trip switcher

About TripSwitcher.com

This website was created in my spare time, so please be patient with bug fixes and additional features. I don't consider myself a master, web programmer, guru guy in any way (this is only my second website and my first one was just darn right ugly!) but I was passionate about this idea. The idea is that you want to travel somewhere and none of your friends want or have the means to come with you, how do you make your dream trip happen? Trust me, I've been in this position often enough and over the last three years I caught on to the concept of trip switching. It's been great ever since.

For a trip to China in 2005, I started trying to use back-packing partner websites or some other travel buddy websites but it seemed like it was a bit of a pain finding the right companion to take a trip with. I wanted to keep the budget light, my partner had money to spend and wanted to be "too" comfortable. I wanted to see the countryside, he only wanted to see the grand tours. Even choosing a restaurant was a challenge. I decided to get away from all of that and use the zillions of pen pal services out there to try and meet a friend in China itself. I did this because of I know that when friends of family come to visit me, I love showing them around my city and make sure they have a great time. We do anything they want and I have fun doing it with them. When I go to visit them, they certainly do the same for me. Why can't this work for my vacation to China? Contrary to popular belief, pen pals aren't always interested in meeting up and I had to go through a few before I found myself communicating with a guy that I felt could be a great friend. The friendship started slowly with emails a few times per week then we got into a phone call here and there. We honestly became good friends and within 3 months I was shaking his hand in the Chongqing airport. It was great, we did whatever I wanted to do, he showed me around town, introduced me to his friends, it was an extremely memorable week. You can probably read more about it in our stories section.

We're still friends to this day and, although he hasn't had a chance to come back and visit me here yet, I know that I'd show him the same courtesy he showed me.

My most recent trip switch was with someone in Canada. We played ice hockey on a lake and then in return, he visited me a month later and I got him out of the cold Canadian winter and into the beautiful Arizona heat. We had a great time!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was passionate about having a website where I can go to meet people who are interested in trip switching. There just wasn't anything else quite like this out on the web. Thus, I got to work and slaved away on this website over the past few months and I sincerely hope that people use it to experience the same hospitality and memories that I have though my trip switches.

Tripswitcher Founder, Travis Ma