Whether it is weekends at the beach house, a cross-country road trip or a month lazing on the Mediterranean coast, for many people summertime equals travel time. And as smartphone ownership is ever-increasing, so is the use of these gadgets as a savvy way to keep a record of these adventures.

Can you believe it was only about ten years ago that families dedicated an entire carry-on to gadgets for documenting their travels (i.e. the camera, the video recorder, extra memory cards – and don’t forget the charger for each!)? Flash forward to 2012, however, and the only thing needed to snap junior’s first dive into Lake Tahoe or record the newlyweds’ first dance is a smartphone. Moreover, as of this year, tech trekkers all over the world are not just shooting their journeys, but documenting their every landing spot with check-in apps like Foursquare, which has topped over 20 million users  as of 2012, Facebook and more.

Facebook, in fact, has probed its check-in statistics to hone in on the “most social” locations in 25 cities all over the globe, and the results included the following hottest spots:

• Malls and outdoor flea markets such as the Queen Victoria market in Melbourne, Australia and Sao Paolo’s Mercado Municipal

• Gorky Park (Moscow),Tivoli Gardens (Copenhagen), Gold Reef City (Johannesburg) and other amusement parks

• Chain restaurants like TGI Fridays and the Hard Rock Café

To check out the most popular check-ins courtesy of Mashable.com, look here.

The social travel startup Tripl, positioned in New York, is another trend for tech-savvy journeyers. The application allows users to share their exploratory experiences by extracting the trip info from whatever social networks the users currently belong to. Tripl-ers can view friends’ photos, stories, check-ins and other content.

Tripl recently assembled data demonstrating the degree to which today’s traveler utilizes their mobile devices to document their adventures.

 

No matter where your path may lead, never travel without an extended warranty from CPS for the mobile devices you use to capture the memories on your journey.