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Writer's pictureZack Newbauer

Trip tracking with Polarsteps

My friend Ivy shared with me an app that helps track trips. I think it would work well for a trip to a single destination (since you could follow a friend and see when and where they travel), but it seems to really make sense for a trip that has a few different stops.


I decided to try this out for this nomadic journey (87 days... which I wouldn't even know without the app), and share a few observations.


The Trip itself: Started Sept 1 in Durham, NC — wanted to take the southern route to explore the Southwest, and needed to be in Seattle by a wedding on Sept 21. At the time I had no plan what would happen after the wedding and it's continued to unfold all over the west coast. Since then, I've explored Spokane, Bend, San Francisco, Big Sure (Esalen), and currently writing from a coffee shop in Mount Shasta.

Observations:


  • For starters - they offer an embed feature so you can integrate a live version of the map (below), which is cool to know it will continue updating here as I update the trip in the mobile app (link to download the app).

  • Each step lets you upload photos and dates. Backdating this information with 87 days of stops and pictures was a little painful, but going forward it seems like it'll be pretty easy.

  • Before this I was keeping record on a google sheet, and this feels like a much more convenient and visual approach.

  • It enables friends and family to follow trips. If you're interested in following this one, you can do that here. I'm focused on dance and creativity as I explore places I've never seen, and people who resonate with the journey.

  • It not only logs past stops, but lets you add upcoming plans for travel, so those following along can see where you're heading next and when.


Concerns: 1) Location tracking might drain phone battery (at a time when maximizing battery length is very helpful). 2) For any reason they will stop maintaining or investing in the app and I won't be able to export the data.


My Trip on Polarsteps:



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