Louisa Griffith-Jones gives her review on “Tripr” – a free app which allows travellers to connect with each other, locals and friends during their travels.
Spontaneous trips abroad on one’s lonesome ownsome are the pinnacle of the hipster dream. What could raise you social status more, in a world full of loose leaf tea, lumbersexual men and ale, than multiple polaroids of you, your holiday vista and tons of smiling, happy… strangers?
There is some truth however in the line that “it’s not the journey you go on, but the people you meet that makes it truly memorable”. It is always exciting to meet fellow travelers; the possibility of international friends is definitely a key motivator and can often provide new after-dinner tales of adventure for when you get home.
However as a female, who is about to undertake her first trip abroad alone, I remain a tad anxious about these mysterious individuals who are yet to divulge their identity. Will the people I meet when canoeing down the Rhine, become my new best friends for life? Or will they steal all my worldly possessions and leg it in their submarine? This question has remained worryingly unanswered, until now. Fellow travelers have no fear, for a new app is here.
Let me introduce Tripr. It’s fantastically new and hot off the virtual press.
An app that allows you to find out who is going to the same destination, and at the same time as yourself. It also let’s you connect with locals who live there, offering an amazing opportunity to chat and find out where are the best places to go for dinner, drinks or general adventure.
You can also select your preferences of whom you are linked to, by gender and age. Thus if you want to play boules with octogenarians or rave to drum and bass with people of your own age, then that’s fine. The opportunities are endless.
It’s particularly great for me, and other timid first time lonesome travellers. I can create, two months before I go gallivanting off to France, a social hubbub filled with old friends who are also going to be there and new people who I have connected with. I can have a cheeky chat with these current strangers, but potential travelling companions, from the comfort of my own home over a cup of tea and discuss our shared interests and whether we should meet to hit the tourist attractions and lesser well known local delights when we get there.
There’s only one minor issue, as a new app, its limited to certain locations, unfortunately if you’re going to Outer Mongolia, it won’t be of much use. However as a whole it has a lot of potential. The App provides a solution. Thus if you’re ever just want to avoid the awkwardness of solitary dining or need to escape the clutches of that one friend who clings and incessantly moans, you’ll hopefully have a whole cohort of people to call on, from old friends to new friends.
Louisa Griffith-Jones