Staying connected
| 20 October 2011 | Posted by Alex from Lagoon under Travel & Cruising world |
I was thinking about a new topic for this post and I began to dream of long cruises on a cat with my girlfriend: great places, white sand and clear water. It is true that cats are great boats when you have an offshore cruising project such as an “Atlantic tour” or for those who make the jump into an round the world circumnavigation. So I was asking myself: how could I share all this experience with “the poor people” staying on land?. How could I convey the joy of cruising in remote areas, share the pictures of me and my buddy Nemo (the clown fish), show the video of a tough passage when a 40 knot squall hits my boat?
I found several different solutions:
The easiest answer is Facebook! This platform allows you to create a “fan page” where you can post texts, pictures and create links with a Youtube account for the video. It is easy to do, easy to manage (it is like your personal profile on Facebook), and all your friends can receive news of your voyage if they become fans! But this solution is limited for a cruising use.
Advantages:
Easy to manage.
Already connected with your friends.
Drawbacks:
Limited features.
No tracking devices.
The other kind of blog platform on which to share your cruise is the travel blog. There are lots of websites which can give you different ways to write, upload photos, follow your route on a map… In general one part of these platforms is free and if you want more storage or specific services you have to pay a yearly fee. I selected this nice travel blog platform but about ten exist:
This is one of the most recognized travel blog platforms. Like with all of them, you can post text, upload pictures, video, mp3, chart your trip, send email notifications to your contacts … Another interesting feature is that you can update your blog from your mobile phone, share your blog on Facebook and at the end of the trip create a book from your blog. All these features are free (except for the creation of a book).
Advantages:
Connections with social platforms.
Unlimited storage (spaces and time).
Drawbacks:
Not sailing oriented.
The other kind of blog that you can create is one of those dedicated to cruising the world. I found some of them like http://www.sailblogs.com/ or http://www.tripsailor.com. They have both the same characteristics concerning the writing, uploading pictures and video…. But Trip Sailor seems to be better for some reasons:
– it is totally free,
– you can prepare your posts offline and upload them quickly online via a specific free blogging software,
– and the platform accepts SPOT satellite messenger : a GPS and satellite communication device allowing to follow your path everywhere.
Advantages:
Platform in English and German.
Adapted to the sailing issues of web connection (offline writing and easy uploading).
Best platform to follow your trip on a map.
Drawbacks:
No connection with social platforms.
As I have already said you can find other platforms which more or less correspond to your expectations. You can even create a specific blog with WordPress or develop a real web site but those ways can be more complicated and they require some Internet skills. Anyway, a blog allows you to share your adventures (if any…) with your friends and in the end it could make a book full of stories to keep an indelible memory of your dream come true. Now, the question is “Do you have a blog?”
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