Welcome to Gypsy Wednesday! Every Wednesday, I strive to highlight all the juicy morsels related to travel and beyond.
Lauren McLeod and Todd Sullivan have built something unique, worth pausing for in the travel sphere. Read – you won’t be disappointed.
Q: Tell us for those who don’t know, what is Globetrooper?
Todd and Lauren
A: Globetrooper.com is a social travel website that connects travellers all over the world to build trips and travel together. You can find others on the site by creating your own trip (others who are interested will then join and talk to you about it) or find a trip that someone else has created and try to collaborate on the itinerary. There’s a whole range of users on the site, solotravellers wanting to travel with another person, solos wanting to meet up with different people along their trip, couples wanting to travel with other people, groups wanting to expand their numbers, and more.
There’s also a heap of information for travellers on the site, ranging from region guides (http://globetrooper.com/guide), trip ideas and the blog, Notes of a Globetrooper (http://globetrooper.com/notes).
Q: Where did you come up with the idea?
A: The idea came about when Todd and I were trying to create a group to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with a reputable local tour company that we had found. By posting our trip up on numerous travel forums and websites, we tried EVERYTHING to get the word out about this great climb and local support. In the end, we only received one response, but he ultimately came on our little group expedition. We enjoyed having his company so much, we all exchanged travel horror stories and dreams and built new friendships. After that experience, we realized that there must be a better way for travellers to interact and plan trips to travel together.
Q: Some people might assume you’re rich or have a full-time job to support all this. The truth, you quit your jobs to do this, why?
A: Ha! Rich? Yeah right. We quit our somewhat stable finance jobs in Australia to pursue our love for travel, and to challenge ourselves by starting a business. Once upon a time, Todd was a software engineer and started a number of businesses in that field. And after moving onto finance, and specifically private equity, Todd was surrounded by budding entrepreneurs and started to feel that itch again.
Todd, Lauren & team on Mount Kilimanjaro
We became passionate about making the most of our 4 weeks annual leave every year to travel, and then realized it didn’t satisfy our lust. We wanted to travel the world and work remotely, live this digital nomad lifestyle that we kept reading about.
Q: Do you ever want to return to the cube? If no, why?
A: Well… we haven’t really left. :) We no longer have an office that’s partitioned off, but we work longer hours in front of a computer than we ever have before! Not that we’re complaining, we love the ability to be able to move around whenever we like, to go sit in the park for a brainstorm, and especially be able to join some of the unique trips on Globetrooper like The Great Circular Indian Railway Challenge (http://globetrooper.com/the-great-circular-indian-railway-challenge-2011) in February next year, and Gobi 2011 (http://globetrooper.com/gobi2011) starting in May 2011.
Q: What makes Globetrooper significant over similar sites? Where do you plan on taking it?
A: We’ve tried to focus more on the trips, rather than the people. There are many social and travel sites out there who are all about people, Facebook, Travbuddy, Twitter, WAYN. Our approach is centred on the travel idea, joining a trip because you’re interested in going there and doing that, and with other people.
We have many ideas in the works for the long-term outlook for Globetrooper, there are so many different things we can do with it. Honestly, we’d love to pursue all of them, but that just isn’t realistic. One that we’re seriously considering is to create a database of local guides that people can then book for their trip. This gives travellers a local experience as well as empowers the guide to promote his/her own community.
Q: What tips can you give to those wanting to launch an online travel business?
A: Think rationally, build quickly, and be prepared for a lot of changes. The main tip I would give is to set a deadline for launch that you keep to. This really is only the beginning of the beginning. We’ve seen our site evolve over the last 5 months into something so different than what we launched with, and that’s all part of the process. If you try to get everything perfect for
launch, it will never happen. It’s better to get the site out there, building awareness, even if you re-build it completely later.
Additionally, the work never ends. Just because you’ve launched, it doesn’t mean you can step back and relax, the journey has only just begun. Also listen to your users, especially those with you from the start. After all, the site is for them, not you.
For an online travel business, in particular, I’d recommend getting the social media juices flowing early, there is a large community of great travel bloggers (hint hint Nomadic Chick) who will help in any way they can.
Q: Last but not least, you’ve been able to have amazing travel experiences so far, what’s a memorable moment for you to date?
A: A memorable (and horrific) moment for me was walking into my boss’s office on a Friday afternoon to give him my resignation. I enjoyed my job as an investment analyst – I like working with numbers, everything is logical – so it was hard to put a halt to my career that day. I was so so nervous and petrified of what his reaction would be, as well as the rest of my colleagues as it was a small company. But after I did it, I felt so liberated, strong and excited for the next part of my life to start. A life of indefinite travel and adventure.
Discover the wonders of Lauren and Todd at www.globetrooper.com, on Twitter @globetrooper, and Facebook www.facebook.com/globetrooper.
Photos: courtesy of Globetrooper
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello everyone! Thanks to Todd and Lauren for some fantastic answers, and it sure gives food for thought on creating something beyond a mere travel blog. Sure got me thinking!
@Keith – All power to you too Keith, I hope we cross paths soon
@Kelsey – Thanks Kelsey, I believe your idea behind the Mongolian Experiment will become a trend for others to replicate
I’ve always really liked the idea behind the Globetrooper site. It’s definitely one of my favourites.
Great story and I admire your willingness to trade in your careers for a chance at something you really love. I’m going in the same direction. I wish much success to you both.
@Candice – Unfortunately Halifax didn’t work out, but we hope to meet up with you somewhere soon.
@Jools Stone – Thanks Jools, I don’t know about ‘successful’ travel business yet… we’ll see!
@Cam – Agreed. Love reading about how others have made their travel dreams come true.
@Andi – Thanks for checking out the site Andi, hope it’s useful for you.
@Nick Laborde – Awesome Nick! We’re actually thinking about adding a widget for travel bloggers so that your readers can see your trip/movements and try to meet up with you somewhere.
@GRRRL TRAVELER – Thanks Christine! Hope we can help you connect and meetup with some other solo travellers.
Awesome article! I was just checking their site out this week from Twitter. Some good info as well as, the opportunity to connect with other soloists!
Hopefully will meet up with these folks in my travels. :)
A very nice write up of my fave ‘trav buddy’ type site by a country mile! Well done for your cubicle escape act, your bizz is an inspiration to us all that you can not only quit that static 9-5 lifestyle but actually make a successful travel business out of it.
Great interview! Always like learning about how others are making it happen! Thanks for sharing
Very cool idea! Checking out the site now. :)
Seems like a real cool website, I plan on utilizing it next year when I start my RTW trip.
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