In Brazil, tourism represents 8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is responsible for more than 10 million jobs; in the rest of the world, it represents around 10% of all revenue generated in business; traveling is necessary, and not only to move the economy – but to heal the mind from stress and the daily routine!

What are the benefits of traveling?

There are many, you see? But these are the main ones:

• Strengthens health: Trying new foods, exercising and getting sun exposure are common activities (and great for strengthening your immune system);
• New loves and friendships: There are many cases in which people meet while traveling, maintain contact and create bonds that last a lifetime;
• Discover new cultures: Ultimately, everything in life is a matter of perspective. Learning about new cultures is an excellent way to overcome certain prejudices and see life in a different way (often in a more relaxed and extroverted way);
• Brings families together: Family trips can be excellent opportunities to strengthen emotional bonds in a natural and fun way;
• It can be cheap: Many mobile apps help you travel economically and not miss any amazing moments!

Speaking of apps, check them out:

Airbnb

Image: Tecnoblog

Instead of renting expensive hotel rooms, how about investing in exclusive houses, apartments or chalets for you and your family? Traveling this way can be much cheaper than you think!

In addition to the generally more affordable price, guests can often find much more comfortable options, such as vacation homes just a few steps from the beach, for example. Would you rather relax your body and mind in a vineyard? That's also possible. 

The app's own community is able to make recommendations for places and inns, which is especially useful for those who don't know where to go or have no idea of the average prices for certain destinations.

Booking is a very easy task: just create an account on Airbnb, choose the accommodation you want and make the payment to guarantee your reservation. In some cases, you only pay at check-in!

TripAdvisor

Image: Google Play

This is one of the oldest options available on the market for traveling well: launched in 2000 by Steve Kaufer, Langley Steinert, Tom Palka and Nick Shanny, TripAdvisor is one of the best tools in the world when it comes to helping you put together your travel itinerary and choosing the best hotels, attractions and restaurants.

Through user reviews, you can choose options that fit your budget without compromising on quality services. Believe me: third-party opinions can save you from a lot of trouble!

TripAdvisor has a search engine for finding flights and hotels, as well as an itinerary generator and a travel guide. It is quite common to find tourists with this app open on their smartphones before entering any establishment, given its reliability and tradition over decades.

Download it for free for Android or iOS and have one of the best travel partners by your side!

Google Maps

Image: TechTudo

If you have no idea where you're going, Google Maps can help you find the address you're looking for.

Activate your GPS, put it in high precision mode (to ensure maximum accuracy of the application) and type in the search field where you want to go: it will give you the total distance, the fastest routes and the estimated total travel time.

This is a simply indispensable app, whether for national or international travel: Google has basically the entire planet mapped and replicated on its map, in detail!

If you're not sure whether your destination is correct, you can turn on Google Street View, a native feature of Google Maps that lets users view any point on the map using panoramic images of streets and public places. These images are captured by cameras mounted on vehicles and updated periodically by Google.

Google Maps is available in over 100 countries and territories.

Moovit

Image: Softonic

Need to get around by public transport? Moovit is the best option so you don't get lost among so many options!

In addition to providing you with the best route options to your desired destination, Moovit also provides you with the cost of the fares you will have to pay. The entire route is automatically tracked via GPS so that you know when to pull the bus cord and get off at the right stop.

Moovit operates in 112 countries and over 3,500 cities worldwide. It’s also available in 45 languages, including Portuguese, of course.

Google Translate

Image: Olhar Digital

In certain destinations, people may speak languages that you don’t speak: knowing English or Spanish isn’t always enough. In these cases, Google Translate can be a great free tool!

It automatically translates conversations through its automatic language detection system. To make things even more accurate, machine learning technologies have been implemented in the app to make translations even more accurate.

Over time, Google Translate tracks the quality of its translations to improve them. In addition to voice detection, users can also type what they want and choose which language to translate it into.

Foursquare

Image: Google Play

Want to find interesting places along your journey? Foursquare is one of the best cloud-based applications for this purpose.

In addition to accurately informing you about certain destinations, this mobile app is able to suggest other points that may be of interest to you: you have no idea how useful this can be, especially for first-time sailors!

Imagine you found an amazing restaurant, but you discover, through Foursquare, that there is another option just a few minutes from your current location, just as good as the one in front of you, but cheaper: this is just one of the many examples of what this mobile app is capable of doing.

What is your favorite mobile app for traveling? Comments are always welcome!