Technology can be somewhat of a pain in the ankles sometimes. The advantage is: Someone can get hold of you anytime, anywhere. The disadvantage: Someone can get hold of you anytime, anywhere. And don’t you just hate it when you are sitting in the park or the hair salon, enjoying a few minutes of peace and serenity and suddenly someone’s phone rings. The worst part is the ringtone. Do you remember that Crazy Frog song from a few years ago. Luckily that died a merciful death. Or default cell phone ringtones? Or, the day that you actually need your cellphone, tablet or internet connection, it’s either flat or just not working. That’s technology. You can’t live with it, or without it.
The good news is, traveling with a cellphone or a tablet in Namibia can be very useful.
To begin with, you can browse the internet to get an idea of where you want to go or what you want to do. You can search for anything. To make this experience even greater, most companies have optimized their websites in such a way that you can view it on your mobile or tablet with ease without struggling to read something and constantly doing finger gym as you zoom in and out.
There are also very nifty buttons with telephone numbers that when you click it, it automatically dials the number of that specific lodge. No more searching for a pen and paper. To make your experience even more earth movingly wow, the Google places widgets that are integrated can be linked with your GPS on your phone. Wait, let’s backtrack a bit. In simple English, you can basically click on the map thingy, and it will copy the coordinates into your GPS thingy telling you how to get where you are heading For inspiration, the place to be is Pinterest . It’s a place you can organize and pin the things you like. Pinterest is kind of like that big white pin board in your office, the one where you stick a bunch of pictures on with notes written at the bottom of each. In this case, its millions of boards from all over the world, and all kinds of things are pinned on there.
Go here to have a peep. If you don’t come back, I will totally understand. It is truly addictive.
When you have found something you like, you can check live availability and book accommodation from your phone. If you don’t believe me, try it now..
You tube is a platform where all kinds of videos are shared every day. Did you know that a total of 30 hours of videos are uploaded on YouTube every minute? About 40 seconds from now, and BAM! 30 hours of video content is uploaded again. Insane right? YouTube is the perfect place you get to experience a venue, event or place from different people’s point of view.
We are moving on to Twitter.
When you are traveling around and quickly want to know what is happening where, Twitter will give you exactly that. It’s a fast paced and short burst of information platform. This way you will know if there is rain falling at the destination you are heading towards or if the band has started playing yet.
Talking about weather, you can check what the weather conditions are like.This nifty website gives you current temperatures, rain forecasts, humidity, a summary of the minimum and maximum temperatures and satellite images of the country.
After your wonderful travelling experience, go to Facebook and share an album of all the fantastic pictures you have taken with your friends. Flicker is also a great place to share images.
Right, step by step
See, your smart phone is wonderful. What apps do you use to make your life easier on the road? Did I leave anything out? Let me know in the comment box below.
Jessica Thomas is a local freelance writer. She is an eccentric young lady who has a love affair with writing. Get on board her journey of discovery.
