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25+ Tools for a Road Trip 2.0
August 4, 2008 - 9:20 am PDT - by Amanda MacArthur 25 Comments
Ten, five, even two years ago, documenting a road trip meant disposable cameras, a fold-out map, postage stamps and planning ahead. Now a road trip means streaming video, GPS, email, and Hotels.com.Even if you’re not rocking an iPhone or BlackBerry, I know from personal experience (like last month, before I had an iPhone) that you can still have a digital adventure with something as simple as the Sony Ericsson w580i. In fact, if I’d had an iPhone then, I wouldn’t have been able to take all of the embarrassing footage I ended up with after 62 hours in the car.
Plan your trip with TripIt.
What makes TripIt a good planning tool for a roadtrip is that it has a mobile counterpart. So whether you start at home or start on the road, you’ll have access to your itinerary from anywhere. Book your hotels on Hotels.com and you have yourself a digital agenda.
Blog your whole story with Utterz.
There are, again, dozens of blogging apps for the iPhone. But not everybody has, or wants, an iPhone (keep stickin’ it to the man guys!) and there have been blogging apps for the mobile phone since the dawn of social media. An especially great mobile blogging platform is Utterz. Utterz is fantastic because it works with all of the popular blogging platforms including Blogger, Wordpress, Flickr, Typepad, Drupal, and others. You could also use MoBlog to start a whole new mobile blog, but I’m not sure what the value is in creating yet another blog unless it’s your primary site.
Track your progress with Brightkite.
The benefit to Brightkite is that it has a more tightly knit social network than other mobile posting sites. Besides that, it will cross-post your check-ins and pictures to Twitter. Brightkite is simple in that you can just text or email them your location, and voila, you’ve checked in. You can also post pictures and notes from anywhere you’re checked in and send a “hello” to anyone in the vicinity. This was pretty hip and original before the iPhone 3G came out and released a lifetime supply of GPS-enabled social networks like Loopt, and Whrrl. Dodgeball is a more bare-bones version of Brightkite but if you don’t want or need to post photos, it could work
Upload your cellphone pictures with Shozu.
Shozu is a great picture service because it connects with popular photo-sharing sites like Flickr, Picasa, Blogger, Facebook and others. It’s also a great service because it lets you post videos as well, thus eliminating the need for a separate service. Brightkite is again popular for this purpose, as is the comparable Twitxr service since they both cross-post to Twitter. All you need is to attach a picture to a text message and hit send.
Stream video from the road with Qik.
Qik is arguably the best mobile streaming service, the only problem is that it’s limited. In other words, if you don’t own one of the 40 phones they offer the service with, you’re out of luck. If you are lucky enough to use Qik, you’ll find it’s easy to stream live and chat with your viewers at the same time. People watching your stream might get some buffering, but unlike some sites, will be able to pick up where it left off instead of skipping a chunk of your video.
A more primal service like UPhoneBlog makes mobile video blogging easy for regular phones. It’s also possibly the most obnoxious site on this side of Google, with its iPhone and Wii talking ads. However, they do give you a video player that you can place on your blog. Every time you email a video from your phone, it gets put as the first video in that player, so anyone who’s watching can follow all of your new videos.
Services like JuiceCaster, Treemo, and Shozu are also popular vlogging portals.
Find your way with TomTom.
I like TomTom because it’s easy to hack and create your own voices for, plus they offer MapShare and TomTom buddies which was social media before social media was GPS enabled. Equip your car with a TomTom, Garmin, Navigon, or even the Internet-connected Dash (if you’re feeling extra-geeky). As a personal note, I wouldn’t trust Google Maps on any phone to get me to my next-door neighbors house, so be smart about it.
Track your MPGs with MileMarker.
Available on any mobile phone, MileMarker is better than any of the iPhone or other mobile apps I’ve seen and it can be accessed via your Web browser. You put in the amount of miles you’ve driven, how much you paid for gas, and it will tell you how much you’re spending, how many MPGs your getting, and what your gas spending future looks like. With gas in mind, you should also check out the Cheap Gas mobile app by Mobio, which tells you where the cheapest gas stations are in your vicinity. If you have an iPhone, you probably already know the many gas applications available, so I won’t waste the space here.
Connect with friends via Twinkle.
If you have the time, make sure to stop and smell the social media. While you’re out traveling the countryside, don’t forget that your Twitter, Plurk, and Pownce friends are probably somewhere along the route. Suggest a Tweetup via Twinkle or one of the many Twitter apps available if that doesn’t sound too dirty to you.Find places to eat with Yelp.
Point your cell phone browser to mobile.yelp.com for quick access to great eats nearby. Urban Spoon has an amusing iPhone app that you have to shake in order to find dinner. It works like a slot machine and it’s fun to watch, but it only gives you relevant results in certain metro areas.
Other things to consider:
Wireless card: If you want to be connected 24-7, you might want to buy a wireless card for your laptop through your mobile provider. These cards are usually around $100.00 and have a subscription fee of around $60 a month with a 2-year contract. With that said, unless you plan on using that baby all year round, it might not be all that important.
A/C adapter for your laptop: If you plan on watching movies, editing pictures, or playing solitaire on this trip, you’ll need a backup battery or an adapter for your car. You can find them for around $30 and they’re worth the investment.
Mp3 player: Stock your Mp3 player as full as you can. Don’t only load it with music; make sure to add podcasts, audiobooks and comedy tracks to the playlist. Trust me, music will get old after 12 hours and you’re going to need some dialog to ease your brain.
Sure, you could take a road trip to rid yourself of technology for a few days or weeks, but what is good is doing something if you don’t have anything to remember it by? So remember, take lots of pictures and videos, and don’t forget to review everything on Yelp.
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25 Comments
Nice post - an enjoyable read. One thing I’ve noticed, and you support my claim in this article, the web 2.0 space is too scattered. People have to go to a million different sites to use all these different services. The next era of the internet will digitally converge many of these fun, but varied, products and services into one easy to use service…. http://www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
I really, really hope so! The more cohesive the better.
Yes
If you will not be updated with the technology that arrives on the doorsteps you will provably have to dear later if you ignore them.
My case was similar when I lost my mobile in my friend’s anniversary.
love to hear
http://www.raaj.com.np/
good post. I’m sure my current road trip was the inspiration for the article. twinkle is great when it’s working. lately if I ty and upload a photo it will say it’s sending for minutes and then fail or I have to cancel it. urbanspoon is really cool yet I haven’t used it on my trip. mostly used it back home to see what choices it has for rhode island. the thing that would of helped the most for this trip would have been turn by turn directions for the gps on the iPhone. I know it’s coming in 2.1 but watch that come out right when we get back from our trip.
Haha, actually I went on a roadtrip in June which is where I got to test out all these tools. I didn’t have an iPhone at the time though, of course it came out a couple days after we got back
Wow, great article. I totally could have used this in June when I took a month long trip around the U.S. and Canada. I am sure every technology buff is going to be shaking their heads but I preferred not having all of the “Tech” stuff with me.
It was a long hard debate and I am as “with it” as you can possibly be when it comes to new technology and services but I broke out a Rand McNally map and just hit the road.
While staying “connected” is actually my day job, I found liberation in not worrying about friend feeds, maps in street view or satellite and all the other aspects. I also realized that physical maps are much more detailed and efficient than even the best online mapping service.
ththe open road and
Out of Brightkite, Loopt, Whrrl, and Dodgeball which one would you recommend? Is there a comparison chart somewhere?
My Brightkite petpeeve is that you have to post where you’re at and then post a pic.
I like Loopt b/c you can do both at once, and you can friend people on your cell really easily.
I like Brightkite the best because I have friends on it and it cross-posts to Twitter. I share your petpeeve though, seriously annoying having to check-in first. I also like it because it’s easy to use on any mobile phone through text messaging.
I think I’d switch to Loopt if other people I know used it, but for now my community lies with BrightKite
I’d say either of these are at the top of the pile though for geo social tools.
As road trip season fires up I have to say that this article is incredible valuable. Now, a putz like me has an idea about what to bring with him for an ultimate, yet modernized, road trip. Now if I can just get my iphone to do my laundry for me while I am on the road……
Phenominal Article! Thank you! I love road trips and am planning one to Texas soon and these tools are very helpful! Thank you for doing the research for this comprehensive article!
Now if I can just find an iphone before I leave!!!
Kudo’s to you!!!
Sally
I have been trying where on my iphone. Its got lotsof different tools that are great for a roadtrip. Gas Bud saved me moola at the pump.
It also has some friend finder app called Buddy something…its cool.
I also like that it has Yelp on it…good eats for cheap when on the road can’t be beat.
That stinking Where app crashes every time I use it! Please tell your iPhone to divulge its special powers to mine because I’ve been wanting to try it out.
SpotJots needs to be on the list! You can make location posts with audio, video, photos sent in from your mobile phone using their mobile app, mms or email. They can also be sent to your other accounts (twitter, typepad, blogger, livejournal, friendfeed, yada yada). I’m not much of a traveller (kitchen to couch count?) but I see people who jot from all over
Excellent article! I’m going on a road trip in a few weeks and these tips should make it easier to plan…and a lot more fun!!!
hello,
this is great. will definitely help a big deal on our traveling. feel free to check it out.
harayz
http://moroadtrip.us
Good article. I use juicecaster.com for my personal blog, and I am fairly happy, I would like to see some additional functionality, such as longer video clips and possibly even live streaming. Other than that juicecaster is great for trips and posting to my blog / facebook on the go.
As for Shozu, I have never been able to get it to work on my phone.
It is hard to imagine how people went on road trips before all this stuff was available. Remember when people’s vacation photos were boring? Now everyone sees that you have uploaded new ones to Facebook, take a look at them all and leave comments pretty much instantly.
It is amazing how much things have changed,
I would like to add site http://www.ontheroad.to to your list.
Its site for travellers, support SMS messages, MMS (multimedia messages), emails, MSN & ICQ IM messages and more.
You can send not only text, but pictures, videos and audios too. Any article is automatically localized to the map.
Traveller could plan his own trip on map and his current location is fully automatically based on his stories.
All cell phones are supported. No software installation is required on mobile or PC.
Traveller don’t need to to learn or understand any “marks” or “commands”. Just sent SMS message, MMS message, email or IM message to the server.
… and once you are done with your trip, post your GPS logs on http://timatio.com
(Disclaimer - i run that site)
Alex
Wait!!
What about the weather? Check out this mashup of Google Maps and WeatherBug. Enter your origin and destination and get a graph of current temperatures along the route.
Ok. I admit. I wrote the app. It’s a little clunky. This is a shameless plug. But, it’s topical and I’m not making any money off it. It’s fun!
Check it out!
Dont forget to bring a gun.
Have we learned nothing from Deliverance, Breakdown, or The Blair Witch Project??
It’s as if this post were written just for me, Amanda. In 9 days, I’m headed out of Boston and bound for Austin, where I’m relocating two with my family. I’m already planning to use Utterz and Brightkite along the way, as well as doing a quick blog posting at the end of every day.
But some of your other links — including TripIt and MileMarker — I hadn’t heard of and will check out before I depart.
@Jeff M: One thing I won’t be bringing? A gun — even though I am moving to Texas.
I have an hour commute from Cincinnati and Dayton and have used Utterz to share thoughts along the way. The trip in the car for me tends to be a time when ideas incubate.
Utterz is a great service. It will accept photos, text, video and audio, and if you like, it will mash all those together for you and send them to your blog as a single post! My blog is set up to send comments back to my phone, and I can quickly dial Utterz and record a voice response that will be posted to the blog, so I can have conversations with my subscribers while I’m out and about, having adventures. I heart me some Utterz!
Tink *~*~*
My Mobile Adventures *~*~*
I have an hour commute from Cincinnati and Dayton and have used Utterz to share thoughts along the way.