What are the best apps to plan a trip?

Ah, summer. When the air is hot, the kids are out of school, and our minds turn to vacation! Back in the day, vacations were planned with the help of Rand-McNally and AAA, but these days, life is much simpler thanks to the wonderful world of technology and smartphones. I did a post a couple of years ago on the best apps for planning a road trip and thought it would be fun to revisit the topic and ask our staff what THEIR go-to app is for road-tripping or vacation.

Trip Advisor - This one was actually a favorite of many of us but especially Adrienne. What's not to love about Trip Advisor? You can plan your entire trip, read reviews, find things to do, and places to eat in the city you'll be visiting. Whether or not you'll be traveling, it's a must-have for anyone—even if it's just for exploring your own town!

Swarm - Kim threw this one in the mix. Swarm is the latest offering from the folks over at FourSquare that helps not just to find your friends, but also to locate places around you that you may not know about. It has the same "check-in" piece that 4Sq has but in a simpler layout.

Kayak - Dorien rang in with this one, and it's also my go-to app and site for comparing travel rates. Same concept as Travelocity, but I find that it compares more sites and returns the best deals. They give you air, hotel, car, packages, and also offer "secret" specials.

Gas Buddy - With gas prices apparently never coming down below $3 a gallon, this was Erinn's favorite app. You can create an account and use it or use it as a guest. Since the prices are entered by users, it's right on the money with how much gas prices are at the nearest station. Added bonus? If you go to the website, you can actually figure out how much money you're going to spend on gas on that road trip you're planning!

Sit or Squat - Scott proves to us that you don't even have to have kids to appreciate the simple genius behind this app. Who hasn't gotten off the highway or ducked into a downtown convenience store in dire need of a bathroom only to be faced with the decision of "do I sit or do I squat?"  Sit or Squat users rate the bathrooms they're in simply with a green or red "roll" of toilet paper. Green means you can sit; red means you need to squat. This app is so popular that TP giant, Charmin, bought it out a couple of years ago!

TripIt - This is my personal favorite. I especially love this app because it helps me not just keep my itineraries organized, but also the itineraries of anyone who's shared their trips with me, such as my husband or my best friend and mom. When I make reservations, I simply forward the confirmation receipt to TripIt, and they automatically create a new trip for me, and it recognizes any new reservations and files them under the appropriate trip. Now all of the details are together! You can also go in and add other things such as stops for tourist attractions and reservations that you may not have email confirmation for.

Roadtrippers - As the name indicates, this is the ultimate road-tripping app and was Grace's suggestion. Plug in your starting point and your ending point and then virtually explore everything there is along the way. I used something similar on my last trip to Texas a couple of years ago, and it's awesome—especially if you have kids. What if you need to find a hotel somewhere between here and there, but you have no idea what IS between here and there? Zoom in on Roadtrippers! Want to find unusual places to stop and stretch your legs? Say, the world's largest ball of twine? They have it!

Okay! Those are our staff picks—what is your favorite vacation or road trip app?