gtrot | blog

The AANR - American Association for Nude Recreation (why wouldn’t you know that?) is attempting to break the world record for the largest simultaneous skinny dip on Saturday July 10th at 3pm Eastern Nudist Time (That’s the time zone they specified, I kid you not). There are event locations all over the country so you won’t have to travel far to participate and with an estimated 14,000 participants you surely won’t be alone in your birthday suit.

For a the complete list of locations and more details check out the AANR World Record Skinny Dip page.

We want to hear from you on our facebook page! Are you brave enough or suit up? Or, err, de-suit on July 10th?

[Photo compliments of UrbanDaddy.com]

Exciting news- we’re welcoming a new team member to the gtrot family! Brittany is joining gtrot as a key partner to take what is already awesome and make it better. She’ll be contributing to new gtrot features, adding updates on twitter and keeping us updated on her trips around the world right here on the gtrot blog.

Name: Brittany Laughlin
Hometown Location: New York City

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.
A: I grew up in North Carolina, I went to NYU and I’ve been living in NYC ever since. I love adventure, travel and tech. I’m a big social media enthusiast, have a minor degree in film and this year I’m reaching my goal to visit all 7 continents before age 25.

Q: Why did you want to join gtrot?
A: Is that really a question? Gtrot is awesome! I’m an absolute travel addict and I was looking for a tool that would help with my trip planning. I love social marketing and tech start-ups so the combination was perfect. After meeting with the gtrot team I knew it was the beginning of an exciting adventure.

Q: What is the best place you’ve been?
A: Tough question. I travel every chance I get so I’ve covered a lot of ground. Visiting Antarctica was one of the most amazing experiences- beautiful landscapes, close encounters with penguins and no retail chains for hundreds of miles. If I had to pick my favorite city, it’d  have to be Buenos Aires. The combination of culture, nightlife, food and the great exchange rate makes it the perfect place for any traveler.

Q: Where do you want to go next?
A: I’d love to visit Southeast Asia. Going to Thailand seems like an international traveler’s right of passage these days. I’d also love to see the Pacific Northwest in the United States and spend more time in Central America. If you’re planning a trip- let me know, I may just join you!

Q: What do you like to do besides travel?
A: Get ‘cultured’ whether it’s going to art museums, seeing movies or riding amusement park rides I want to see and do it all. The best way to enjoy these things is to bring along a great group of friends.

Q: Any closing words?
A: We’ve got some really exciting new features in the pipeline- stay tuned to our blog and follow us on twitter to stay on top of the action. Oh, and happy travels!

Brittany will be live blogging right here during her upcoming trip to Australia. You can reach out to her via the @gtrot twitter account or in the comment section here.

gtrot’s new social booking feature makes it easier than ever for friends to book flights and hotels together!

It’s simple.  If you want to book the same flight or hotel as a friend, just visit his or her profile.  (You can access a friend’s profile directly from the My Friends page.)  You’ll have the option of booking any shared flight or hotel in any upcoming trip.  Clicking the “book” button automatically opens a flight or hotel search with your friend’s booking at the top!

We also pull in similar flights / hotels from Kayak.com and Hotels.com — two of the most trusted brands in online travel — to ensure that you get the best deal available.  That’s just another way we’re making travel easier, cheaper, and way more social.

We’ve been hard at work these past few months developing innovative new features to make your next trip easier, cheaper, and way more social!

Flight and hotel booking
You can now book flights and hotels anywhere in the world directly on gtrot. We partnered with Kayak and Hotels.com to bring you the largest selection of flights and hotels at the lowest prices. And we built one of the fastest and most user-friendly search interfaces available on the web. Try it for yourself!

Automatic trip sharing
Anytime you book a flight or hotel through gtrot, we automatically add your itinerary to the appropriate trip on your gtrot profile. That makes it easy for you to share not just the cities you’re visiting, but also where you’re staying and how you’re getting there.

Social booking features
When your friends visit your gtrot profile, they can book your same flight or hotel with the click of a button. Planning group trips has never been easier!

Better privacy settings
You have complete control over what information you share and with whom you share it. You can hide your bookings, particular stops, and entire trips. You can also block individual Facebook friends from accessing your information.

And there are more features on the way! Next week we’re launching a cab-sharing tool for our college users (just in time for spring break), which will help students find peers with similar flight times for shared cabs to the airport. We’re also developing a number of additions to the “my friends” page. Send any feedback and suggestions to [email protected].

Finally, we need your help to keep growing. Talk to your friends about booking and sharing their spring break plans on gtrot.com, and post links to the site in your Facebook status! Thanks and happy travels!