iNeverSolo.com Helps You Travel The Backcountry More Safely

One of the long-standing rules of backcountry travel has always been that you never set out without first letting someone else know where you are going and when you expect to be back. In the past, that was sometimes accomplished simply by leaving a handwritten note on the kitchen table before heading out the door. As low-tech as that sounds, the approach was still useful if you ever ran into trouble, as at least someone knew where to start looking for you. Now, a new website called iNeverSolo.com is bringing that same concept into the 21st century, giving us a way to keep loved ones in the loop whether we’re traveling across town or around the globe.

The concept of iNeverSolo is a simple one. Users go to the site, create an account, login and input their planned itinerary. It could be as simple as a one-hour hike on a local trail or as complex as a round-the-world adventure. You can add details such as what time your excursion will begin, how long it should last and when you expect to be finished. You can even opt to include important waypoints, significant milestones, modes of transportation and the location of your final destination. After that, you just add email addresses or mobile phone numbers for your emergency contacts so that they can be alerted if you fail to arrive back home as expected.

The site has plenty of obvious uses for hikers, backpackers and climbers who routinely head into remote regions, but its usefulness can extend to others as well. For example, if you’re a solo traveler who will be out of contact for a while, the site can help you let others know that things are going fine on your journey. iNeverSolo is so versatile in fact, that it can be used for something as simple as going out for a night on the town or taking your dog for a long walk. Any activity in which you may need to alert someone of your location should you run into trouble is fair game.

Best of all the service is completely free, so there is no reason not to use it.

[Photo Credit: Kraig Becker]


New Website Maps The DC Area Homes Of Stars And Politicos




What do Bill Clinton, Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock have in common? In fact, all three have lived in the Washington, DC, area, according to Bigwig Digs, a new website that maps the former homes of celebrities.

OK, so the term “celebrity” is used loosely here. While Hollywood stars like Bullock, Stallone, Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn have called Washington and its suburbs home, most of the stars on Bigwig Digs’ maps are government-related, from former presidents to political strategists and insiders such as Karl Rove, Rahm Emanuel and J. Edgar Hoover. But there are also musicians (Duke Ellington, Dave Grohl), journalists (Bob Woodward, David Brinkley), sports stars (Mike Tyson, Alex Ovechkin), and more.Bigwig Digs, founded by real estate news website UrbanTurf, launched on October 1 with about 80 bigwig listings, a number that they hope to grow with help from the public.

As a 20-year resident of DC, I’ll add a couple homes to the list right now: during the early Clinton years, then White House Communications Director George Stephanopoulos lived in a flat above Kramerbooks and Afterwords. Also, during the George W. Bush years, Donald Rumsfeld’s house across from the French Ambassador’s residence was a point of interest during walking tours of the Kalorama neighborhood, mostly because of the 24/7 (not so) secret security detail outside.

In addition to adding more celebrity addresses, Bigwig Digs could enhance its user interface by adding a full metropolitan DC map and neighborhood maps so users can see celebrity homes in context. But all in all, it’s a fun site to browse.

Travel Cheaper And Smarter With Offmap

Adventure travelers now have another option in their never-ending quest to find the best travel deals online. The newly launched website Offmap promises to cutout travel agents and resellers, partner directly with local guides and use innovative technology to deliver trips at deeply discounted prices. Judging from their first few offerings, they just might be on to something.

The site just launched yesterday and requires visitors to create a login profile before they can view the available options. That can be accomplished either by logging in using your Facebook account or by supplying an email address and password. Once you gain access you’ll be able to not only peruse the trips that are currently available, but also invite friends to join the site and read the Offmap Blog as well.

At the moment, Offmap has three itineraries for travelers to consider. Those include a trek through the Peruvian Andes, an active summer escape to Iceland and a short kayaking tour of the Hudson Valley in New York. Trip descriptions give Offmap members a good idea of what to expect on their journeys and include a daily schedule, a list of what is included and information on the tour leaders.

All of that is very interesting and helpful of course but what is likely to catch your eye most quickly are the prices. Offmap says that they can offer up to 70 percent off similar trips from other travel companies and it is hard to argue with them based on what they have available at the moment. For instance, the trip to Peru includes six nights lodging, most meals, a three-day trek through the mountains and a tour of Machu Picchu all for just $850.The Offmap team says that they can achieve these prices by partnering directly with local tour operators and eschewing chain hotels for smaller boutique lodging. But they’ve also come up with an innovative way to engage travelers in a more independent fashion too. Each trip comes with a custom built, interactive guidebook that is currently available as an iPad app or in PDF format. (An iPhone version is coming soon!) These eBooks don’t require an Internet connection to work and include detailed maps, suggestions for self-guided sightseeing tours, tips on dining and nightlife and hints from past travelers. Using the app and local guides, travelers are actually getting an interesting mix of both independent and guided tours.

The site will have just a few travel deals available at any given time and once they’re booked, they’re likely gone. That means if you see something you like, at the price you want, you should book it quickly. You’ll also want to check back on the site on a regular basis to see what new travel deals are available. Check them out at Offmap.com now.

New Website Commemorates War Of 1812


While events commemorating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War are happening all over the country, the bicentennial of the War of 1812 has received less attention.

Now, a new website created by the New York State Museum provides information on the war and events and activities commemorating it. Much of the fighting took place along the New York-Canadian border, although battles were fought as far away as New Orleans and Washington, D.C., which got burned by a British invasion force. The image above, painted on the spot by George Munger, shows the White House as a gutted ruin.

The War of 1812 website offers a wealth of information on the conflict, including a timeline, biographies of key figures, and important documents. It’s also open for submissions if you have written something about the war or you have an ancestor who was affected by it. Of interest to travelers is the resources section, showing upcoming events such as reenactments.

Luxury Hotel App: The Most Perfect View

Have you ever wished you could choose your hotel based on the view from the guestroom window? Now you can, with the The Most Perfect View.

Launched last October, the booking site allows travelers to browse over 250 properties – each with breathtaking views – across five continents. For example, searching the site’s hotels will show you Paris hotels with views of the Eiffel Tower, Venice hotels with rooms facing Venice’s lagoon and the Doge’s Palace and remote hotels in Africa where guests can watch herds of elephants.

“Most of the chosen views are already recognized as symbols of quality and luxury, and are strategically positioned in places of rare beauty,” explains the website’s creator, Paulo Palha, in a release.

To use The Most Perfect View, users do a search on the country of interest. From there, they can choose a hotel based on their favorite view. While the tool does overlap in certain ways with the hotel booking site Room 77, The Most Perfect View focuses more on view itself. For example, when searching for Venice, Italy, hotels, the only hotel information I am shown is the property’s name and a large, high resolution photo of the view from the room. Moreover, while Room 77 helps travelers find a great room in properties from 1 star and up, The Most Perfect View only lists handpicked 4 and 5 star properties with excellent window views.

This spring, The Most Perfect View will be launching a new website, with a more specified search engine. Users will be able to type “Eiffel Tower” or “Taj Mahal” and be instantly taken to corresponding hotels.