MYTRIPJOURNAL.COM I Forbes magazine praises site, which lets users post blogs to record their trips
Brian Morton
Sun
A Vancouver-based Internet company that allows travellers to post online blogs in some of the world’s most remote locations has been listed by Forbes magazine as one of the best travel websites anywhere.
MyTripJournal.com, which provides travellers with a Web journal to record their trips and stay in touch with friends and family, was started two years ago in the home of Dan Parlow.
“[We have] tens of thousands of clients all over the world,” said Parlow, a lawyer who quit practising law in January to run his website full-time, in an interview Wednesday. “Our biggest markets are in the U.S. and the U.K.”
Parlow said that MyTripJournal.com, which provides online travellers with Web-based tools to draw up virtual maps so friends and family can follow their footsteps, read postings of travel notes and view photos, began two years ago when he and his wife Faye completed a 16-month trip around the world and a four-month trek through China with their two young children.
He said they “tested the waters” at Internet sites in China and quickly realized the idea had great potential.
“The response was overwhelming. We got so many e-mails from people saying it was wonderful reading our journals. That’s when we started thinking of it as a commercial enterprise.”
Parlow said that after returning to Vancouver, they formed a joint venture company with Vancouver software developer GroupInfoWeb.com, which handles the technical end of the business.
He and Faye are responsible for the company’s business development.
Parlow said that GroupInfoWeb president Paul Melhus initially offered to provide them with an interactive map of China before they started their trip two years ago “that would show our position as we moved around and that would link to our daily journal entries.
“That started it.”
Parlow said their website not only provides travellers with a simple tool to keep up an online journal to record their trip and stay in touch with friends and family — without ads — but includes text and photo upload capabilities and messaging and the MyTripJournal IntelliMap system.
Features include the ability to post personal videos, store thousands of print-quality photos and receive a full archive on CD or DVD at the end of the trip.
Viewers can also take various trips by viewing the journals of travellers, he added.
Parlow said that clients can “test drive” the service before signing up for a full version. If they want to continue, prices range from $25 for a standard 60-day version to $99 for a premium one-year version. “All [clients] need is an Internet connection and [the ability] to know how to type.”
Parlow said their website appeals to many types of travellers, from those who visit remote locations around the globe to RVers travelling across North America.
“It had to be fast-loading from slow Internet connections and be super simple to use,” he said of their business plan. “We have a large number of travellers who are frequently in remote locations with slow Internet access.”
Parlow noted that his company has signed partnerships with companies such as Lonely Planet, a travel guidebook company, and The Good Sam Club, an RV owners’ association, to develop “custom brand” sites.
According to the Forbes article, personal travel blogs have overtaken mass e-mails as the tool of choice for staying in touch with family and friends while on the road.
“We like MyTripJournal.com for its colourful and easy-to-use features like ‘Find a Friend’s website’ and the customizable world map,” Forbes said in listing MyTripJournal as one of the 13 best travel websites. “Even if you aren’t currently travelling, browsing the site allows you to experience someone else’s vacation vicariously.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2006