The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) recently added a post listing a few ways that your iPhone can come in handy when you are traveling. Click here to read it. They discuss using an iPhone as an electronic boarding pass (a topic I recently discussed), getting movies on your iPhone using Handbrake so that you have something to watch on the plane, using Google maps to get travel directions and public transportation information, etc.
I recently traveled to New York over the holidays and my iPhone was incredibly helpful and fun while traveling. I kept up with e-mail. I took a few pictures of interesting sights with the iPhone camera. I used the recently added public transportation information in the Maps app to figure out which New Jersey Transit trains to take to get to and from Newark airport. While I was riding a train, I used the Wikipanion app to quickly access information from Wikipedia (even with a slow Edge connection) and learn a lot of interesting historical facts about the route I was taking. I listened to music and podcasts and played a few games to pass the time on the plane (and I finally got far enough in the game to unlock all of the songs on Guitar Rock Tour, a fun Guitar Hero type game for the iPhone). I kept my three year old son entertained during down time at the airport with games like Preschool Pals and videos he likes on YouTube such as the Maurice Sendak classics Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen. And my RichardSolo external battery was essential to keep my iPhone running from early in the morning when my travels started until 10pm when I landed in New Orleans.
I have traveled with various smartphones and PDAs for over 15 years, but the iPhone far surpasses any other device I have previously used. It is amazing to have something almost as powerful as a laptop that weighs practically nothing and slips into a pocket. The iPhone is a great travel companion.
