Ah yes, social networking; the wave of the future.
Naturally there are many opportunities in the travel world for social networking and a variety of sites are jumping on board.
One of the more recent arrivals is wayn.com. Where Are You Now? is designed to bring travelers together and keep track of where your travel buddies are currently encamped and where they are heading.
Back when I did a lot of solo backpacking around the globe, this site would have been perfect for hooking up with potential travel partners–sort of like online dating, I suppose. But instead, back in the dark ages before the prevalence of the internet, I’d have to ask around in youth hostels to see if anyone was going my way. Sometimes this worked, and sometimes I just continued flying solo.
Out of curiosity, I plugged in a location through which I once was very concerned about traveling solo–Uzbekistan–and discovered 16 potential travel partners who are on their way there. Very cool.