgiving, Christmas, or events in-between, traveling can be a challenge to say in the least.

To help you stay ahead of the (stress) curve, we decided to use our blogs this month on some tips that we have found online that will hopefully make your travels to and from our apartment community in Austin, Texas, this Thanksgiving (and other holidays) a lot more enjoyable this year.

We’ll send along our thanks to the Travel Channel who has enlightened us with the following tips.

Safe travels!

Plan Ahead

It's never too early to start your holiday travel planning. In the early fall, you can take advantage of lower rates and seats aplenty. To jump on a bargain, sign up for sale notifications from your preferred airlines or Amtrak and follow your favorites on Twitter and Facebook where special sale notifications may pop up before they are available to the general public.

Travel Light

As more airlines start charging for checked bags, it's a good idea to pack light and carry on your bag. But keep in mind that your fellow travelers will all have the same idea and overhead space may be tight onboard. To lighten your traveling load, consider shipping some of your belongings to your final destination ahead of time, especially presents and bulky items like diapers or extra clothes that you won't need for the journey.

Choose the Best Days

The day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year, closely followed by the Sunday after the big day when travelers tear themselves away from the leftovers and football to make the journey home. Christmas has a similar pattern. 

Avoid these days by flying out on Monday or Tuesday if the holiday schedule makes sense. When you're ready to head home, take flight on Friday when the masses have moved on from the airports to the shopping centers to score the best holiday deals. The crowds pick up again on Saturday, reaching a critical peak on Sunday, before leveling out on Monday.

High-Tech Troubleshooting

It's commonsense to arrive at the airport early — you'll need the time for parking, security and to wait your turn for that necessary cup of coffee. But you can avoid some airport hassles by taking advantage of useful applications that can be used on your smart phone. iPhone users can get the skinny on the airport, including maps showing the gates and restaurant information, using the GateGuru app. Airlines including Southwest, Delta and American Airlines all have mobile websites where passengers can check in, confirm seats and keep track of their flight status.

Holiday Road

While you certainly save money and avoid some headaches traveling by land, navigating the highways presents its own set of holiday challenges during the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Traffic can choke heavily traveled routes adding hours to generally speedy trips. Follow the same best practices for road travel, including avoiding the highways on the Wednesday before turkey day and the following Sunday.

Plan your route ahead of time and travel with a GPS system, smart phone or old-school maps to offer alternatives if you need a Plan B. And to avoid unnecessary delays, bring along an E-ZPass or change for the tolls, as well as plenty of snacks, and be sure to fill up on gas before you hit the road.

Unplug. Unwind. Have fun.

Although traveling during the holidays has its challenges, when all is said and done it gives us all a chance to really unplug, unwind, and spend good times with family and friends.

On behalf of the entire team at Juniper Springs, we wish you the best of success in planning your holiday travels.  If you happen to decide to stay at home, we’ll look forward to sharing the seasons with you!

The post TRAVELING FOR THE HOLIDAYS? CHECK OUT THESE TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE TRAVEL EASIER DURING THE UPCOMING HOLIDAY SEASON. appeared first on Juniper Springs A Concierge Community Blog.