Passport? Valid. Visa? Stamped. Phone? Don’t just charge it and turn on roaming. Pack it with digital essentials that will make a foreign country feel a little less alien, less expensive. Three frequent flyers share their best picks.
Exit routes. “The first app we download before every trip is whatever is the most common taxi app at our destination,” says Surat-based Akshita Nagpal, 29, who documents her trips with her friend Jash Reshamwala on Instagram (@heartwantstravel). Regional apps often beat global ones such as Uber in price and reach. Some specialise in airport pick-ups and drops. In Dubai, it’s Careem; in Oman, it’s Yango; in Vietnam, it’s Grab; in Georgia, it’s Bolt.
Shantanu Kashyap, who’s made several trips abroad, recommends AllTrails for hikers. “It offers curated hikes, reviews and offline access.” He uses PeakFinder too. “It identifies over a million peaks using a 360° offline panorama.” Users can simulate sunlight, tag mountains, explore virtual flyovers, and export high-resolution overlays. For overnight campers, SkyView and Stellarium reveal constellations in real-time.
Maps.me allows users to download entire country maps for offline use, says Nagpal. “We were in Oman, driving from Muscat to Wadi Al Shab, and took a wrong turn into nowhere. There was no service and no people in sight. This app literally saved us.”
{{/usCountry}}Maps.me allows users to download entire country maps for offline use, says Nagpal. “We were in Oman, driving from Muscat to Wadi Al Shab, and took a wrong turn into nowhere. There was no service and no people in sight. This app literally saved us.”
{{/usCountry}}And when nature calls unexpectedly, Flush delivers with over 1,90,000 restroom listings worldwide. It works offline, filters by accessibility and fees, in case you want to hold it in, after all.
Entertainment value. By all means, download your favourite shows and books for offline access. Make special playlists for a road trip, a cruise, a layover. But take it up a notch – load up on apps that make sightseeing easier. Headout helps with access to museums, live performances, and curated attractions across more than 100 cities, including London, Dubai, New York, Singapore, Tokyo and Bangkok. Ankit Jain, 28, often travels solo. In Asia, he recommends Klook for discounted attraction passes across Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. GetYourGuide is worth the steep platform fees for last-minute bookings. Eatwith offers travellers a seat at local tables in Europe. It also connects users with home cooks and chefs for intimate meals, cooking classes and food tours.
Phrase books. In some countries, even English-language menus can be confusing (Imagine a foreigner trying to make sense of avocado chaat, Schezwan dosa and akuri bagel). Nagpal turns on Google Translate even before conversations heat up. “In Georgia, our driver was super friendly, but didn’t speak any English. Using the app, we not only managed to communicate but actually became buddies.”
Kashyap finds Papago to be more helpful for some languages. “It excels at deciphering handwritten notes, local signs, even text slang. Its real-time Conversation Mode is a game-changer.”
Doc backups. Some countries love paperwork. You might run out of those triplicate photocopies of your passport before you’ve reached your hotel. Most travellers use some kind of cloud storage for images of their passport, visa, insurance, tickets, and foreign-exchange cards, and make it available offline. Nagpal adds another layer of security: “We carry our documents with us. Lockers aren’t always safe in some countries.” Jain phones a friend: “Just WhatsApp the scans to a saved chat or a trusted contact.”
Calls and texts. Indians often don’t realise how expensive the internet is abroad, or how tough some countries make it for foreigners to use mobile services. In much of the Middle East, WhatsApp and FaceTime calls are restricted too. Check if the VPN you plan to use is permitted at your destination. For multiple hops, consider an e-sim. Nagpal travelled eight countries in Europe on a single one.
Payment platforms. Apple’s new currency-exchange feature works offline. Nagpal relies on the Niyo Global forex card. “It lets us pay in any currency without markup fees. We end up saving ₹10,000– ₹20,000 every trip.” Jain also sets low debit and credit card limits to minimise loss from fraud. “My go-to for exchange rates is Xe.com; it gives you a ballpark figure quickly.” For budgeters, TrackWallet tracks expenses in multiple currencies without linking bank accounts or harvesting data.
From HT Brunch, September 13, 2025
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