In a few weeks time I will embark on my 14th international adventure. My love for travel means any trip is thrilling, but I particularly cherish my trips related to Compassion International. Two sponsor tours, one donor trip, and an individual family visit have been huge blessings in my life. You know going in that meeting your sponsored child will be special, but there’s so much more. I have seen God work in such specific ways on these trips that I now expect it. There will be surprises for me, and I can’t wait to see what they all are. But more than my surprises, this time around I’m eagerly anticipating getting to witness what God has planned for everyone else.

It’s an absolute joy to get to travel with seven people experiencing Compassion’s work, and their sponsored children, for the first time. While I’m not new to Compassion or travel, this time I’m new at coordinating and leading a group of people who don’t call me “honey” or “mama” – although I will answer to both. I figure adults will be easier to organize than my boys – but just in case they aren’t – God has already sent me my first gift. He’s a safety net of calm wisdom and group-travel experience. I can’t wait to hear the stories of his travels and learn from them on this trip.

For today, I leave my Dominican Republic team and any of you reading this with my top 5 list of handy (and free) apps for international travel. 1.XE Currency converts US dollars to whatever the local currency and holds the last exchange rate accessed for calculations when you are offline. 2.Trip Advisor is my go-to app for real opinions & photos of everything from hotels and restaurants to excursions and activities both before and during my travels. 3. Google Translate blows my mind. Not only does if translate spoken and typed word, but use your camera to view an image or take a photo and it will translate that too! 4.Here is my newest GPS app that will allow me to access not only maps of my area, but my location on them, without wifi (for those of us who don’t pay for international data plans). 5. Sleep and Noise Sounds has been a trip saver more than once. Sleep is important and this app provides white, pink, and brown noise; rain, electric fan, and nature sounds to help block out nearby distractions. Sweet dreams.

Hasta luego….