Seasoned travellers know the best spots to visit are not always listed — it’s the people you meet along the way and the locals who lead you to the hidden gems.
That idea inspired Thompson Rivers University grad Sam Gagnon and her partner Justin Hillier to develop Remote Goat, a user-driven travel app launching next month.
Gagnon majored in microbiology, but took a shot at something completely outside her field when a good idea sparked. Remote Goat was inspired by the pair’s personal travel experiences and the Kamloops native said it’s surreal to see the project come to life.
After returning from a trip to Indonesia two years ago, the couple realized their favourite spots — a remote surf beach made up of volcanic sand and some local restaurants — were recommended by backpackers they ran into.
“When we got back we were thinking those were highlights of our trip and there was no way we could have found out about those through a Lonely Planet book for even just looking it up on Google,” Gagnon said.
“So we started thinking how we could not only have those experiences every time we go travelling, but how we could share those experiences with other people who are also travelling.”
Remote Goat started out with just a live map tracking feature, where users track their trail along the way, save it and share it. But, it’s grown into its own social media platform, with the ability to pin photos, videos and highlights along the trip and blog about the overall experience.
They’ve also included social media favourites such as messaging, following other users and the ability to share your approximate location to connect with nearby travellers.
The app is launching on IOS and Android in April. Gagnon said they will be hiring university students in Western Canada to map out treks in B.C. and Alberta this summer but the app is designed to be used by travellers across the globe.
The pair also drew from their own experience to incorporate a give-back aspect to their project, knowing full well that tourists can have a negative impact on popular destinations.
While in the Philippines last year the couple drove eight hours only to find out the mummy cave they planned to visit was closed because the number of tourists had caused overexposure, Gagnon said.
They’re committed to returning a portion of their proceeds to the trails their users discover in order to preserve and protect the environment. Their first project will be helping fund glass cases needed to preserve cave mummies at a couple sites they visited in the Philippines.
“Because we are trying to bring these local authentic experiences to people, we were worried about over-tourism or exploitation of natural sites that are important to local culture,” Gagnon said.
“So, this is kind of our pilot project… Basically we will go from there and keep all the places we’ve visited either as nice or even improved from the first time we visited.”
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