You’re at a place in life where you can breathe easy and relax. The kids are off to college or are starting families of their own, you’re at or nearing retirement, and you’ve decided to make these years count. We’ve curated a selection of sites that enhance life and keep you in the know about what’s available. Here are some smartphone apps for empty nesters that will make your life more enjoyable!
Travel and Trip Planning
If you are looking for an all-inclusive app where you can purchase and manage flights, hotels, and car rental reservations, Review.com named Kayak.com and Priceline.com as the most flexible and customizable, respectively. As aggregator travel sites, these sites are programmed to scour the internet and find the best prices on all things travel-related. Another site worth a notable mention is Momondo, a subsidiary of Booking.com that Forbes Magazine has on its list of 2020 Top Travel Sites noting its intuitive meta search engine as a standout feature.
Sometimes, you already know how you’re going to get there and just want to compare accommodations. Trivago.com and Hotels.com, are two great hotel aggregators that glean the best prices based on destinations and dates. And if it’s luxury accommodations that interest you for that special occasion, then hands down Jetsetter.com is the best!
The trend in home rentals is booming and Airbnb.com and HomeAway.com are online marketplaces for those looking for interesting places to stay. Airbnb now also includes experiences that can range from extreme sports to cooking classes to wine tours. If you’re into RVing, join HarvestHosts.com where they offer free overnight spots at over 1,000 wineries, vineyards, breweries, and sustainable farms.
Free Courses and Language
So, you want to learn to code or speak Italian or play piano… no problem. There are many free apps available like Coursera.com that aggregates free courses from 190+ universities like MIT, Stanford, and Penn State. Babbel.com and DuoLingo.com offer tons of languages and, don’t forget, YouTube.com where you can learn almost anything!
Local Dining and Cultural Events
Most communities have websites and apps that highlight and link to local events, dining venues, farmers’ markets, etc. There are a couple of sites worth checking out that can be defined for your specific area: Thrillist.com, WorldwideEvents, and meetup.com.
Investing/Trading
Etrade.com and TDAmeritrade.com stand out for low commissions and excellent apps that feature market news, technical charts with tons of indicators, and rich trading tools. For advice, economic news, and helpful strategies, try Acorns.com or your brokerage site.
Food/Cooking, Nutrition, and Exercise
Staying healthy takes on a new urgency as you reach 50 and beyond. Pinterest.com provides a great place to find just the right recipe or diet and you can save pictures (with links) to a set of boards that you set up and curate. Some other top choices include Epicurious.com, Chowhound.com, and FoodNetwork.com. For fitness and exercise, try ClassPass – a membership allows you to try different studios and fitness classes all over the world!
Without a doubt, we are living in a spectacular time where information abounds. These apps can empower your curiosity or point you in a new direction. The kids will have to keep tabs on your whereabouts on GoogleMaps.com.
