Somehow, despite my frazzled nature, I ended up with mostly Type A friends. Organised, spreadsheet-loving freaks Capricorns surround me, so clearly, I have never been tapped to plan a group trip. (Not really sure what I would bring to the table there…vibes?)
Anywho, if one day they all decide to throw their organisation kinks out the window, I wanna be prepared. So, for myself and all the other messy babies in the friendship circle, I’ve prepared a cheat sheet. If the dark, dark day comes when we are reluctantly put in charge of the road trip, like I have been for the Easter break, these apps will get you halfway there…
Uber Carshare
First things first, you need a car. And for city dwellers who don’t need one day-to-day, this is where you might already be behind the eight ball. Instead of wasting a day researching and trying to get to the closest car rental joint, skip the queue and hire a car near you with Uber Carshare. You can organise it all via the app, find cars near you, elect Instant Key for contactless pickup and book by the hour, day or more. You can check out the cars they have available near your local city, here. Easy peasy!
Fuel Map Australia
Now, you definitely don’t wanna disappoint your friends’ mums by running out of petrol on the highway. Thanks to legends across the whole country, Fuel Map Australia has a database full of petrol stations (and prices!) so you can keep track of the kilometres you’ve clocked up, your average consumption and how much you’ve spent on petrol.
CamperMate
Whether you’re camping or not, this app will help you show right off. You can find WiFi, ATMs and toilets (the holy trinity) anywhere with this bad boy. Plus, it has an offline map function so if you’re out of reception you don’t have to panic.
Splitwise
Well, well, well, if it isn’t a solution to all the painful maths and receipt madness we go through on group trips? Someone buys petrol here, you cover dinner there, someone else pays for the bounty of car snacks — it’s a recipe for ripping each other off. Enter: Splitwise. You make a little group on the app and then everyone can chuck any expenses they cover into the app. It magically works it all out to keep everyone even-stevens. Thank you, technology.
Waze
If you’re not already a Waze girlie, shame on you. Not only does this app help you avoid getting stuck for hours because of traffic or accidents with real-time route updates, it warns you if the police are around (not that you’d be doing anything suss, but you know, keep those hands at 10 and two).
Anyway, godspeed my fellow group babies. I have faith in you. Go show those group mums how it’s done!
