The holiday season is stressful enough – we spend countless hours preparing our homes for guests, cooking up immaculate turkey dinners and being the first to snag the best black Friday deals that we don’t really have the time to enjoy it. Throw travel plans into the mix and you have a less than appetizing cocktail of inclement weather, delayed flights and hours of getting lost. Google (News - Alert) Maps wishes to take some of the holiday traveling burdens off of your shoulders by introducing the addition of airports and train stations to Street View.

Imagine that – familiarizing yourself with an airport before you even arrive, allowing any anxious, direction-illiterate traveler to navigate with ease. Travelers can plan their trip down to the tiniest details, such as pinpointing the most convenient path from the terminal to baggage claim, rental car center, etc. To put the cherry on top, as Google Street View program manager Ulf Spitzer explained, “in addition to scoping out your destination, Street View can help you cut down the stress of traveling by giving you a preview of your journey, too,” which is glorious news to even the most OCD of holiday travelers.

In total, Google Street View capabilities have been provided for 16 airports as well as 50 train and subway stations, but unfortunately they are all outside of the United States (bummer, unless you are a world traveler). Although you can’t navigate around JFK using Google Street View just yet, plenty of us are still taking full advantage of technology to help us make it through this busy holiday season.

In light of Black Friday (News - Alert) swiftly approaching (good grief), research has shown that  shopping through ones mobile device currently accounts for 10 percent of all online sales, which represents roughly $4.7 billion dollars in sales – which is no small chump change. Whether it be accecories, clothes, event tickets or any other holiday buy (or impulse buy in my case), the mobile commerce business is booming through the rise of the smartphone. Whether you need travel assistance or last minute Christmas shopping that has to be done, technology is at your fingertips – and chances are there is an app to do the dirty work for you.