^TM

New Web Site Helps You Find Friends While Traveling on Business

by Judy Babcock  Wylie

William Wesley Richards  of London knows how lonely it can be on the road for those  traveling on business, particularly in far-flung places where one doesn’t speak the language. He often wished he could contact others in the same situation whose paths he might cross as he traveled. But it was years before the technology was available that could make it happen. Thanks to the Internet, it’s now possible, but it took Richards two years to set it up and work out the details.  At his new site which opened in October, at www.biztravelclub.com   members can post their trip itineraries before they leave  to find out who else might be in that city at the same time. Then the two travelers can arrange to get together for a lunch or a drink, making the road a little less lonely. The first two years of membership are free as http://biztravelclub.com collects a critical mass of names.

I checked out the site for the cities of London, San Francisco and New York and found ad executives, interior designers, journalists and movie producers all had listed their itineraries and noted the  kind of person they’d enjoy chatting with, usually someone in the same or allied professions.

He knew this would work for major cities, but  Richards feels it’s even more useful for those sent to remote locations to work. Now, even the most far-away  locations are accessible by computer. “I visited Kerala, India, at the very tip of the Indian sub-continent, and was strolling Kovalam Beach in my  bathing trunks, when I came across a thatched-roof shack with two computers in it!”.

When you log onto the site, you can enter the Club Lounge, where participants can select cities they’ll be visiting and post  their itineraries. They are  protected by listing only their email address . If you wish, you can also list your hotel, so messages can be left at the front desk.  Richards suggests the two travelers  arrange to meet for the first time in a public place such as a restaurant.  “What’s surprised us is that women are very keen on this and  feel safe. In fact, more that 60 percent of our members are women.”

Before I spoke with Richards  I thought you’d have to travel with a laptop computer to make this work, but you don’t. You can set up the connection before you leave home,  or on the road by using a computer at a cybercafe, a hotel’s business center, or a colleague’s office. So far members are mainly Europeans and Americans, and all postings are entered in English.

Back to TravelLady Magazine