You may switch off from social media when travelling; after all, who wants to look at photos of your friend’s baby when you’re trekking through a rainforest or discovering a new city? Most of us would never dream of sending a Tweet from a sun lounger or curating a Pinterest board from a hotel room.
But did you know that there are numerous social media networks available that actually aid you when travelling? We’ve round up an edit of the best social networks for travellers currently available.
WAYN
‘Where Are You Now’ is the perfect way to discover new places based on your interests and what you want to get out of your travel. If you already know where you are going, search for the destination and the site will provide you with tips and photographs from other users, as well as questions that others have asked.
Alternatively, search criteria such as ‘beautiful scenery’, ‘great diving’ or ‘relaxing getaway’ to discover the places that WAYN’s users have deemed their favourites. Once you sign up, you can meet like-minded people who you can share travel tips with.
Foursquare
Just arrived in a new city and searching for the best place to grab a cup of coffee, settle down for the night or the best pizzeria? Foursquare utilises over 75 million tips from local experts to allow you to search for what you are looking for in your chosen location.
Choose to search by distance from your current location, rating or by the app’s personalised algorithm based upon the previous places you have visited. You can also add your own tips to aid other travellers and start chats with people in the area.
It may seem an obvious choice, but Instagram is one of the very best social networks available for both planning a trip and connecting with locals. Search hashtags for inspiration when planning your itinerary, and ensure that you hashtag the country, city and specific café/hotel/tourist destination in your own photos to aid others.
The locations tag is another great way to plan your trip, the small map helping you to judge distances and find destinations, and the collection of images allowing you to decide whether that particular place is worth visiting. Once you know where you wish to visit, comment on photos to ask for tips and start up conversations with locals who may be willing to meet up and give you a personal tour.
Trover
A bit like Instagram specifically for travellers, Trover allows users to curate galleries of travel related images. Simply search for your destination and scroll through a stream of images to inspire your travels. If you find a particular photo that you like, click through onto the user’s profile page, where you can find the rest of their images and follow their feed.
All images are geo-tagged and you’ll find a map on user’s profiles that allows you to easily navigate their images by destination. Start a conversation in the comments if you want to discuss suggestions for your trip.
GoGoBot
GoGoBot allows you to search your destination to find the places that you are most likely to enjoy, by asking you to select from the ‘tribe’ that you belong to. Choose from a list including Luxury Travellers, Family Travellers, Business Travellers and Outdoor Enthusiasts to discover a community sharing tips and answering questions about your chosen destination.
Alongside reviews and discussions, users can share personal travel guides based around their particular niche.
Emma Lavelle is a UK based writer and photographer and has her own blog Field and Nest.
