Hello Everybody, and welcome to TripBuilder!
TripBuilder is probably the most exciting piece of software we've ever built. It's been quietly in Beta, but now I'd like to give it a little showcase.
TripBuilder can be used to plan a future trip, or document a past trip. Here's a quick example of a past trip, showing my recent Tibet driving tour, which included an unforgettable entry into Aksai Chin.
Click on this image below to open the sample trip.
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We call this kind of trip animation a Triplet, which is fun and easy to share with your friends, or post to social media! Just use the Share buttons here... or here.
You build a trip by launching My TripBuilder from your personal menu (only on the web, not on the app yet), adding a new trip, then adding stops one by one.
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Each time you add a stop, we'll point out the nearest airports and MTP locations, such as WHS or restaurants, in case you want to go.
You can make the stops as general as you like ("Oregon", "Paris"), or you can search down to an exact address.
Once you've added at least 2 stops, you can specify your travel mode between points A and B. This can be driving, walking, flying, other public transport, or even by boat.
If you don't choose a mode, that's fine - the system will draw a straight line between the stops. Our search and directions are from Google Maps. You can set your start and stop dates and times, or the system will fill those in for you.
If searching by text is not finding the place you're looking for, then you can always click on the map to add a custom stop, which you can then rename.
If your dates are in the future, and you plan to fly between stops, we'll search flights for you, including prices! Click on the different flights to see their routing and details.
When you want to take a break from planning or documenting, switch from Build Mode to Triplet Mode. Sit back, and watch your trip start to animate!
You can stop, start, pause, and even adjust the speed of the animation! Of course, you can also post or share your trip if you're done.
If you want to go back and build more, just switch back to Build Mode.
It's fun and easy to get lost in planning your next trip, or in documenting your travel history. Imagine having your entire travel history on the map at one time!!
Note that today's TripBuilder can begin to slow down with trips over 25 stops or so, so for now, try to break up your travel history into into bite-size trips.
Future TripBuilder Enhancements:
- Adding Posts and Photos directly to the Trip: Document all aspects of your travel in one place, then share it to your friends and Social Media from there!
- Automated Checkoff of MTP regions: TripBuilder can figure out which locations you've visited, so can automate your country counting (not to mention WHS, restaurants, beaches...)
- Unlimited Stops: we'll work to keep TripBuilder fast, no matter how big your trip is. The ultimate goal would be to have the ability to play your entire travel history on continuous loop! :-)
- App Version: Of course we'd like for you to be able to do all of this on the app too. But as you can see, there's too much here to just try and squeeze onto a phone. Once we see how people are using TripBuilder, we'll rethink the UI for mobile.
We can't wait to see what trips you build with TripBuilder. And thanks as always for your feedback and support!
Charles Veley | Founder & CEO