Today it is easier to travel than ever. Whether you are taking a road trip or transcontinental flight, taking charge of your own itinerary is as easy as utilizing your iPhone, BlackBerry or iPad applications.

What are some of the favored applications today for travel? There are many and depending on your device, some are nicer than others. For example, if you have an iPad, applications such as Travel and Leisure or even National Geographic are fun because they are image oriented. But if you are using your iPhone or Blackberry, then Google Maps is just as functional.

Here are some applications across the board people are enjoying for travel.

1. Google Maps – This may be one of the most popular apps – it includes mapping, Google Ride Finder and Google Transit. With Google Maps, you are offered street maps, a route planner for traveling by foot, car or public transport and an urban business locator for businesses all over the world. There are even satellite images on Google Maps and Google street views.

2. The Weather Channel MaxOne – Knowing the weather of your destination helps with packing, determining whether there will be flight delays, or if you are driving, road closures. This application can give you up to a three-day forecast and is designed for U.S. or European destinations. This application is great for smartphones or the iPad. It does have full screen customizable weather maps, in-motion radar showing past and future views, local and regional forecast videos, storm footage, real-time Twitter feeds and more. If you are taking a road trip, this application even comes with local traffic cams from select cities.

3. Currency Conversion: XE Currency – Traveling abroad? This little application is cool as it helps you stay on top of the current exchange rates and what the value is to your given currency. If you are using the American dollar, you can quickly discover what the exchange is for the city you are in and determine if those purchases you are making are good deals or not. XE.com has become one of the more popular currency conversion applications. It supports more than 180 currencies with up-to-minute rates. You can choose up to 10 currencies, choose a base currency, enter the amount you want to convert and get an instant reading. The best part of this application, as with many of the others, is it’s free.

4.KAYAK – While there are a handful of applications for booking flights, hotels and car rentals, many are moving toward KAYAK HD. The application works like many other applications, you input your preferences and then options are listed by price. You can refine results by brand, price, ratings and more. Hotels can be viewed through Google Maps so that you can visually see their location in regards to your destination.

5. GPS My City – This app was built for those who want a self-guided walking tour. The application comes with numerous downloaded tours giving you turn-by-turn directions. Cities are not just American either, there is a tour for Jerusalem, Paris, Singapore and more. Each downloaded tour is about .00 each.