How is CarpeVia different from the other apps out there?
Foursquare and SVGR are great. They all let you check-in to a place (like restaurants, bars, museums, parks) and when you get there you can read a few sentences about that place or see what others have said or even do a little challenge and post it for others to see. They’re all called location-based apps and can also do cool things like tell you if your other friends are in the same neighborhood or allow businesses to give you specials when you check in a lot.
Then there are Gowalla & Spotsi & Hummba. They give you a list of cool places to check out in a city or a neighborhood. Hummba even reads the list out to you with audio. And Spotsi gives you curated lists by local celebrities.
CarpeVia is different because it takes those places and lists one step further. It links them up in an interesting way and pulls them together into an overall experience. It’s the difference between a list of facts and a story. Between a guide book and a guided tour by a personal friend. Between a dinner date and a night of mystery. Because with CarpeVia, you don’t see the whole list at once –the next step in the tour or date or game is a surprise.
It’s like American Express’ Nextpedition which gives you surprise vacations only the tours can be as short as 15 minutes (vs 7 days), can be created by your friends (vs a travel agent) and can cost as little as $1 (vs $1500).
We also pack the journey with interesting texture along the way –making you stop and notice things you may have missed or adding a puzzle to solve or a topic to broach.
How much will it cost?
.99¢ to download the player onto your iPhone and this let’s you take all the official CarpeVia ventures + approved public user-made ventures + any private ventures made by you or your friends.
Many ventures are free and some ask you to spend money along the way (to buy a coffee or to pay a cover charge). Each venture has a scale to tell you how much to bring along before you start.
The creator is downloaded separately and is free.
Where can you do this?
Anywhere there’s cell coverage or wifi, of course. But most ventures will work off grid (any but those using video) which means in the middle of the woods, desert or ocean.
Ventures have already been plotted in cities and towns across California & Oregon (click here for map)
With our creator, you can add your own new ones from scratch or plot one of our pre-created ventures to your area.
Is it hard to use?
The player is super easy -just turn it on, choose one of the ventures and follow the steps.
The creator takes a few more steps but if you can think up a venture then you can build it.
