On the Road

Tripping.com - Couchsurfing Aint Seen Nothing Yet?

By Roadjunky, Posted Nov 04, 2010

They’re certainly ambitious.

We recently came across www.tripping.com – a site designed for – wait for it – hospitality exchange and traveler’s networking! At first glance it might seem that they’re trying to reinvent the wheel but we talked a little further with founder, Jen Oneal, to get to the bottom of it.

Join up now and you might be one of the cool travelers in a few years time who can say tripping.com? Oh yeah, I signed up way back in 2010….

RJ: We have to ask – www.couchsurfing.com is becoming a household name and has over 2 million users – what possessed you to start a new hospitality social network?

Jen: I lived in London for a few years, where I had fun hosting hundreds of travelers through various hospitality networks. Before long, it became clear that those networks were lacking 3 key things – reliable technology, travel resources and – most importantly – safety features. So I wanted to use my experience (in travel and technology) to build a better, safer site for travelers.

Tripping launched in January and we already have thousands of members from over 100 countries. Things are going really well – we’re getting a ton of positive feedback from travelers and we’re excited to see our community grow.

RJ: What are the unique characteristics of Tripping?

Jen: More than anything, we’re focused on having the best technology and highest levels of safety for our members.

In terms of technology:

We were the first hospitality network to introduce a built-in calendar, an automated hosting request process, free SMS / Text Messaging, videos and more. We also have inline editing, smart search capabilities, social networking features and 100% server uptime. And stay tuned – we’re going to make a major announcement and release a bunch of cool features soon.

Regarding safety:

Since our members use Tripping to meet each other offline, safety is a top priority and we already have more features than any other network. We keep our community safe through References, Anonymous Ratings and automated triggers that catch spam and suspicious behavior. And finally, every Tripping member has access to TripSafe – a 24/7 emergency hotline that they can call if they ever need help.

RJ: How did you get your initial membership base?

Jen: Our growth has been primarily viral – the majority of new members say they heard about us through friends, which is fantastic. We also know that social media is playing a part, as Facebook and Twitter send us a lot of traffic.

RJ: Why should travelers turn to Tripping instead of CS or HC?

Jen: We’ve asked our members why they prefer Tripping and the most common answers are that they like our site interface, they believe we listen to their feedback (we do) and they like having access to TripSafe while traveling.

RJ: Do you see networking by cell phone playing a big role in the future?

Jen: Absolutely. It plays a big role now, which is why our mobile platform and apps are already in development. We want to make it easy for travelers to connect with each other and local people, so it makes sense to offer a mobile option.

Road Junky is getting interactive!