Travel Trackers for Expats: 8 Reasons Why They Rock

We have seen a growing trend of people moving and traveling abroad who want to track their movements and items. It can be easy to lose track of all the places you have immersed yourself in or explored, so travel trackers have become very popular. Expat employers also provide travel and location trackers for security reasons. Let’s explore why expats and their employers should consider a travel or location tracker. Here are 8 reasons expatriates may want to employ a travel tracker when living abroad as a global nomad or expatriate:

One: Easy and Efficient Planning with Travel Trackers

Most travelers and experienced expatriates realize that you have to plan ahead and not wing it. Most global nomads and ex-pats travel extensively and don’t stay in their expat destination country 24/7. A travel tracker can help streamline planning for global trip itineraries, accommodations, activities, and flights. Such travel trackers can help save time and ensure that travel details are all available in one centralized place or app, which can really reduce the stress that we all know comes with frequent travel.

Two: Enhanced Security and Safety

This can be the most important reason for an expat employer to recommend or require a travel tracker for their global employees, but individual expats and retired global nomads should also consider safety as the top priority when living abroad. We all know that security events, terrorism, and civil strife can happen just about anywhere, but all the more likely in some expat destinations. A location tracker can help expatriates stay safe while allowing them to easily share real-time locations with family and friends or their employers during an expat assignment. Such devices can come in handy in the event of an emergency, terrorism event, riot or civil disturbance, or a natural disaster.

Three: Cultural and Local Insights

We all can struggle with understanding local traditions and customs when travelling to countries that differ a lot from our home nation. Some travel trackers can give you valuable local information and cultural insights – the dos and do not of your expat location. Such tips can be provided in real-time with tips and information related to:

Local language
Social etiquette
Recommendations on local experiences and sites
Cultural insights

All of these can help expatriates connect with locals and their fellow expats while building meaningful relationships.

Four: Staying Well on the Move – How Travel Trackers Can Enhance Your Health Management

As we have discussed throughout this blog, staying healthy is a key objective when living and working abroad. T es due to the differences in healthcare systems and the quality and availability of those services. Travel trackers can often include features that help you:

Manage and store your health information
Provide information on local healthcare facilities and hospitals
Wellness tips
Store your emergency medical contacts
And note your international health insurance provider policy number and contact details.

As noted above, we would be remiss if we did not emphasize the importance of having that global healthcare coverage in place and stored in your travel trackers. A medical emergency abroad or a chronic condition covered by an international health insurance policy is critical.

Five: Regulator Compliance Assistance

For sure, living and travelling abroad has become more complex and bureaucratic over the past decade. Navigating regulator and legal rules for expat and travel destinations is more complex, so travel trackers can help you with:

Residency permit applications
Legal obligations
Visa renewals and requirements
And much more

Six: Reduce Stress

As noted before, travelling and especially living abroad can be stressful for even the most experienced expat. Most global nomads can reduce their stress by providing travel-related resources and information in one place. Just having a travel tracker can reduce your anxiety level.

Seven: Personalized Travel Recommendations

We have found that many travel trackers can provide much more than simple tourist information. This is because they track your destinations and travel history. Such apps can also give ex-pats personalized recommendations and support, such as recommendations for restaurants, accommodations, or off-the-beaten-track destinations.

Eight: Expat Networking

Some travel trackers give future or current expats the ability to help connect and network with others living abroad through their social and community forums. Such networking can help you settle into your life abroad and aid you when travelling to far-flung countries. This can be a life-changer during your life abroad – for both employed and retired expatriates.

What are the Top Five Travel Trackers for Expatriates

Make sure you evaluate the top travel trackers before committing to one tracking application for your life abroad. The same is true for expat employers who will be requiring travel trackers. Here are five great trip monitors, but there are oodles of others:

Roadtrippers – Offers some great ways to customize your trips abroad and points of interest. You can also access collaboration tools and track your travel budgets. Many expats like it if they plan to explore their new destinations by car as it gives you route planning and ways to discover hidden gems.
Polarsteps – Many offshore citizens like this app for their travel logging information and tracking, as well as photography integration and offline tracking. This travel tracker may be for you if you like to document and share your travel and expat experiences, as it gives you an easy way to create and record a record of your journeys abroad.
Google Travel – Perhaps the most popular travel app for your expat life as it can give you automatic travel plans from your very detailed information that is already accessible via your google account. It also has great offline access, weather updates and travel recommendations. Expats love using it because it is so seamless and convenient.
TripIt – This service offers excellent itinerary management, real-time alerts and calendar integration. Many expats use TripIt because it is user-friendly and consolidates travel info in one place.
TravelPerk – We would be remis to not include at least one corporate travel tracking tool for businesses. There are so many offered out there, and most are excellent, but we have picked Travel Perk as a prime example. It can track every step if your expat employee’s travel journey and give them access to excellent assistance and advice. This can include loyalty programs, health and safety information, and much more.

These travel apps are just a few of the great apps and services available to travelers, tourists and expatriates. By incorporating one or more of these travel trackers, you can enhance your expatriate experience and make the most of your time living in a new country.

Some Final Thoughts on Travel Trackers for Global Citizens

For expat life abroad, a travel tracker can help preserve and capture the vibrant parts of life abroad. It can also be a digital companion and a navigational guide rolled into one. For those living abroad for work, a digital nomad experience, or retirement, travel trackers are a great way to provide a digital safety net, especially when combined with comprehensive global health coverage. It is a great addition to your passport abroad, but some may want to ditch all digital footprints abroad, and that’s perfectly fine as well.