The Greenland GPS app, available for free for Apple and Android, contains maps and trail guides for the 160-kilometer Arctic Circle Trail (between Kangerlussuaq airport and the town of Sisimiut on the west coast, with lakes, fjords and 300- to 1,000-meter-high mountains) and for trails in the South Greenland Trails area (between the airport at Narsarsuaq and the town of Narsaq, ranging from flat fields to 1,700-meter peaks and featuring Viking ruins).
After seeing the new requirements for a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority pass (NZeTA), I decided to just get it over with and apply for one, since I’m going there next year.
I used the link provided in the article (Jan. ’20, pgs. 55-57). After trying three (!) times to wade through the questions and never getting to the online registration, I gave up and just asked Google.
When I took my first solo trip to Europe in 1973, I must have kept my parents on the edge of their seats.
The makers of the Mobile Passport app (July ’19, pg. 13) have partnered with RushMyPassport (Sept. ’19 pgs. 2, 44) so that travelers now can use the app to renew their passports in as little as 24 hours.
American Airlines’ smartphone app now can scan the passports of international travelers when it is used for check-in, meaning travelers no longer have to show their passports to the airline’s customer service agent at the airport. This will be advantageous to those who are not checking any luggage and those who are catching a connecting international flight after a domestic flight.
Prior to embarking on a 7-country cruise in late October 2019, my wife, Patti, and I spent four days in China, and while in Shanghai, Patti discovered that she was blocked from accessing her Gmail account.
I learned from the desk clerk in the hotel we stayed at that all Google services (including Gmail, search and Maps) are blocked in mainland China, as is Yahoo.
We were able to access Google in Taipei and Hong Kong, so we used Gmail there.
Travelers with smartphones can take walking tours of more than 150 cities and locales using the app VoiceMap (free on Apple and Android).
GPS on the phones track the walkers, and VoiceMap’s prerecorded guides tell them what they’re looking at and where to go next, alerting them if they’ve gone off track. Each tour must be downloaded separately and, once downloaded, can be used without a network connection.
I enjoyed reading the letters from people who travel with a minimum of high-tech equipment (Sept. ’19, pg. 29). My husband and I have been using “dumb” flip phones. I do have a tablet that I use for email, since friends at home like to read my daily trip reports, plus I have my books loaded on it. But something happened on our last trip that made me rethink not having a smartphone.
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 527th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine.
Your neighbors aren’t interested in the photos from your latest trip? Well, you’ll find an eager audience here, so send in a few (with captions). Or write up a couple highlights of your journey. ITN subscribers will appreciate it. These are your travel kin.
Dear Globetrotter: