Three smart travel journal apps to document your trips on your smartphone
These apps allow you to record your precious memories as online multimedia journals with maps, videos and, of course, pictures
TravelPod
Based on one of the first websites to offer travel blog hosting on the internet almost 20 years ago, TravelPod (free, travelpod.com) is for backpackers, though it is now owned by TripAdvisor. It’s a simple concept, with a dashboard giving you access to separate blogs for each trip.
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You select where you stayed and where you visited, just as you would when checking in on Facebook, which helps produce a real-time map of where you are and where you’ve been. It adds up the countries you’ve visited and allows photo and video uploads from your phone, though the design is basic.
Sleeker and more stylish than TravelPod, BonJournal has a social media-type structure that’s immediately recognisable. Like Instagram, on Bon Journal (free, bonjourn.al) you can follow ‘featured’ members’ travels and write-ups, and the app can find out if any of your contacts on Facebook or Twitter are also using the app. Trips are laid out by day, with simple text entries interspersed with photos. It’s great for browsing others’ journals, too; you can save a page to read later, and comment on anything, giving BonJournal a distinct community feel.
