This New App Is Basically Tinder for Travelers

Traveling alone might be liberating, but even the most introverted of us like to have company every now and then. The trouble is, how are you supposed to make friends when you're in a completely different hemisphere from home? Luckily, people who are more tech-savvy than me have found an answer to that question: Allow me to introduce Tripr, an app that lets you meet other travelers before you even get to your destination. Romantic as it may be, not all of us can meet our partners while tipsy on tchouk in West Africa, but that's where Tripr comes in. Like Tinder, you log in through Facebook, which makes it harder to pull any shadiness when it comes to faking profiles (who wants to go through the trouble of creating a dummy Facebook accounts these days?). Also like Tinder, you swipe either left or right on the profiles of people who are going to be "in the same place, at the same time" as you. You can use it for things like finding friends who are going to the same music festival as you, or if you're feeling adventurous, you can meet fellow travelers (or the locals of whatever destination you have in mind) who are going to be where you are on a specific date. Or, if you can't necessarily afford to travel but want to meet new people anyway (extroverts sure are weird), sign up as a local and show them around.

So why not just use Tinder? According to the New York Times, Tripr is different because it's based on where you're going, as opposed to where you are now. Also, you know, it's not intended as a hookup app, even though you could totally use it as one if you wanted. Pretty useful for people who like to plan ahead!

If you're as attached to your phone as I am, you'll also want to check out these other travel apps. Honestly, how did we ever get around without them?

FlightTrack

This app tells you pretty much everything about your flight, from whether it has Wi-Fi on-board to predicting flight delays based on airport warnings.

Tipulator

With Tipulator, you don't have to worry about tipsily doing the math for splitting the bill in a currency you're not familiar with, because this calculator does it for you.

TravelSafe Pro

Get easy access to emergency numbers for whatever country you end up in. This could be life-saving!

Packing Pro

Perfect for people (re: me) who are terrible at packing, this app helps you create lists of what you need to take with you on your trip.

World Clock Pro

This world clock lets you compare time zones across the world. Pretty cool stuff.

There are plenty more apps available on iTunes, so check it out the next time you're planning for a big trip. Who knows, maybe if I sign up for Tripr, I'll get to meet Biddy, the Travelling Hedgehog... One can only hope.

Image: Giphy