Backpacker Magazine – June 2008

Share Your Trip; Make and Show Off Your Map

Your adventure is ready for primetime. Here are 19 ways to reach the audience in your living room–or around the world.

by: Evelyn Spence, Jason Stevenson, Kris Wagner

Share Your Trip | Post Your Video | Photos 101 | Top Photo Sharing Sites

MAKE AN INTERACTIVE MAP
Backpacker.com has all the tools to create a complete trip report.

1. Get the software Download our free program to your PC.
2. Import map data Import your .gpx file (see Organize It) from your desktop–or upload files directly from your GPS or GPS-enabled cell phone. Select topo or aerial maps to view. 
3. Add photos Drag and drop edited images onto the seamless topo. Geotagged shots automatically go to the assigned coordinates. Bombsite other pics to locate them where you took them.
4. Attach videos Bombsite your Quicktime clips onto the map (you can't geotag videos with video-editing software). 
5. Enter trail details Add notes to your waypoints, photos, sound files, and video clips. To do this, right-click on your points or media objects and select Edit.
6. Build an elevation profile Click on the Elevation icon. 
7. Prep for publication In the Trip menu, select Properties, then assign activity, state, and difficulty. "Public" trips go live on our site. Optional: Click on Submit To Group to be considered for publication in the magazine.
   
8. Save it Your file is now stored on our web servers. 
9. Go online Check out the Your Profile page on our website. Click on your trip–which will be listed under Your Trip Reports.
   
10. Browse it See your multimedia map on Google Maps or click on the Google Earth link to view it in 3D. Users can download any public trip to their GPS or GPS-enabled cell phone.

5 WAYS TO SHOW OFF YOUR MAP

1. Email it Save a screen grab as a jpeg.
2. Embed it Place a map jpeg in your blog or favorite forum using the site's import command; follow the steps you'd use for any other photo.
3. Hang it on the wall Send your GPS file to offroute.com or mytopo.com and pick out the type (aerial, topo) and size of the map you want. They'll print it and mail it (from $8). 4. Add it to PowerPoint Use the Import Image command.
4. Share the GPS data Email your map's underlying .gpx file; your friends can open it in their software, translate it with GPSBabel, make a map, download it to a GPS–and hike it.

POST YOUR TRIP ON GOOGLE EARTH

1. Upload your .gpx files into Google Earth.
2. Add geotagged photos, then pick the 3D view you want for each waypoint in Snapshot view. Hit the Play icon and watch Google Earth fly from one coordinate to another.
3. Save your digital tour as a .kml (Short for Keyhole Markup Language, it's a file format used to display geographic data in 3D Earth browsers) file and email the route to your friends to watch in Google Earth.
4. Expert upgrade: Record your flyover as a video using Windows Media Encoder (free, microsoft.com) or Google Earth Pro ($400/year, earth.google.com). Then upload the clip to YouTube or splice it into your trip or map video.

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