I spend some time looking at blogging options that i could use on my trip. I was looking for something that:
- i could show a breadcrumb trail of where i’d visited,
- the ability to upload photo’s of these places
- be able to add some text
It was a simple process to install WordPress and also configure it so it worked how i would like.
I found it difficult to come across anything that showed the breadcrumb trail – so looked at themes or widgets that would allow me to import my GPS tracks – which would surmount to a lot of points for a RTW trip and in some cases too much detail – i don’t want to show friends house locations.
A lot of the travellers blog themes appear to be focused on businesses or ‘experts’, providing a facility to rate things. I didn’t need that. Eventually, i came across a theme called The Navigator, created by The Molitor. This appeared to fit my needs exactly.
I can:
- Create a post which is associated with a map position. The theme comes with a way of using Google maps to provide you the coordinates required for the post.
- Add posts that do not have a map location – such as this post.
- Show a trail of pins on a map
UPDATE (June 2014)
Using just the map theme was not good for a blog. I wanted to put a pin into everywhere i stayed, which meant i more or less had a pin per day. However, i did not have enough content or images to make this useful for other people, so i needed a regular blog that i could post images and content, along with the map to show places i’ve stayed. I am currently using the standard TwentyFourteen WordPress theme and a number of widgets to:
- Display my GPX track
- Display a Google map image with ‘where i am now’
- Display a link to my Facebook page to attract more likes