New Smartphone App Provides Audio Guides to America’s National Parks

A new GPS-powered mobile app from Just Ahead turns smartphones into hands-free audio tour guides of America’s national parks.

A new GPS-powered mobile app from Just Ahead turns smartphones into hands-free audio tour guides of America’s national parks.

Just Ahead’s app and audio guides work even where cell phones, Internet, and Wi-Fi won’t, to stream interesting stories spliced with geography, history, and even driving directions while cruising through a national park.

One example is Just Ahead’s Death Valley National Park audio guide, which recently garnered the Best Travel App award from the North American Travel Journalists Association. This award is due, in part, to the levels of professional travel writing and narration that present the myriad stories of each national park. Content writer and editor Bob Howells has twice won the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Lowell Thomas Gold Award for adventure travel writing.

“Our aim is to give travelers and their families an entertaining and educational travel experience,” underscored Just Ahead founder Gregory Morse. “We think the Just Ahead app and audio guides encourage exploring and getting off the beaten track. You’re engaged at the same time you’re learning.”

Just Ahead utilizes GPS technology to know exactly where drivers are on the road, and delivers stories and maps relevant to their location. Just Ahead also helps drivers avoid getting lost by providing helpful suggested directions. Just Ahead tells drivers why they should turn or not, what they should do after a turn, and recommends the best direction to take if there are multiple route options.

As of mid-winter 2015, Just Ahead apps are available for the following parks: Yosemite, Zion and Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon, Joshua Tree, and Death Valley. An additional 12 national park guides are in production, including Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Petrified Forrest, Canyon De Chelly, Monument Valley, and Mesa Verde – with many more to come.

Just Ahead started with US national parks because they are treasured natural assets that are visited each year by 292 million people from around the world (2014 set a record for national park visitation). But the company intends to go beyond the parks. In the future, Just Ahead will offer guides for other major road trip destinations, including California Highway 1, Route 66, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Hawaiian Islands, and many others.

The Just Ahead app is a free download, and each destination guide is available as an in-app purchase. Guides range from $7.99 – $9.99 and include a free trial and free guide updates.

For more information, visit: http://www.justahead.com.

 

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Lonely Planet Launches Country Guide Apps for iPhone and iPod Touch

 

Lonely Planet has introduced a series of new country guide apps for the iPhone and iPod touch, available now on the App Store. Initially launching with Italy, Ireland, France, Spain, Australia and Costa Rica, Lonely Planet’s country guide apps are the first of their kind from an expert travel guide publisher.

The ultimate guides for on-the-go travelers, Lonely Planet’s country guide apps contain expert content and recommendations and detailed maps for the entire country – all of which works entirely offline so there are no roaming or data fees. The apps combine background information on a country, practicalities, suggested itineraries, and thousands of author recommended places to eat, drink, sleep, shop, visit and see. The apps include information on every region that’s covered in Lonely Planet print guidebooks.

The offline maps allow users to view the entire country, and then zoom in to a particular region, city, neighborhood or street. Travelers can quickly pinpoint their location on the map through the GPS capabilities of their iPhone or iPod touch—all without internet connection or expensive roaming charges.

Intuitive navigation makes the apps incredibly simple to use with easy-to-browse tabs so that users are never more than a few taps away from the information they seek. In addition, users can easily flip between the maps and text.

“Lonely Planet has established itself as an industry leader in the travel app space with almost 10m downloads of our city guide apps,” says Jeremy Kreitler, VP Wireless Services for Lonely Planet. “Responding to user feedback and given the popularity of country guidebooks, we are excited to be the first travel guide publisher to extend our product range to include country guide apps”.

The Lonely Planet country guide apps are available for $9.99 each from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. They are also available as in-app purchases within the Lonely Planet Travel Guides App.

Lonely Planet country guide apps are the latest addition to Lonely Planet’s portfolio of mobile products for the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The country guide apps complements the company’s other travel apps including 70 city guide apps, various audio walking guides, audio phrasebook apps, and offline translator apps.

Lonely Planet is one of the world’s leading travel content providers. Launched in 1973, Lonely Planet enables curious travelers to experience the world and get to the heart of a place via guidebooks to most destinations on the planet, an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products and a dedicated traveler community. Visit www.lonelyplanet.com.

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Popular Backpacker Travel Guide to USA, Canada Now Available Online

The USA/Canada Hostels & Travel Guide, a popular travel planning and reference tool for backpackers, students and budget travelers, is now available in an online version © 2012 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com.

The USA/Canada Hostels & Travel Guide, a popular travel planning and reference tool for backpackers, students and budget travelers, is now available in an online version.

Published by Bakpak Travelers Guide, the 92-page digital guide is a replica of the print version and includes tips and information on popular trip ideas, backpacker and adventure tours, car and campervan rentals, listings for over 200 hostels and covers the most popular destinations. The Guide is also packed with information on free and cheap things to do which save travelers money.

The digital edition, powered by Issuu, can be downloaded, printed and viewed online at www.bakpakguide.com. The digital version also provides web links to all the hostel and tour companies and advertisements found in the guide.

“The print guides fly off the shelf at hostels and international student program offices. Now any traveler worldwide can get it online and start planning their backpacking USA or Canada adventure,” says Bakpak Dave, Chief Bakpaker and publisher.

Bakpak Dave Barish launched Bakpak Travelers Guide in March 1998 and also publishes a Backpacking Europe Hostels & Travel Guide. Prior to Bakpak, David set-up, co-owned and operated a top-rated hostel, the Nomads Market Inn, in South Melbourne, Australia. Prior to his involvement in the travel industry, Dave was a senior accountant at Arthur Andersen in New York and Price Waterhouse in Melbourne, Australia.

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