Travel App Offers Free Museum/Zoo Admission

There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. Follow her on Instagram @postcartography and Twitter @ChristineSarkis.

Christine Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She is currently working on a travel memoir.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: The Trtl Pillow. It's easy to pack and comfortable, and makes it so I can actually sleep on flights.

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Seeing the Aurora Borealis from the comfort of somewhere warm, like a glass igloo or hot spring.

Travel Motto: Curiosity is an amazing compass.

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Aisle all the way.

Email Christine Sarkis at editor@smartertravel.com.

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With Google’s Field Trip app you can get free admission to 23 museums and zoos until the end of July. Cities with participating institutions include Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, Reno, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Mashable has more details.

The Field Trip app runs in the background of your phone and, when you’re close to something interesting, pops up a little card with relevant and interesting details. Looking through a bunch of reviews, it looks like people like it both for when they travel and in their home cities as a fun way to learn new things about familiar places. It’s available for both iOS and Android, and is free.

Looking for other free ways to spice up summer? If you’ve got a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card, you can get free admission to participating museums, botanical gardens, and science centers on the first full weekend of every month. And don’t forget entrance-fee-free days at national parks. The next one is August 25 in celebration of the National Park Service birthday.

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