Fun ActivitiesGeneral Online Interests

When I recall my post-college backpacking trek through Europe, I remember just how much time I spent managing the logistics of getting around, finding places to stay, and keeping in touch with my family. I fumbled with coins and mysterious pay phones, paged through outdated guidebooks, and battled incomprehensible postal systems.

Internet access has revolutionized the experience of international travel. Now, I open my laptop (which often finds free WiFi) and make all of my reservations and plans online. Email has vastly simplified keeping in contact. And even my humble travel journal now has its electronic equivalent: the travel blog.

You've likely seen a blog before - it's a website made up of date-based entries. Services such as Blogger, TypePad and Wordpress make it easy to set up a standard blog, in some cases, for free. (For more information on how to set up a blog, see Publish Your Own Blog.)

But several services have popped up to serve travelers who want to set up personalized diaries of their adventures. These services streamline the process of creating journal entries, uploading photos and videos, illustrating map routes, and, in some cases, setting up a message board where friends and visitors can comment.

If you've never blogged before, setting up a travel blog through one of these services is easier than setting up a site from scratch. Once you're all set up, you can log on while traveling and post your updates and tall tales, along with your photos. The result: an interactive site your friends and family can read while you're away, and an amazing chronicle of your experiences when you return.

Most travel blog services offer similar features, but here are a few that stand out:

Getjealous.com: The simple, sunny interface makes setting up your blog effortless. There's space for a diary, photos and video, a map, and a message board.

TripDiary.com: Another simple blog setup. This one includes the ability to record voice narration.

OffExploring.com: This UK company will print your entire journal, so you can later pore over your journal entries, photos and messages in a book.