There’s always curiousity about how we accomplish a normal life living and working on the road and to be honest, it’s not that different from a stationary life. There are some key apps that definitely make our life better while on the road and I wanted to share my top ones.

Google Maps

Now this might seem like a no-brainer. Its not just taking us on the best route while traveling from one RV Park to the next, but just for our daily lives. We’re in a location for two weeks, (on average). To simplify everything from getting gas and groceries to getting around town, Google Maps makes it so you travel more like a local.

I can research what is close to me for grocery stores or preferred retailers, etc. and decide where I want to go before I get in my vehicle. I can find the best route, avoid traffic and go when there’s less crowds. Once in my vehicle, I can turn on vocal navigation and not have to look at a map, but be given navigation warnings and instructions, which is greatly beneficial to me, someone missing part of their visual field.

If I do miss a turn, it will automatically recalculate how to get me to my destination and as I’m driving a Ford F-350 Dually, I appreciate not having to figure that out manually, (especially with my visual field. I don’t take any chances, seriously). I can honestly say that I use Google Maps daily, even when I’m getting familiar with the location, it can save me if something unexpected happens.

Amazon

Amazon is a blessing to those living the mobile life. We can find just about anything we’re looking for and have it delivered to our RV park with just an addition of an address or to one of their convenient Amazon lockers all over the US. Prime offers us guaranteed delivery in short order, so you don’t have to worry about a package showing up after you’ve departed.

Yeah, I’m a slut for Amazon and I prefer it over going to a box retailer giant any day.

Plushcare

When you’re on the road, your primary care physician isn’t going to be close and locating a doctor in short order can be sketchy at best. Clinics can be kind of scary and although the quick clinics at Walgreens or other phamacies aren’t bad, it’s still hit or miss.

Plushcare is great when all you need is a web meeting with a doctor to describe your symptoms, like a sinus infection you get once a year or a refill on a prescription when you’ll see your primary care doctor in a couple months in person.

Its an app you can have on your phone or connect via a browser and if you need a quick appointment, you can get one without leaving the RV, so set up the appointment online, pull over on the side of the road and have your doctor appointment. You set up a full profile with your account, including insurance information, payment and even preferred pharmacy options.

The doctors are quite good and they have embraced the idea of “remote physician.”

Noise Cancelling Headphone “Tuners”

This is a combination of hardware and software. When living and working in a small area, such as an RV, noise-cancelling headphones can be a Godsend. My husband has a voice that carries. I love to listen to it, but not while I’m trying to focus on another topic or on my own meeting. Not only are noise-cancelling headphones important, but microphones that won’t pick up ambient sounds around you while on calls and then tuning software that can calibrate to the environment.

I’ve found the Sony 1000MX series fantastic for noise-cancelling and then the Plantronics series of wireless with a stand and isolation microphone, (thanks Boss!) great for webmeetings and phonecalls.

Park Advisor

Although Google Maps can help you find the best RV Parks, finding clear reviews and ALL of the RV parks and resorts is important when you’re on the road. Park Advisor has a more focused product for everything from RV parks/resorts, truck stops, RV repair/service, diesel, rest stops and other pertinent information for those who need it.

Of all the RV focused apps I’ve tried, Park Advisor was far and beyond better and more accurate.

Google Calendar

As we’re constantly moving, it’s important to know where you’re going to be at any given time. It may be a bit old fashioned, but Tim does an awesome time entering where we’ll be at any given date in Google Calendar. It also makes it easy to share with our family if they want to know where we’ll be.

For me, I often use it when I’m out and about and am about to head home. Forget typing in the address, just open up the calendar and click on the address- Take me home, Google Maps!

As we travel for work, often multiple times per month, it’s important for Us to know where we’ll be to schedule flights from and to the correct destinations. We also need to make sure that we try to travel at different dates so the dogs have one of us here. We have one dog that is higher stress and avoid having her stay at a pet hotel.

I have no doubt that there will be more apps that I’ll add to this list, but its a good start. It may not be as elaborate as folks might have expected, but functional isn’t always fancy.