Finding a trail is the easy part. You just visit trailsnet.com trails page and the options are endless.
But what about all those other pesky little details like finding lodging or supplies or a restaurant? Now that part is easy too with MyCampMate.com. Thanks to CEO Tyler Campbell and the rest of the MyCampMate staff, you can find everything you need and even lots of things that are just plain fun.
One of the greatest qualities of MyCampMate is its ability to help you coordinate your next trip with your “mates.” By using MyCampMate, the process becomes a seamless collaboration among trip participants. To begin, create an account on the website (easy-peasy). I was pleased that, unlike many other websites, MyCampMate didn’t require a heap of personal information in order to create an account. In fact it didn’t require too much more than a username, password, and email address. The next step is to give a name to your trip. In my case, I thought I would create a sample trip based on the Tammany Trace trail that I explored last year.
After adding a date for your trip, you get to start adding the fun details. For example, it’s at this point that you can add your trip mates. You do this by clicking on the “mates” link and then the +add a mate button. Since I didn’t know anybody in the system, I just jumped right to the top of the food chain by adding the head honcho, Tyler. (Don’t worry Tyler, I’ve already done the trip, so you can join the trip vicariously.)
It just keeps getting better. Next you add trip “info” using the ol’ color-coded-pin method. Red pins are for campsites, green ones for “stuff everybody gets to see,” and blue pins for “places that sell stuff.” (By the way, any website that uses the term “stuff” is my kind of site. It brings back memories of the Gong Show… we’ll be back with more STUFF.)
Now you move onto the “map” portion of the planning. This is where you’ll actually get a chance to place some of those colorful pins. As mentioned before, you can place some of the pins before your trip, to help in the planning and sharing stages. Then you can place more pins while you are actually on your trip. For example, if you find a great cajun restaurant or you discover that the Abita Brewery is just a couple blocks off the trail, you can add a pin sharing your wonderful discovery. Don’t forget to tell everyone about the free beer tasting on weekends.
So I’ve given you enough information to get started. Now it’s your turn to give it a try. And while I’ve got your attention, I have some more good news to share; if you’re an Android or iPad user, there’s an app (or soon will be) for you too.
If I had an extra thumb, I’d give MyCampMate three thumbs up. It is a great travel planning site with unlimited potential. Next time you’re planning a trail tour or vacation of any kind, give it a try and let us know what you think. We look forward to your comments.
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Will have to wait for the Android version to come out. It amazes me that 3/4 of all cell phones in the world are Android (with open source coding) and yet applications are written to the IPhone first. I’ll take your word on it Kevin, great review but they will not get more than one thumbs up when I get a chance to review it because of the platform they chose to promote it on. Thanks for the great info and I’ll look forward to seeing the product when it finally makes its appearance down our way!
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I must say, Steve, I was pretty impressed by both the MyCampMate website and the interview I had w/ Tyler, the CEO & founder. Hopefully you’ll reconsider & give ’em a fair shot. I’m a big fan of any startup company that encourages people to get outside.
Thanks Kevin for the chance to share our exciting project with both you and the hiking community. We’re growing and it is fun to watch, and be a part of an idea take flight.
Steve, we completely understand the need for the Droid and I promise its coming! Having a couple Droid fans within the company, I know the need=)
We’re nailing down what we want the application to do, the functionality and all that we can do with it. We’re getting there!
Thank you BOTH for your support and endorsement of myCampmate.
Steve, by the way…we have a lot of bikers that use it as well to “Bookmark” their spots!
Fair enough Kevin… You must have been really impressed to rally this company! I do agree with you that I also am a big fan of any company, start up or existing, that encourages people to get outside. I’ll let you know what I think when I see the finished product!