Has anyone ever used a web site call travelblog.com? It was mentioned in our travel section a few weeks ago as a good source to keep a travel journal - or to view what others have written. This sounds like something I might be interested in doing in the future, but would like to hear some opinions or experiences of others if possible.

I'm seriously considering an online travel journal for our Jan. cruise. I like Debbie's and I'm looking into several sites that she recommended to me. Debbie uses AOL and you don't have to be a member. She also mentioned www.travelblog.org to me. I'm going to research them but I have to pack first.

Editing to say that I would have a couple of questions to resolve first. Does the site accept photos? Is there enough space alloted? If the site is free, will it stay that way? How long has the site been around and is it successful enough to remain on the internet for awhile? It would be a lot of work to keep a journal and then find it has disappeared on you. I would probably write it on my laptop and cut and paste.

This is what was in our paper about travel blogs.

SITES FOR BLOGGERS

These are among the most popular Web sites with travel bloggers:

TravelPod.com: One of the original travel blog sites is easy to navigate and simple to join and post photos. There is no charge, but a $39 payment removes advertising banners from a user's page and allows users to password-protect their pages so that only friends and family can log on. Each page features a map with your destinations and routes highlighted.

TravelBlog.org: This free site also is quite easy to navigate and post photos and text. Not only is this a good site for people looking to create their own blogs, it is convenient for the user who wants to read about other travelers' experiences and look at photos.

Blogger.com: Owned by Google, this site is not designed specifically for travelers, but unlike many of the other offerings, Blogger allows users more freedom with how they post pictures and design their sites. However, there are no forums or easy ways to see what travelers are blogging about or where they are blogging from. It's free.

Flickr.com: One of the largest photo Web sites makes it easy for users to post photos to Blogger or other sites by clicking an icon. It's free.

BootsnAll (www.blogs.bootsnall.com): This site allows for photos and text but does not offer as many features as some of the other providers. It is free, but your membership must be approved, and that can take 24 hours.

MyTripJournal.com: This site features a convenient itinerary function linked to a map that shows the route taken. Unlike the other sites, however, MyTripJournal is free only for a 45-day trial, after which the user must pay $59 for a year, which includes storage of up to 60 photos a month. It also offers a more expensive version for $89 a year that includes unlimited storage as well as a CD that contains all the photos from the user's site and a static html version of the blog.

Donna, I hope you hurry up and pack so you can look into the various possibilities and inform me about this type thing. Last year all I did was write my daily experiences to LCT...never even knew about these travel journals/blogs.

Check out travelpost.com, which can record every trip you've taken, and be used as a diary for your current trip as well. You can also attach pictures to your itinerary, during or after your trip.

Since I couldn't sleep last night (must be too excited), I finished my travel blog research. There are lots of choices but a few things to know: free means advertisements, check their email harvesting policy, know how many pictures you can upload, check the site longevity and be ready to practice before you go because there is a slight learning curve. Ok. Here's my link and Karen you have my permission to list it wherever you think appropriate. http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Alan-and-Donna/