My Favorite Wine Travel Tips (Part Two)
Photo: Moonrise, Auros, France. September 2024.
In Part One, I covered some of my favorite physical pro tips for wine travel. In part two, we’re talking digital.
There are so many great tools out there for today’s travelers. It’s fascinating to think back to my first days of European wine travel, without cell phones or digital maps, when international calling cards and paper maps were the thing. I wish I could time travel back to the 1950s and 1960s when “Europe on $10 a day” was still possible.
But there is no question that today’s technology can improve travel if used correctly (I’ll discuss this opinion further at the end of the article).
Part two of my favorite Wine Travel Pro Tips focuses on digital products. This article does not contain affiliate links; it simply features products that I love and want to promote.
Thrifty Traveler: the best travel hack/deal/info service around
I regularly talk about Thrifty Traveler during our wine classes, but I need to mention it more often here on the website. Started by our friends Jared and Erica (Erica used to be the wine buyer at Zipp’s Liquor, and I was one of her wine reps. Around 2010, she said to me, “Jared is thinking of starting a new business …”), Thrifty Traveler is THE source for the best info, opinions, deals, and hacks out there.
Erica and Jared Kamrowski
Some of the best travel we’ve experienced in the last two years has been directly because of our Premium/Pro membership with Thrifty Traveler (they give a TON of info to the free level, but deeper deals to the Pro level).
Example: our trip to England in November 2022 was only 35K Delta miles round trip per person, non-stop from MSP.
Example: our trip to New Zealand in February of 2024 was only 54K Delta miles round trip per person.
Example: mistake fare to Chile, $40 round trip. Unfortunately, I missed out on that deal. I didn’t jump on it fast enough, but I know about ten people who did.
Head to the Thrifty Traveler website and sign up for their free newsletter. They will then let you know what’s included in their affordable paid options.
Website: https://thriftytraveler.com
Trip It
I don’t know what I’d do without Trip It.
Started in the early days of the web, Trip It built a platform that makes it dead simple to organize your trip, from flights to hotels to activities and dining. Here’s what you do: sign up for Trip It with the same email address to which you have all your travel plans emailed. Then, when you receive a confirmation, forward it to plans@tripit.com, and they automatically add it to your trip.
In a matter of seconds, here’s what it looks like:
My favorite part about TripIt is that it archives your past trips. By being careful to enter everything during a trip, even if it doesn’t involve a reservation (i.e., “let’s stop at this random café for some lunch!), I end up with a history of all of our past journeys.
Having been a customer of theirs since the 2000s, I now have an almost twenty-year history of everywhere I’ve been, eaten, stayed. I know exactly what shows we saw in London and which night. And when I match up my Trip It travels with my photo library I can easily find anything.
I rented a Fiat Panda at Milan airport on October 13th. I remember that cute little car!
The TripIt Pro version adds many features, including detailed help planning new flights if yours is delayed or canceled.
Hint: Sign up for their free service and look for the Black Friday deal in November to upgrade to the Pro service.
Website: https://www.tripit.com
Citymapper
To get around a city, there is nothing better than having Citymapper on your phone.
I love Google Maps (and I have a surprising recent love of Apple Maps), but when it comes to accurate, fast, detailed, and option-loaded information for getting from point A to B, nothing beats Citymapper.
When you arrive at a new location, Citymapper recognizes it and uploads core info, greatly increasing the application’s speed. Then, simply enter a final destination, hit GO, and boom—your choices show up in real-time.
But isn’t that also what Google Maps does?
This is what sets CityMapper apart. You can choose between train and taxi, walk and bike, Uber and train and walk, or whatever combination you seek.
A new feature allows you to choose “walk on main roads” for walking at night.
You can also choose “less time outside” (e.g., if it’s raining) or “fastest” (e.g. if you’re in a hurry).
For whatever reason, I find CityMapper’s accuracy and navigation far superior to Google Maps. Plus, they don’t load up your map with a bunch of sponsored content. It’s clean.
Website: https://citymapper.com/ or search for it in your App Store.
Google Maps (with a twist)
Suggesting Google Maps on this page may seem like I’m saying, “There’s this cool site called Airbnb!”
And I just said I love CityMapper more than Google Maps … so what’s the deal here?
Google continues to dominate the general search for an area. If I’m looking for a restaurant, a gas station, or a specific park, they have me covered, along with reviews. So, I often start a search with Google and switch to CityMapper for directions.
But the twist here is to use the Google Maps download feature.
You can use your phone to navigate even offline by downloading a region. This has saved us many times when we’re in an area such as the boondocks of Portugal, where cell service often doesn’t exist. By using satellite GPS, you can still find your way around.
More info: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6291838
Photo sharing for a group during a trip: Cluster
HT to Ryan for this one.
Many photo-sharing apps have features built right in, including Google Photos and Apple Photos. But we’ve found that Cluster does a better job for a group that may be on different platforms. As they say on their homepage, it keeps you out of the social media loop and focused on your friends and travel. This is crucial, for we all know the feeling of “I’m just going to bop into Facebook for a second and post this photo,” and before you know it, you rode by the Effiel Tower without seeing it because you were scrolling through puppy photos just posted by your second cousin who you’ve never met.
This intuitive photo-sharing app allows a group to share their favorite photos with each other quickly and easily. It’s free, and they make revenue by enabling you to create printed photo books after your journey.
Website: https://cluster.co
What 3 Words
I love this app, for we often find ourselves in places we want to remember that isn’t necessarily associated with an address.
What 3 Words has mapped out the ENTIRE PLANET and made a 3-word combination for every ten-foot square. In other words, we can be in the middle of a vineyard with a great view, and I can nail the coordinates precisely. Or we can text a group and say we are meeting in this exact spot in 30 minutes. Can a pin in Google Maps do the same thing? Yes, to an extent, but this is more fun and less filled with Google garbage on the visuals.
We first came across W3W in London when it showed up as an option within Uber to mark our pickup spot. What a great idea! Instead of an address, mark the pickup spot with What 3 Words (which is more accurate in London than an Uber pin).
A recent entry in my W3W Favorites list is where my favorite band, Genesis, had their picture taken in New York City.
Here’s the precise location of that rock: https://w3w.co/fresh.shunts.design
More info: https://what3words.com/about
More common digital tips that I use all the time
Apple AirPods with noise-canceling. They get me through the flight! (They are about to become hearing aids as well, which is going to be huge for people like me.)
Netflix and YouTube downloads so I don’t need a connection to rewatch The Crown and Failarmy videos.
Kindle so I can have the Rick Steeves’ travel guides at my fingertips without carrying around a brick of a book.
1Password so I have photos of my passport, all my PIN numbers, etc. at the ready. Hint: in the NOTES section, copy all the 1-800 and overseas numbers of your credit cards. If your wallet or purse is stolen, you want to have all of this at your fingertips. Also take a screenshot of your iPhone serial number, and make sure you know your Apple ID and password in case you have track your phone or wipe it clean remotely.
WhatsApp is used far more in Europe than texting. If we’re travelling with a group, we always start a WhatsApp group for easy contact with everyone. “Paul, where are you? The train leaves in ten minutes!”
Conclusion: using tech correctly
The most important part of having this tech at our fingertips is not to overuse it.
There’s a time and a place to put the phone down or turn it off. Wander. Get lost. Make memories in your head, rather than photographing everything. Be present in the moment.
Better yet, sit in a cafe, draw, and paint (even if that’s not your thing).
Here’s Angela drawing Toulouse Latrec’s studio in Montmartre, Paris.
During our Art Vine Voyage tours, Angela leads the group in creative exercises to get them in the mindset of creation and discovery. The people who seem to get the most out of these challenges are those who say right out of the gate, “I’m not creative! I haven’t drawn since I was a kid!”
In other words, to use technology correctly during travel, it’s important to put it away and not use it.
Do you have your digital travel hints? Share in the comments!