Get Down with the Locals!
For anyone who knows a thing or two about travel, it’s local interaction that measures the pulse of a country. MyFriendsHotel.com was setup with that in mind and it seems that we are not the first or the last company to think that way!
Here are some great travel sites and some that allow you to meet locals without having to go the whole hog and actually stay with “one of them”! This might be an odd post, promoting potential ‘competitors’, but the truth is that I really do love travel, people and getting to know the world. This I would find helpful in your shoes and for me that’s reason enough to spread the word.
Also, it’s worth noting that, in time, MyFriendsHotel.com will be able to fulfill some of these roles:
“Community” for local information, help or guidance – feel free to contact other MyFriendsHotel.com members to discuss your plans, thoughts or questions about a destination or an experience. MyFriendsHotel.com is a community for a reason – we like to travel, help people and make the most of our opportunities.
“Recommendations” this section will allow all of our members to recommend local bars, clubs, attractions, restaurants…you name it!
“Widgets” will give you access to Weather, Exchange rates, Travel Aggregation, Schmap Local Maps, GeoBeat Travel Videos and other useful travel resources. Think of it as your ‘Travel Home Page’.
Anyway, enough of that, here are some great ‘Local’ sites to get the best out of any trip.
Spotted by Locals
Currently this site only covers Europe but I’m sure that will soon change. Content is updated by teams of handpicked ‘spotters’ (locals) who offer the inside scoop on what’s local, independent and happening – great for getting of the tourist trail and finding some of the best local bars, sites, restaurants and boutiques.
Spotted By Locals is a series of cityblogs for travelers who like to experience cities ‘the local way’. On every cityblog, handpicked locals (”Spotters”) write about spots they go to.
Where’s Cool?
This is very similar to Spotted by Locals but with a global presence and it’s updated by you, the user! It’s members are the reporters who share the things they like. Because of the, content is diverse, local, interesting and always fresh and up-to-date.
Where’s Cool? is your community to share independent, cheap, underground and seriously authentic things to do around the world.
Find and review the dopest spots — neighbourhoods, record shops, dive bars, hostels, live music and underground local attractions you might need to bribe the local police in order to get to.
Eat with a Local
Food is such a central part of a nations identity that it’s no surprise people’s trips often feature an ‘authentic’ dinning experience. This, understandably, normally takes place in a restaurant – but now there’s a truly authentic alternative! This site allows you to hook up with a local and enjoy real local food! However, the site makes no guarantees for the quality of the food but one thing’s for sure the experience will, undoubtedly be memorable.
We thought that we would make a web site that would encourage people to come forward and volunteer to host tourists in their homes making them welcome over a home cooked meal. Eat with a local would promote sharing and the integration of different cultures, promoting friendship, fun and understanding. It would give people the chance to dine, chat and really get to know each other, leading to a sense of the local way of life at a deeper level rather than if you were simply a tourist stuck in a hotel in a foreign land.
GeoBeats
I have used GeoBeats videos on this site for a while now (see them in action here) and I have to say that they are really well produced, insightful and they feel personal (but I can’t pretend I’ve seen them all as there are hundreds!). The breadth of video locations is global, but far from complete, whilst the depth of subject matter is often surprising.
With a network of filmmakers that spans over 45 countries, we can shoot videos in literally any location around the world. All GeoBeats videos share the following aspects: reliability, relevance, and personality. The facts in all the videos are thoroughly researched. Additionally, in working with passionate filmmakers and subjects, we are able to reflect local flavour and personality across all the videos. As a result, GeoBeats videos have a strong appeal amongst consumers and advertisers.
Insider Perks
This site’s main focus is location based video guides. Offering a vast number of videos from hundreds of locations world wide, combined with local facts and photos make a real gold mine of information.
Our stated goal is to become the largest online destination for video travel guides anywhere in the world and we are well on our way with over 130 to date. Our goal is not to have the most videos relating to travel, but the most informative and well presented. Our collection of videos have been produced by a variety of sources including but not limited to the staff of Insider Perks, local and national Tourism Boards across the country and the world, user generated content on rare occasions, and a few videos licensed from other various companies.
Localyte
Localyte is a site that enables Local people to offer their services for a fee – this might be a guided tour, buying tickets for an event when you arrive, whatever you want. Profiles describe the ‘guides’ and their skills. Users ask questions about anything local and the ‘localytes’ will compete to provide the best answers because: 1) that increases the likelihood of becoming your guide [assuming the price is acceptable] and 2) to get credited for answering a question; allowing them the achieve a higher ranking in search results! An interesting concept but the guides are self-proclaimed ‘experts’ so use your judgment wisely when choosing one.
A Localyte is a local person living in a travel destination who is passionate about sharing their knowledge with travelers. Some Localytes are simply people who are excited to meet and help travelers visiting their hometowns and countries; others help travelers full-time and charge for their services.
Travellr
The main role of this site is to answer all of your travel questions! However, unlike traditional forums Travellr have a recommendation engine that will suggest questions to you based on where you live, where you’ve traveled, and the questions you have asked. So, the idea is to get the most relevant answers to your question by suggesting them to people who share your interests. This alone is a big departure from other similar sites and the foundations for some interesting and relevant conversation. Add this huge potential to a great interface and really good user functionality and you have a site that’s worth watching. Bookmark it now! Lastly, at the time of writing the site was in Private Beta to ensure there was content ready for the public launch. So, if the site’s is not running yet contact Travellr and they’ll happily send you a pass – you’re not getting mine!
UPDATE:
MyFriendsHotel.com Exclusive – we’ve been given our very own private access key! (ok, it does help Travellr but with any luck they’ll help us too…) Click here to access the sign-up page and then log-in with the Beta Key: myfriendshotel
Travellr is a Q&A service that connects travelers with like-minded locals and past visitors to deliver the best, most insightful and relevant local knowledge possible.
Ask.
Ask questions about anywhere. Travellr will forward them to people who know the area best and share similar interests to you.
Search.
Search existing questions and answers by destination and keywords, or let Travellr suggest content that closely matches what you’re looking for.
Answer.
Travellr suggests questions about the places you have lived in or visited. You can help out fellow travelers by answering questions about your home town or favorite destinations.
Follow.
Follow the people and destinations you’re interested in to receive automatic updates via your own personal feed.
Your Safe Planet
Your Safe Planet offers a tailor made guide service. This is a paid for service – payable on a per guide basis or annually. For that you do get a guide to suit your every requirement and a wealth of great information to make the most of your time. Personally, on my budget, I would be put off by the price and find it easy enough to find a wealth of information for most countires. However, I do recognise that this would be a great resource when traveling in Russia, China, Japan or anywhere were the language and alphabet are really so different that it’s easy to get lost!
“YourSafePlanet gets your travel juices flowing by connecting you with one of our hand-picked local experts, giving you unrivalled one-on-one access to the right person with all the local knowledge you need for planning a unique trip“
Originally posted 2009-04-07 13:39:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related posts:
- Travel video guides
- Google for Travellr’s?
- The Local Travel Movement
- Weblinks | The best travel and interest websites on the net!
- 7 great ‘old school’ travel communities
