Steve Robinson

Consider Joining a Social Travel Network

While cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, or discount travel packages are a must for many travelers, getting tips from people who have already visited where you will be going are sometimes invaluable in making your experience more memorable.

Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree is a place where frequent travelers trade tips with one another.  Facebook is another site where many people post upcoming trip information hoping to stimulate good suggestions.  Unfortunately for most of us, friends and family members are usually not travel savvy or experienced enough.

A relatively new site called Gogobot have created a community of travelers that can interact with each other in a Facebook style format.  If you are willing to freely interact with strangers, you may find the most up to date scoops on the best restaurants in L.A.  Likewise, you can get tips regarding the smartest way to get downtown from the airport during a transit strike in Paris.  Gogobot users are well known for their high quality tips.  The biggest downside of this site is that Gogobot’s community is still relatively small.

A travel network with a much larger group of travel enthusiasts, 500,000 and counting, is IgoUgo.  This site offer social tools including “I’ve Been Here” feature and a “Get Ideas from Other Travelers” button which help travelers gather tips and share their advice.

Travellerspoint is a travel community with over 350,000 frequent travel members who eagerly share their insights.  Believe it or not, you will be able to find tips there on good guesthouses in Goa, India.

Some sites focus on helping travelers meet each other in person once they have arrived at their destinations.  Couch Surfing help travelers find free or cheap places to stay in people’s homes. 

Tripping is a social networking site that connects people in over 100 countries.  The site is noteworthy for its wide range of safety mechanisms, such as references, anonymous ratings, video validation, and an emergency hotline for its members.

Article Tags: Travel Network

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