In Eighty Days

Interview at Les Explorers

Andrew M. Lin — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 21:26:17 +0000

I’m a bit late in announcing, but Claude of Les Explorers recently interviewed me about TripTie, its goals and direction, and what I think of all this Web 2.0/Travel 2.0 hubbub. Go check it out!

Movies as an Inspiration for Travel

Andrew M. Lin — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:09:58 +0000

Movies are powerful. They make us laugh, cry, think about things in new light, and sometimes they make us want to pick up our feet and go somewhere. Erik Olsen of Gadling says that his favorite movie was Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It “filled his head with notions of far-away places.” For me, I think the story of Peter Pan did that for me. Sailing boats, fighting pirates, little islands where all you do is have fun. Oh, and the flying! Yup, Peter Pan inspired me at a young age to consider other lands.

Before we went to Japan last November, Kelli and I watched Lost In Translation. I highly recommend it. It made us all the more excited to go to the Land of the Rising Sun. And just a few days ago, I saw “An Inconvenient Truth.” Now I want to see a glacier (before they disappear). Movies are powerful.

[via Gadling, via Budget Travel Online: 25 Movies That Literally Moved Us]

Happy Thanksgiving

Andrew M. Lin — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 19:26:30 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our members and readers. We are grateful that you are a part of our community.

Google Ads

Andrew M. Lin — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:29:25 +0000

Part of the reason why I started TripTie was simply out of frustration. Trip planning is difficult enough. Other travel sites, although packed with good information, make it difficult to sift through. It doesn’t help that some of these sites are overflowing with ads; I never knew if what I was clicking on would take me to the information I was looking for or another site! And don’t even get me started on those pop-up and pop-over ads…

I don’t want TripTie to become one of these sites. At the same time though, we need some ad inventory. So after a talk I had with David over at Google Adsense, I decided to experiment some with their ad platform — you’ll notice the ads throughout the site.

What do you think? Are they good, useful, okay, or downright annoying?

And, if you are interested in advertising on TripTie, please feel free to contact me. We have very attractive rates right now.

A Better Way to Ride the Trolley in San Diego

Andrew M. Lin — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:43:36 +0000

One day, while doing his normal commute to work on the San Diego trolley, graphic designer Robert Palmer realized that he could do better - with the trolley maps, that is. He noticed a group of confused tourists huddled around one of those big undecipherable maps. He challenged himself to come up with a better solution. This solution is available to all at BetterTrolley.com.

BetterTrolley is “Easy San Diego Trolley Rider Information” and it is very comprehensive. It consists of zoomable Trolley maps done the right way: simple, contrasty, and clear design. He’s even got Rider Alerts (where riders submit alerts and everyone benefits through the website or RSS), local information near the station of your choice (by having the entire line mapped out on Google Maps), as well as a Trolley trip-planner. Oh, and he has also written a humorous FAQ on Trolley etiquette; here’s one of his tips: “Don’t jump or climb over the couplers between train cars. You won’t make it.”

The best thing about BetterTrolley? Robert made it just to help himself and people like him. Kudos, Robert!

BetterTrolley.com

Always Count on the French…

Andrew M. Lin — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:30:52 +0000

I always try to come up with metaphors for what TripTie does and why it’s useful. On the TripTie homepage, we describe the application as “It’s like making a collage.” As I was reading through a few reviews and comments about TripTie, I found a French commenter named “Youpi” that describes it eloquently: “c’est super pratique quand on n’aime pas le jardinage, ça permet de faire faire son jardin par les voisins!”. My rough translation: “It’s a good practice when gardening is not liked, that your neighbors tend to your garden for you!” I couldn’t have said it better myself - TripTie members are your sort of neighborly travelers.

Oresme Innovation - Pour les amateurs de voyage : Concevoir son plan de route en piochant chez les autres [French]

We’ve been Mashed and Floated and more!

Andrew M. Lin — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:04:12 +0000

I’m super-late in mentioning, but my dog ate my post. Last week, Pete Cashmore was kind enough to review TripTie on Mashable. He says: “I think it’s an extremely useful service that I’ll probably consult next time I take a trip.” TripTie was also reviewed on Postbubble. Here’s what Aneil Weber had to say: “TripTie is floating for creating a unique way of presenting this information and because of their dedicated users, they are the ones who really make this site work.” I couldn’t agree with Aneil more; the strength of TripTie relies on the strength of its members.

Mashable: TripTie Makes Travel Plans Social
PostBubble: TripTie Uses Other Peoples Experiences to Help You Plan Your Trips

Thank you to all for helping us spread the word. Let’s all help each other plan trips!

Travel Startup Overload?

Andrew M. Lin — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 19:59:50 +0000

Yesterday, while reading through reviews of TripTie, I came across one that pushed my buttons a bit. I have no idea who Mike Fridgen is besides what I could find on the Internet. He works for Farecast as a VP of marketing and is an advisor to TripHub. In other words, he is an entrepreneurial guy who is in the Travel 2.0 arena.

In his post titled “Social Travel Overload,” he first mentions Pete Cashmore’s review of TripTie over at Mashable, then proceeds to say that “there are too many players in this space already…doesn’t help that a new one crops up every day.” He then furthers this by saying that TripTie is without much differentiation from its competitors, and then concludes by mentioning a site called wherenext.com (a web 1.0 trip building application) - obviously meant to say that the idea of building an app for sharing trips is not a new one at all.

Of course, this is simply one man’s opinion, just like the post I’m writing right now. It is a compelling piece, and a well-written one at that. But, coming from a fellow Travel 2.0 entrepreneur, a bit oblivious. Let me explain my point-of-view.

1. He works at Farecast and advises TripHub, both new startups, and then goes on to say that there are too many social travel startups? You just helped to add two to the list! (Perhaps 1 at least, not sure if Farecast can be considered “social”)

2. He writes a blog called “Travel Startups” so from his point-of-view, the more travel startups the better, right? After all, more travel startups = more stuff for him to write about.

3. Too many players in this space? From my perspective, having plenty of players is a great thing since if you have a compelling product, it’s easier to garner an audience already segregated. Much more difficult to do if everyone is already devoted to one product, especially if it’s a social one (easier to convince one person to move than to convince a community).

4. TripTie isn’t a new idea? I admit, it probably isn’t all that new. After all, AAA has always had a trip planning interface for its agents. But it’s all about execution and I believe that TripTie is well-executed.

For me, the most compelling evidence that there is still space for TripTie to succeed is this: when I was planning my trip to Japan last November, I didn’t know where to look to find the right information. I consider myself quite Internet savvy and I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. If I can’t find it, there is a good chance that others won’t be able to either.

Need more evidence that there is always space? Look at Flickr. In an already crowded photo-sharing space, Flickr succeeded. It still isn’t the most popular, not even close in terms of numbers; but it has a loyal base that finds it useful and engaging. That base is differentiated from the members of other photo-sharing sites, and the people over at Yahoo (who purchased Flickr even though they have their own Photo sharing app) know this the best.

Something I’ve learned: there are never too many players, and there is always space. After all, it’s a big world out there and getting bigger by the minute (even though TripTie is trying hard to make it just a bit smaller).

Get a Free TripTie Luggage Tag

Karl — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 03:08:59 +0000

The TripTie Ruffians want to graciously say “thank you” to all of its pioneering members for helping make the TripTie travel-community grow. We are extending this gratitude to participating members by offering them a free small gift. For the next month, TripTie members that share a trip, or just a handful of favorite local hangout spots, will receive an all-expense-paid luggage tag courtesy of TripTie! (hehe…I told you it was small.)

Here are the instructions:

Sign-up at TripTie.com, create a Trip Plan and share one of your trips, or just 5 of your favorite locations from around your neighborhood. Submit the name of your plan and your contact information by messaging Andrew (who automatically appears as one of your “Contacts” when you first sign-up). TripTie will then ship out your luggage tag right away! There are no fees of any kind, and TripTie promises never to use your contact information except for sending you the luggage tag.

Offer ends November 30, 2006.

Swisslicious: 3 Months and Writing Home

Andrew M. Lin — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 03:32:57 +0000

Albert quit his day job in New York City, hawked his worldly possessions, vacated the life he knew, and moved to Switzerland for 3 months (for a girl no less, but we won’t get into that). He’s now writing about his journeys and experiences in a blog called Swisslicious. Why, you ask? He answers: “not only to share with everyone my time in central Europe, [but] also [to] be able to look back 20 years from now and reflect on how I actually survived living in a society who’s diet is solely based on cheese, cured meats and sausages.”

I guess you can say that he’s living my dream. For now, I’ll just live vicariously through Swisslicious. You can too.