View Full Version : Posting Realtime journals
rhyolite
02-09-2013, 20:15
I am interested in posting my journal and photos as I progress along the AT. I want to be able to share these posting with friends across the country who want to follow. What is the most popular site for doing this? Is it better to start your own blog site?
M
Use this web site: http://www.trailjournals.com/ Make sure your posts are a few days behind
Stir Fry
02-09-2013, 22:18
Why do you want then a few days behind
It's a safety/privacy issue with some folks. Especially if going solo.
I am planning on using trail journals too. Is it common for people to delay there post a few days?
hikerbee
02-10-2013, 01:15
I didn't think of doing it, but I think I would have if I traveled solo (I am female). I did know a handful of solo ladies that did this for safety reasons. Actually, there are a few people that follow their "favorite" hikers on trailjournals very closely and I saw people hiking out onto the AT to meet up with a hiker - sometimes without the hiker even knowing about it (to bring them gifts and say hi). It's very unlikely that anyone means any harm, but know that some people will "follow" you. And know where you are.
hikerbee
02-10-2013, 01:19
That being said, I hope to follow a few hikers this year on trailjournals (but I won't be meeting anyone on the trail - I'm on the other side of the country...) What's your trailjournals site, JHG008?? If it's good, I'll follow you all the way to Maine! (Or Georgia, whichever way you're going...)
If you want real time, then Twitter with twitpic's might be the way to go.
Some people use Trail Journals, some use a blog (Blogger or Wordpress). But like leaftye said, if you want real time, Twitter's what I'd use. The problem being that you might have tweets to post but no coverage, and the constant looking for a signal would drain battery. And Twitter's not at its best if you save up the tweets and post them in clumps.
Delaying your posts isn't a bad idea, but it really isn't hard to note where someone was on such-and-such date, estimate their normal pace and extrapolate from there for a likely position. A determined stalker will be quite successful. So will a likely trail angle. I have accidentally come across people I had read about in someone's journal. These people didn't even have their own journal. So, if you are paranoid, uh I mean cautious, be careful of others posting about you in their journal. The only hikers I tried to plan a meet-up with were last year's Warrior Hikers, but Trail Days changed their plans, so I couldn't personally shake their hands (or bump fists) and thank them for their service. As always HYOH.
Given that the title of the thread is "Posting Realtime Journals", I suggest postholer.com over trailjournals. For posting with any sort of mobile device, postholer is just better --- a mobile-friendly interface, the option to post journal entries via specifically formatted emails. I started out trying tj on my first thru-hike and switched to postholer for this reason. If you're not using a mobile device, then "never mind", but you're not going to be all that "realtime" either then.
In terms of delaying posts or posting incorrect time data --- my own experience on three such trips has been that I posted exact data in about as realtime as anyone I'm aware of and never had any negative issues as a result. I have had a couple of positive ones. That said, I'm not a young single female, but a grey-bearded bald married guy. So of course YMMV.
mother goose
02-10-2013, 20:28
If you use Postholer you can get an APP for the phone called PCTHYOH that makes posting EASY ? You only have to enter the numbers one time and the APP puts them in after that.
Unless Postholer changed, the problem with it is that updates for a particular day will overwrite instead of append.
Slo-go'en
02-10-2013, 21:37
I was at Kinora hostel once when half a dozen pizzas got delivered at no charge to anyone there. Turns out a woman had just posted on trailjournals she had arrived and one of her internet stakers had the pizzas delivered. Kinda creepy, but we ate the pizzas anyway.
I was at Kinora hostel once when half a dozen pizzas got delivered at no charge to anyone there. Turns out a woman had just posted on trailjournals she had arrived and one of her internet stakers had the pizzas delivered. Kinda creepy, but we ate the pizzas anyway.
Dang.... I bet they were cold.
I was at Kinora hostel once when half a dozen pizzas got delivered at no charge to anyone there. Turns out a woman had just posted on trailjournals she had arrived and one of her internet stakers had the pizzas delivered. Kinda creepy, but we ate the pizzas anyway.
Is it creepy when Taylor Swift announces a concert and thousands of people show up to watch her sing?
If you don't want the public to read and react to your journal, don't have a public journal.
Is it creepy when Taylor Swift announces a concert and thousands of people show up to watch her sing?
If you don't want the public to read and react to your journal, don't have a public journal.
Have to agree with the above. Also, delaying posting is not really that effective. You can quickly get the feel of the cadence of a hiker and pretty much predict where they will be days in advance. Case in point... I delivered ice cream to two hikers with nothing more than position three days back. I pulled into the trailhead as they were leaving. While this was a positive event, it illustrates how easy it is. In order to make this impossible, you would almost have to keep a fictious journal. If that's the case then I would ask if there is really a point to keep a public journal.
"Unless Postholer changed, the problem with it is that updates for a particular day will overwrite instead of append. "
I'm guessing that you're talking about the email post option. I rarely used that, and never had issues with what I did, which was to just copy/paste text into the mobile-friendly interface. For the email interface, someone with experience at that might have some feedback on how to avoid such an issue. I wouldn't think it would be common to want to later append text for a particular days entry anyway? At least it wouldn't be with the process that made sense for me.
I doubt that you can do whatever it is that the append issue represents using trailjournals anyway btw??
I'm guessing that you're talking about the email post option. I rarely used that, and never had issues with what I did, which was to just copy/paste text into the mobile-friendly interface. For the email interface, someone with experience at that might have some feedback on how to avoid such an issue. I wouldn't think it would be common to want to later append text for a particular days entry anyway? At least it wouldn't be with the process that made sense for me.
I doubt that you can do whatever it is that the append issue represents using trailjournals anyway btw??
Yes, email. Most people would probably rather do a single daily posting, but for real time posting, having it append postings would be ideal, otherwise the entire entry must be uploaded each time.
Appending was something I really wanted to do. On my Peek I had a Postholer template email. It would have been nice if I could type up a quick update and send it, and have it either start a new entry or append to an existing entry. I used it less when I found that it'd overwrite the existing daily entry.
The app screenshot indicates that it sends Postholer an email, so the overwrite is still an issue unless the app accounts for it, or unless Postholer has allowed appending.
If I try another thru hike, I'll look for an app that gets around the limitation Postholer has. If I make my own, it'll probably work with Wordpress. Every post would be its own, and any day could have any number of posts. This is probably the way I'll go so I could geotag posts and include pictures with less hassle.
That being said, I hope to follow a few hikers this year on trailjournals (but I won't be meeting anyone on the trail - I'm on the other side of the country...) What's your trailjournals site, JHG008?? If it's good, I'll follow you all the way to Maine! (Or Georgia, whichever way you're going...)
I just put mine together on trailjournals. I have my gear up and only 1 entry. So they won't update mine real time until I have 3 entires. If you search Garmon on trail journals mine will come up.
postholer.com
02-11-2013, 15:38
Adding/updating your postholer journal (http://postholer.com/) via email is pretty darn easy. To add a new entry, send an email. To update an existing entry, resend the email with your updates. If you prefer, use the mobile version with an internet connection.
Also, you can configure your journal to delay the visibility of your entrys by days or weeks for those concerned about security. Just specify the delay in 'Journal Setup'. Easy peasy.
Postholer journals (http://postholer.com/) has tons of features. No other journal site is as hiker centric. Period. It's easy to use for the journalist and reader. Here are the details:
Journal Features
+ No advertisements in your journal. It's all about your hike.
+ Add journal entries/photos by EMail, Smart phone, Kindle, whatever!
+ Google trail map of your entrys, same trace/WP's as our printed maps.
+ Postholer Mobile optimized for smart phone users!
+ Integrate SPOT Personal Messenger into your journal map!
+ Photo Manager, 5 photos per entry, 1,250 per journal. Ask for more.
+ Immediate, last 20 Twitter messages (tweet your map location, too!)
+ Gear List, spreadsheet like
+ Trip Planner, spreadsheet like
+ Training Log, spreadsheet like
+ Extended journal information, min/max temps, high/low elevation, etc.
+ Embed your journal in your website!
+ Option to make your journal private, does not appear in searches
+ Multiple journal handling that will blow your mind!
+ Download your entire journal in xml format
+ Optional guest book for your visitors, with your comments
+ Integrated journal & forum accounts
+ Automatic bookmarks for readers - up to 200 journals
+ RSS support for timely notification of journal updateshttp://postholer.com/journal/journalDemoImg.jpg
mother goose
02-15-2013, 21:17
I use an IPOD and dont have wifi so when I "send" my entry it is in my out box waiting for wifi signal, I can then go into my email send box and write anything else on the entry that I want. It doesnt go out until I want it to.
Has anyone used Facebook??
Odd Man Out
02-15-2013, 22:01
Has anyone used Facebook??
Unfortunately yes. BTW, real time posting makes it easier for LEO's to find you too just in case you need to know :rolleyes:
https://www.facebook.com/TheAdventuresOfDakotaJoe
I give, What is a LEO????
Carry-On
02-15-2013, 23:11
I give, What is a LEO????
I think Law Enforcement Officers based on the example of Dakota Joe.
I had a Facebook group and a blog. I didn't keep the blog current and it was hosted on another website so I have no information about it. I'm moving the blog of my hike over to blogspot and love being able to tell if anybody is even looking at it. There were times on the trail that I wondered if it was worth it and if anybody was following or cared. However, the Facebook group I was fairly vague about exactly where I was, but I was able to chime in in real time and people liked that.
My family and friends especially liked the FB page during Hurricane Sandy when I was able to tell the ones I didn't call that I was okay.
Has anyone used Facebook??
That would work, but the Facebook phone app is horrendous. For a company that claims to be made up of hackers practicing "the hacker way", Facebook puts out a surprisingly, but predictably, inferior product.
I think that at the least for some trails in some years now, Facebook can become THE way for on-trail hikers to pass information back and forth via their-year FB group. That was the case on the CDT, at any rate.
Agreed on the FB app. I prefer to use my browser of choice and get to FB that way.
Odd Man Out
02-16-2013, 13:35
I give, What is a LEO????
Law Enforcement Officer is correct. Here is the WB thread if you weren't following:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?91717-Triple-Crown-Yo-Yo-attempt
I too was thinking of starting a blogg for my friends and family to follow. However, I think it would be tiresome to write in both a bound journal ( i am an addicted journal writter) and having to type everything out using nothing but a cell phones text options or a computer intown. Anyone have experiences about actually keeping up the blogg while on the Trail?
not_possible
02-16-2013, 20:58
I never really got into the anti-social networking thing and I'm not very interested in typical blogging, but that said...I'm thinking about doing the facebook thing. Mainly to keep family updated and post pictures, but if random people were actually interested in my updates and pics it wouldn't bother me for anyone to have an idea where I am.
Carry-On
02-16-2013, 23:54
I too was thinking of starting a blogg for my friends and family to follow. However, I think it would be tiresome to write in both a bound journal ( i am an addicted journal writter) and having to type everything out using nothing but a cell phones text options or a computer intown. Anyone have experiences about actually keeping up the blogg while on the Trail?
Yes, I did a daily blog and it was difficult. I was up to a month behind on my blog by the end of my hike. I felt like I had homework all the time and on zero days after my chores, trying to get somewhat caught up on my blog was also one of my chores that I was never able to complete while on the hike. It was actually quite a bit of stress to do it daily and had I realized how much work it would be, I don't think I would have done it every day. Maybe a couple of times a week, with handwritten notes in a journal for the other days. However.....
If I had not felt obligated to keep the daily blog once I started it, I doubt I would have made the notes anywhere else other than in my AT Guide. At least there I could have marked where I stayed and been able to partially remember some details. None of the other people I hiked with kept a daily blog or journal and they all expressed gratitude that I did, because they could reference my blog later to remind them of what they were doing on their own hikes. Their families were following my blog as well, to see what they were doing.
Now that I've been back for a couple of months and have been moving my blog onto blogspot, I am incredibly grateful for my daily notes. As I edit and transfer each blog post I am reminded of things that I would have, had already, totally forgotten if not for the reminder of my daily blog. I especially appreciate writing down the names of almost everybody I met for any significant conversation or interaction. If I didn't write down their names, they are gone now. Totally forgotten.
So....it's up to you. I was big into keeping a regular journal for most of my life, though I got out of the habit for the last few years. My thruhike seemed like a good time to revive that old habit, and although I did struggle with it, it was completely worth it and along with my pictures it is the tangible evidence of what I did. It's my own great adventure story and thank goodness I wrote it down.
I've got a Wordpress blog set up, but I don't know how frequently I'll update it, for all the reasons Carry-On noted above. Like everything else, it'll be a work in progress.
I will say, here's one blog (http://followingblazes.blogspot.com/) I followed last year and loved. Rayo updated daily or frequently, and it was one of the highlights of my morning to open my browser and see where he'd been. (And he finished, too, with a great summit photo. Congrats to him!)
"Anyone have experiences about actually keeping up the blogg while on the Trail?"
I brought a folding bluetooth (wireless) keyboard to use with my phone, and found that it wasn't difficult to write up a daily journal while the days events were fresh in my head, just became part of my evening ritual. This approach isn't for everyone --- it's one more danged piece of gear to carry --- but it was worth it to me, and made it easier to stay in touch with others, and on occasion to use in accessing internet data, uploading photos.
I did a daily journal on postholer using an iPhone. I was pretty disciplined about actually writing every day however short. At times it was a few days behind when I was out of cell phone range but there is no practical solution for that. I am very glad I did the daily entries. It allows me to remember details about days that would have merged together otherwise. Bit is an investment of time but one that you and others will likely appreciate during and after your hike.
But is an investment of time but one that you and others will likely appreciate during and after your hike.
One of the things that surprised me was how much TIME I had on the Trail, mostly at night sitting around or over sleeping. The extra time was one reason that I thought that a blog would be a good idea.