I love to travel to places where I have friends, so that I can do what the locals do and be “in the know”. This is the premise behind Tripzaar. I love this description from Jen Leo at the LA Times:
“If Couchsurfing.com, which connects travelers looking for a place to stay with those offering to share their home, and Viator.com, which finds and books tours and travel experiences, had a baby, Tripzaar would be their bright and smiley first-born.
Name: Tripzaar.com
What it does: The website is an online database of friendly hosts who want to give travelers a local’s tour of their town, for a price. View and book a trip itinerary complete with a local resident guide before you step off the plane. Adventure levels vary.”
How it works (from the site):
This site is definitely still in it’s infancy. There are a few destinations that have pretty extensive itineraries like Costa Rica and Barcelona, but only one trip in NYC and only walking tours in Chicago. I had the idea to add running tours and destination race planning for Chicago running races. So, I contacted Tripzaar and was accepted as a planner. I have no idea if anyone will take me up on these tours, but it would be a fun opportunity to meet people and try to help to support the growth of a cool site and concept.
What do you think? Would you check out trips on Tripzaar or would you prefer to wait to see if it takes off first?
Another cool, new travel concept website is The Trip Tribe. The Trip Tribe is:
“a community of adventure-seekers who live the world’s greatest experiences as part of their lifestyle.
We’re a social community dedicated to experiencing global travel together. The ones who say “Where to next?” the minute we get back from a trip. The ones who think of “dream” trips as “soon-to-be-real” trips. Join now and experience the world with us.”
The Trip Tribe posts really awesome sounding (and looking) trips and then asks it’s (social network of) members which trips they “crave”. If enough people “crave” a specific trip, they plan it and then offer dates, itineraries and costs and members can join the trip. They also have Ambassadors (like popular bloggers – one I like was profiled) to invite people to join “The Tribe.” For each trip, they show the profile of people who “crave” it so you can see if people like you will be likely to go. The show “Profile averages of people who crave this trip” for Comfort (Tent in wilderness to 5-star resorts), Climate (prefer warm to prefer cold), Relationships (Singles to Couples), Nightlife (Wake up at sunrise to Go to sleep at sunrise), Exertion (Sleeping on a beach to Expedition to the North Pole) and average age.
One of the founders was interviewed and he said:
“We’re taking offline social networks and bringing them online; we’re taking online social networks and bringing them to real experiences,” says David, who says The Trip Tribe is aiming for premium experiences that can leverage group travel for high value at a good price.
To get the social component right, The Trip Tribe platform features social profiles with personal background information and travel preferences, from athletic or relaxing trips “craved” to compatible company, such as trips with singles, couples, mixed groups to night owls vs. early birds with a hint of life philosophy in their favorite travel quote and “About me in six words” section.
You can click here to join the Trip Tribe
This is also another site that I will watch. I wonder if I might be a bit too old and married. What do you think? A new (to me) travel site that I will likely use is Viator. I will review that one next!
Also, in case you missed it, check out my post on travel sites for deals – Travel Helpers!
Deals and Finds:
- Get an extra 30% off on sale items at Title Nine until Sunday, July 7th – no code needed.
- I have been off the sweepstakes kick for a bit (and I have not won anything still, but…) check out Fit Frosting and Clean Plates “Fare to be Fit” or Road ID’s Tour de France 2014 Sweepstakes
- Active Junky has 10% cash back at Moosejaw and they have a 50% off sale with an extra $5 off with the code ACTIVE 5. You have to sign up for Active Junky but it’s free! Click through Active Junky for the cash back deal.
- Have you tried Uber for cabs or car service? If you sign up using this link by July 7th, get $20 off your first ride.
- Get your first month free of fun, curated food boxes from Love With Food with code FBGIFT.
- Need another great reason to check out Amazon local deals? How about 3% cash back from ebates? They have great national deals, too. Check it out! In Chicago, you can save 32% on the Bastille Day 5K or 10K in Lincoln Park on July 11 – it’s always a fun one! Also, you can get a free voucher to extend the $2 smoothies at Red Mango for all of July!
- Check out great national deals at Gilt City get 25% off if you are not a member and sign up – free!
- National deals: Get 36% off on awesome iPad mini or iPad cases from Dodocase (online) and 50% off on Skinny Elixir from Raw Generation
- In Chicago: Get up to 50% off on spa services at Kaya Day Spa in the West Loop and more!
- In Los Angeles: Get 40 – 50% off on classes at Elliptifit in West LA and more!
- Last chance – From Refinery29 Shops: Get the “Madewell R29 Ticket” Pay $60 for $100 credit to Madewell.
That’s all I have for now! Have a great short week! What’s everyone doing for the 4th?
PS. Don’t forget to check out and enter my Red Mango giveaway or try your $2/smoothie this week at any Red Mango location.