Remember that languid moose strolling through the opening credits of Northern Exposure back in the early 90s? (Classic!) Though filmed in Roslyn, Washington, the show heightened my interest in visiting Alaska, and an episode featuring the aurora borealis peaked my wanderlust. Fast forward to 2011, and my interest in the last frontier is back, baby!

Alaska Air’s iPhone app has everything you need to arrange your transportation. All the standard features you’d expect from a great travel app are present and accounted for: mobile boarding pass options, text & email flight alerts, gate & boarding time info, flight check-in, seat-changing options, etc. But the app also has handy & unique features, including a personal travel concierge who can set parking reminders, remember hotel & car confirmation codes, and remind you of specific day-of-travel resources to help you skip those long lines at the airport. And for peace of mind, all benefits of Alaska Air’s website are easily accessible.

Our 49th state is one of those distinctive places you have to make a special effort to see. Thanks to Alaska Air’s iPhone app, the special effort feels fairly effortless. But Alaska Airlines isn’t just all about the last frontier. As we just learned, they’re actually based out of Seattle, and are the U.S.’s 8th largest carrier with flights in and out of U.S., Canada, and Mexico. All aboard!

I work 9 to 5 (in reality it is more like 10 to 6). My eyes cross from staring at reports, newsletters and spread sheets, and if I have to look at one more PowerPoint presentation, I might lose my cool. I’m constantly skimming through emails from crazy clients, irritable colleagues, and emails from my mother warning me on the dangers of opening virus-laden emails. Ah, life.

Sometimes I just need to escape. And now there’s an App for that.

I can’t physically or financially jet around the world in an hour, but I can continent-hop on my lunch break thanks to the photography of Peter Guttman in Beautiful Planet HD. The App features photographs from all seven continents: Lounging seals in Antarctica, babushkas bundled for the cold of Red Square, and a Pied Piper playing in the street in Germany. I open the Gallery Map and see the world according to Google providing the exact locations where each photo was taken. When I click on the photo in the middle of the Indian Ocean, I’m instantly immersed in the tradition and culture of the Malagasy people.

The Beautiful Planet HD App showcases photos in a gallery, and allows me to pause, click the ‘caption’ icon, and get details of the image from the photographer. More icons allow me to share on Facebook, view as a slideshow, and even add my own music to create a playlist for the slideshow; all excellent features if I want to show my friends these photos as if they were my own.

Guttman’s photographs are striking – excellent compositions and a diverse range of subject matter and landscapes. He’s captured the deep emeralds of the Philippines’ oceans to the stark color contrasts of the Kenyan deserts – black and white zebra rumps included.

My favorite image is the courtship of two giant tortoises in Aldabra, Seychelles. Nothing takes me out of my cubicle and in to nature faster than two 600-pounders knocking shells.

Available for iPhone and iPad, the $1.99 App is a bargain for a true photographic journey around the world.