Tripl – Meet Locals On the Road

Tripl is a web-application that travelers can use to meet people and make friends on the road. By leveraging social media, Tripl users can find out which friends-of-friends are available to hang out in whichever city they happen to be visiting.

With Tripl, you can start making connections worldwide before you even leave your house. Sign up for the service by logging in through Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare, and then tell Tripl which city you consider home. Let Tripl know whether you’re interested in meeting up with travelers coming to your city, and specify exactly which types of travelers you’d be most interested in seeing. To start making connections elsewhere in the world, click the “Add Trip” button and enter your upcoming plans. Tripl will immediately provide you with a list of locals who’ve indicated they’re interested in showing people around the city you’re visiting. Underneath each local’s name and photograph is a short description of the activities they’re interested in, and you can reply to any traveler with interests that seem to mesh well with your own directly on the Tripl site.

In addition to helping you meet locals, Tripl also does a good job at bringing together travelers with similar interests and travel plans. Enter a little more information about the type of person you’re looking to meet, as well as the dates when you’ll be in town, and Tripl will provide you with a list of prospects. For extroverts who enjoy meeting new people on the road, Tripl is a great application that’s definitely worth checking out.

Practical Uses:

• Make friends with the locals on an upcoming trip to Nashville
• Find someone who’s willing to show you the hot nightspots in New York City
• Get insider information about what’s going on in Honolulu
• Meet interesting travelers coming to your hometown for a few days

Insider Tips:

• Users can log in with their Facebook, Twitter, or Foursquare accounts
• Tripl can tell a user where his friends are at based on their Foursquare check-ins
• Users can create their own profiles with basic information like name and gender
• People who share their Tripl introductions on Facebook are more likely to see action on the site

What we liked:

• Tripl is a great tool for people planning solo vacations
• Anyone who’s bored can sign up for Tripl to meet new people visiting their town
• Tripl users can specify their personal interests and areas of expertise
• People can use Tripl to research places before they visit, by chatting with locals online

What we didn’t like:

• Introverts might not like the idea of meeting strangers and showing them around their hometowns

Alternatives:

• Gogobot – http://www.gogobot.com
• Trippy – http://www.trippy.com

Company Info:

• Launched: November 2011 (Open Beta)
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden
• Founded by: Peter Sullivan, David Los, and Fredrik Wollsén
• Web site: http://tripl.com

Costs:

• Free