Be Connected On the Road – Part One

This begins a three part series on relationship building and maintenance while being location independent. Whether it be your family and friends, your clients, or connecting with other travelers, it can be tricky to strike the right balance until you find the systems that work for you. In the end it’s worth the effort because relationships are what drive both our personal and professional worlds.

Over the past 15 years as a wholesaler, national sales manager and EVP, I’ve had a great deal of experience in ways to virtually relate to loved ones and clients. I’ve traveled most weeks for the past eight years, and tested many different forms of virtual connectedness until I found what worked best in those relationships. I’ll address those sectors in parts two and three of the series.

In part one, I’ll be writing on the topic of connecting with other digital nomads and travelers. While traveling in the past, I’ve met people the old fashioned way. They were met in restaurants & pubs, in airports, on tours, at sporting events, on trains and while wandering. I’ve made many wonderful friends this way, and expect to continue doing so, but we now have new digital options available to assist the growing location independent community in meeting like minded individuals.

The options I’ll be reviewing are Dopplr, TripIt and 29Travels. They each allow you to share your travel plans with varying degrees of privacy and control. For the purposes of this article, I’ll be focusing on the additional benefits each site has to offer. Neither Dopplr nor TripIt offer groups, but this allows the individual to retain control over who sees their private travel information.

DOPPLR

Dopplr was the first service I signed up with last year. The idea was fascinating. I’d simply input cities I’d be visiting in the future, found others who used their system, approved the connections I wanted, and we’d see where our trip plans might overlap. Only high level information, like the city you’re visiting, is viewable. The site also allowed you to see restaurants, hotels and interesting locations near your destinations, and recommendations from other travelers are also included. Dopplr has recently teamed up with Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a boutique directory, to give more robust hotel search capability. The two firms both have utility and style as guiding principles, which makes for a good fit. You can also keep track of your carbon footprint on Dopplr, and it’s the only site that allows for that. You can access Dopplr through their site, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. You can search for connections, and send invitations, through most major email exchanges and social networking sites. Dopplr is also compatible with iCal, so itineraries can easily be sent to your calendar, and you can create feeds into your website or blog if you choose. Dopplr’s shop carries connectivity resources, like frequent travel Sim cards and Worldwide Wifi at 65,000 locations. Overall, a very strong choice.

29TRAVELS

This was the second resource I found, and it appears to primarily be a Twitter application. It’s newer, and doesn’t have as many users, but does allow you to use it as a simple travel blog if you don’t already have one. There are also forums for members, and this site could easily be used to find others to travel with. There isn’t privacy, and everyone can see what you write and where you’re planning to go. Not as filled out as the other choices, but still very new, and one to keep an eye on.

TRIPit

This choice came to me recently, when I was invited through LinkedIn by my sister. I’ve done a bit of research, and have been delighted at how robust it is. There is a free version for everyone, and a brand new paid version (TripIt Pro) for US patrons only. (The paid version for non-US customers is in development.) In the free version, you have complete privacy and control. You can choose who you connect with, and they are only allowed to see cities and high level plans, or you can choose to share your detailed itinerary with family back home. You can track expenses, both for self employed or employee purposes, and you have a way to quickly message others that you’ve landed safely. There is a free iPhone app, and a TripClipper to collect information from any site onto your itinerary. The itinerary is built by the messages you send to plans@tripit.com from as many various websites as you use to configure your trip, with details and confirmation numbers automatically captured. As with Dopplr, you can also embed into your site or blog. You can access through Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, and TripIt is once again compatible with iCal. The new paid version of TripIt is $99 per year, but has a discounted rate of $49 until July 31. Anyone signing up by that date is considered a Charter Member, and will never pay more than $49 per year. The additional services for the paid version include an itinerary monitoring system to let you know when a flight is delayed, cancelled or a gate is changed. It will also suggest alternate flights and give details about availability should your flight be delayed or cancelled. There is a Point Tracker system that will keep track of all your frequent traveler numbers, and the points associated with each. There is an iPhone app for the TripIt Pro, as well, with the cost of $12.99. As I said, a very robust site.

All three create good choices for the location independent professional, digital nomad or passionate traveler. I’ve decided to sign up for all three, to see how each progresses, and to post updates on this emerging tool. At this point, I’d recommend TripIt as the site that is out in front, but I expect the very innovative team at Dopplr to keep pace.

I’ve been asked many times to connect with others as we each travel separately, and short of going over each stop for the remainder of the year, haven’t found a better way for friends, travelers and expats to find one another. If you’re interested in joining one of these sites, please leave a comment to share the choice you think works best for you. If you’re already a member, please leave a comment about your experience with the respective site.

It’s a great way for the solo traveler to find others to lunch with, take in a sporting event, visit a museum, or just grab a glass of wine and network.

All my best on your journey!