Egypt’s President, Hosni Mubarak has pulled the plug on the Internet and on most wireless and SMS service.  This is a pretty drastic step for a government to take and luckily, fairly rare.  However, it made me think that we should point out the dangers of being over-reliant on services that may not be available.

There are lots of pieces of information that might be important to you while traveling far from home – personal health information (allergies, prescription medications), identification documents, emergency numbers, itinerary details, etc.  The always-on aspect of the Internet has lulled us into believing that we can always rely on it.  While you may not be in a country trying to suppress political views or protest event details, you may often find yourself away from a reliable connection to the Internet or phone service.  Make a point to capture the important information you need in a format that doesn’t need a connection – type it in as a note on your smartphone, download an app that helps to organize this information and stores it locally, or, God forbid, write it all down on a piece of paper (remember that option?).

For apps that might help in these situations see 15 Best Note Applications for iPhone or The Best Note-Taking Apps (includes Android apps).

What else can you think of that you might want to have at your fingertips on a trip?  Let us know.

Photo by Frame Maker

There’s a lot going on in the world of travel this week – hopefully at least one of these tips, ratings or apps will help make planning for your next trip a little easier.

Tips and Trends

Crisis in Tunisia proves Twitter is the best, and worst, way to follow breaking news. 

Flight Canceled? How to Get a Cot, Food, a Shower and the Fastest Flight Out.

C’est la Fee: New Hassles for Travelers – “Travelers now face higher transaction fees and more-aggressive fraud detection systems when they use their credit and debit cards abroad.” 

Delta Lets Passengers Name a Price for Bumping

Draining a Snow Globe for Flight – Snow globe collectors find a way around the TSA’s ban 

Imagine Volunteering at Feynan EcoLodge – A career break for those who need a break from technology and social networking.

Ratings

New lists from Trip Advisor help travelers make better decisions relating to flight plans and accommodations:
Airline rating system

Dirties hotels in the world

Best hotels in the world

Apps

New Initiative Harnesses Smartphones to Help Keep Heart Attack Victims Alive

Free iPhone Apps Helping Huffington Post Blogger Get through China

Like gadgets? Like to travel? You’ll like today’s links.

Yesterday, The New York Times blog “Gadgetwise” posted App Picks from the Times’s Travel Columnist.  The author briefly reviews five Droid apps that help travelers manage the basic logistics of traveling – arrangements, roaming charges, translations, etc. (If she was covering iPhone apps, mPassport, the mobile medical travel companion, certainly should have made the list.)

If you or someone you know is singing the winter blues, drown them out with Valkee’s bright light headset – but keep in mind “it’s not used for listening to music. It’s used for bright light therapy.”  

Readers heading to a developing country, a relief situation, or those who are just into hiking and sports check out “the pumpkin.” It turns into a carriage – for clean water.

Backpackers and other travelers who have questions about an upcoming trip should check out this post from foXnoMad covering five questions commonly asked by novices. And if you are looking for an answer to his fifth question on travel insurance, check out hthtravelinsurance.com.   

The Wall Street Journal published their 2010 airline rankings this week – find out if bigger is better in this post.

Back in January we told you about Cephalon’s submission of their sleep disorder drug, Nuvigil, to be approved as a treatment for jet lag by the FDA.  The FDA has completed its review, but they have not approved the application because of questions pertaining to some of the data submitted.  Cephalon is already following up with the FDA to clarify the points in question and we’ll continue to track its progress through the process.

Back in November, I posted about our first iPhone app, mPassport Paris, and I am happy to announce that we now have an additional seventeen (17) available in the store.  The new destinations are (grouped somewhat geographically):

• Barcelona, Budapest, Dublin, London, Madrid, Prague, Vienna
• Cape Town, Nairobi
• Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Quito
• Bermuda, Nassau
• Beijing, Hong Kong

Next week, Rome and Florence should also go live.  The old post sums up the apps well, and we have made many improvements since then.  All will soon be iPad compatible, and (drum roll please) all are free for now.  So don’t wait to get one or more of these on your phone.

Finally, the mPassport tools and services are available on a worldwide basis through a subscription.  This gives you access through mobile and desktop web sites that should work on any device.  Learn more about this at http://www.mpassport.com/entry_basicInfo.cfm.

We would love to hear about your experiences using mPassport so get out there and get sick (ok, just play with it and tell us what you think).

This post introduces a new weekly feature of the Healthy Travel Blog – App Rap.  Each week we will attempt to post about the latest travel apps that focus on health and safety.  It may not always be easy to find relevant information for this series, but this week is what some call a ‘no-brainer’, and I won’t even talk about the soon-to-be introduced iPad tablet from Apple.

Of course, the Haiti earthquake has been the big news ever since it first hit back on the 12^th.  CNN recently reported about a survivor who relied on his iPhone while he was waiting to be rescued.  Aside from a phone’s normal functions, his iPhone had an app from Jive Media called Pocket First Aid & CPR that enabled him to treat his wounds with confidence.  He also used his phone’s alarm to wake him up every twenty minutes, as the app had warned him not to sleep if he was experiencing shock.  While there are other free apps that duplicate some of this information, this one is particularly comprehensive and well worth the $3.99 price.  It even includes the ability to load personal medical details for you and your family members.

In other news, I read about a free app from Dr. Sam Pejham called AsthmaMD.  While the features that allow users to log their asthma attacks, medications, and peak flow meter readings and then send them on to their physician are useful, I was most intrigued by its ability to aggregate data across users.  Because its data is real-time and location-based, this app can become an amazing source of data for asthma researchers.  Sure, it might be cool to receive a location-specific coupon on your phone as you walk past a store, but this app, along the lines of IBM’s “Smarter Planet” initiative, uses this data in much more significant ways.

Finally, in an update to our previous posts on mPassport, HTH Worldwide has launched its second destination, mPassport London.  By the end of March, there will be twenty destinations available!  London is currently free, so please download it, check it out, and let us know what you think.

We will be doing in-depth app reviews in the future, so also send us your favorite, and we will give you our take on it.