As we travel around the globe we have found a number of apps that are great for large road trips, travelling in a group and travelling in general.

Settle Up

Tracking expenses among a group can be time consuming and potentially stressful but Settle Up has helped us solve this issue. It give us a shared expenses book that is synced online to a Google account and allows any of us to enter expenses and track how much each person is spending and who needs to pay next to keep everything balanced. Importantly for us it allows us to input amounts in multiple currencies!

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.destil.settleup

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/settle-up-7/id737534985

Maps.Me

Maps.Me is great for taking lots of maps with you. While Google Maps allows you to download areas to your device, Maps.Me allows you to download entire countries! The mapping data comes from the OpenStreetMap project (think of it as the Wikipedia of maps where you can help create the world’s largest street directory) which is great for some countries (Cambodia) and is not as accurate for others (China) but it still allows you to navigate the major roads without any buffering! Many Overlanders use this app and regard it as one of the most accurate maps around.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mapswithme.maps.pro

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id510623322

Google Translate

This app is already very popular around the world but we included it as it has been invaluable for us. The ability to download some languages for offline use as well as image and voice translation makes it an amazing tool.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-translate/id414706506

My Data Manager

Pre-paid SIMs can have very little data for a very big price so it is useful to keep an eye on your usage so you don’t go through your quota in a day or even a few hours! My Data Manager allows you to keep track of your data usage per app and in a real time basis so you can view at a glance what your current usage is and whether you are using too much in one day.

In addition to this we found the website Prepaid Date SIM Wiki has a huge amount of information about the SIM card situation in nearly every country including prices on SIM cards, plans, coverage and where to purchase.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobidia.android.mdm

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-data-manager-track-your/id477865384