A few months back I was contacted by Luke Ritchie, managing editor of the Schmap online city guides and asked if Schmap could use some of my flickr photos in their New York guide. Why not–there’s no money but hey, getting a few photos out there in the ether is a good thing. I said ok and was told the photos would be included. Great. Next they wanted to use a Portland picture and shortly after that, a couple Washington, DC shots. (The Schmaps appear to only make use of flickr photos — which are snapshots by enthusiasts — and that is of course a perfect fit for an online travel guide.) If you click the thumbnail photo it opens in the flickr page so you can see it bigger.
The Schmaps of New York, Portland and Washington DC are now online and below is a “Schmaplet” sample from the Washington guide. I can’t comment on how comprehensive or right on target these guides are. For starters I can’t see the map part on my mac computer so I think they work better on pcs. And when I checked the Philadelphia guide it seems to be a work in progress with many venues absent their picture illustrations and with many things like the PMA, Fairmount Park, City Hall, 30th St. Station, missing from their list of “top attractions.” They’ll get there. If it’s like all guides, they’re works in progress since cities are works in progress themselves. Summer time’s travel time. Happy trails, everyone, and safe travels wherever you’re going.
