Whenever I go out of Singapore (and into a place where data roaming is required), I tend to get lost and have no idea where I am. You see, I absolutely suck at directions and living in Singapore with their ample data networks has spoiled me into having iPhone dependencies.

Equally bad is the fact that when I do cycle overseas, I’m usually just “following” someone else — la-dee-dah-ing while pedaling, taking in the sights and generally enjoying myself. That’s why more than half the time, I have no idea where I am exactly. Hahaha!

Due to the disaster of trying to figure out where we went in Hong Kong (for blogging purposes), I tried to look for an app that would help me track where I am without needing a data network. Through the course of my search, I found out about Track My Tour and decided to try it out. Here’s how the site describes itself, “TrackMyTour lets you create an online map of your journey for friends and family to follow along.” Hmmm… Interesting.

Track My Tour has both a free and paid version. The free version has a limit of two maps.

Anyway, you start out by creating a map and set the specifics. You can keep the map public, or only available to those who have the link.

Once you have your map setup, you need to create Waypoints. Waypoints are checkpoints you want to mark down and share in your route. I’m just adding on to a test map, so you’ll find out that I already have waypoints set up.

The waypoints are pretty neat. You can attach a photo to them that (depending on your app settings) can get saved on the camera roll. GPS accuracy depends on the network availability of course.

Now here’s the best part of this app for me. When you save a waypoint, you don’t have to upload it to the app/website directly. There’s an option to save it offline and upload it only when you already have a network — great for travelers who only want to access data through WiFi instead of using up roaming credit!

When you view your waypoints on the app, you can see the comment, details, weather, and activity of that point. Below, you’ll see the waypoint via a pin on Google Maps.

Once your waypoints are uploaded, then people you’ve shared your map link to can also see the updates on the Track My Tour website. If you wanna see the sample tour I made when I was in Bangkok, go check this link. It’s a little lame though. You might be better off checking the other numerous tours currently available on the site.

There are many possible “reasons” why you’d want this app. For me, it’s all about finding out where I am exactly when I took a certain photo. I can quickly jot down a waypoint on my phone and then snap other photos on my camera.

It’s also to let my family and friends know that, hey, I’m still alive and kicking at <insert waypoint location here>. I might not text you, but you’ll know where I am and what I did. Isn’t it great?

The only gripe I do have with the app are the sharing facilities. Currently, you can only share to Twitter and email. Not everyone I know is on Twitter, and seriously, email?!

I emailed the Track My Tour team to ask them if they had any plans to share waypoints on Facebook. They emailed me this reply:

Hi Diana,

We used to have a Facebook integration but had to remove it due to problems with the integration.  We’d love to add the feature back, and we’ll probably do it in one of the next few releases.

In the meantime you can use a third-party application called RSSGraffiti.  What this does is read the RSS feed from your map and posts the updates to your Facebook wall.  We’ve had a few users do this with success.  You can find the RSS feed link when you view the map on the website.  The link is just above your waypoint list.

Best regards and happy touring!

Chris

Ok. That’s kind of a hassle. Let’s hope for the best though. I’m planning to use this app today in Cebu.