Notes from the road: Naomi Tolley

Our assistant travel editor offers three top tips for travellers


1. MapsWithMe

For help finding your way around, download the app MapsWithMe. With detailed maps of “any country, any place, from the largest cities to the smallest villages, at your fingertips”, it is a totally offline app that will save money on roaming charges, complete with a highly detailed zoom function.

2. Head torches
A head torch is one of my most essential pieces of kit. Whether I’m heading to a festival, night running, or ice-climbing at night in the Snowdonia mountain range in Wales, I wouldn’t leave home without one. Not only are they useful for navigating or finding things packed away in bags, they can transform a night hike into a much more visual and beautiful experience.

3. Gift Your Gear
Recently returned from the wild and have no more need for your outdoor kit? Consider donating unwanted items to Gift Your Gear. The initiative gives a new lease of life to clothing, tents, rucksacks and boots by handing them on to more than 300 UK-based charities and organisations working to get young people outdoors.

Photo: Jacob W. Frank