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My trip to Cornwall on Dopplr.

Not many of my friends have signed up on Dopplr, the ‘online service for intelligent business travellers’. This is a shame, because I think it’s a great website. Well, it certainly feels like a great website. The one thing Dopplr does really well is convince me that I should spend more time on the site, just doing… something. Only after spending hours exploring am I beginning to get the real value of the application.

Dopplr is beautifully designed, socially networked, functional. It appeals to me on the same level as Facebook, in the way it allows me to organise my travels, experiences and friends. Basically, you add trips, go on them, then write tips in your journal for fellow travellers. Photos you upload to Flickr that you took during the trip are automatically added to the trip page (as above). You can also connect with people travelling to the same places in advance, and then browse their trips and journals. Naturally, it’s better when you share trips with more people.

Personally, I’m not so keen on the ritzy ‘Mr and Mrs Smith‘ hotel recommendations - but then I guess the site is targeted at business. It never felt like a business site until I read the about page info though. I think Dopplr would link up perfectly with Lonely Planet. If you had a site that combined that tripadvisor Facebook app ‘Cities I’ve Visited’ with tips from the LP Thorn Tree forum with geotagged Flickr photos - well that would be a website.