Stay on the trail!
Retrace great treks, trails, battles, pilgrimages, with every step, every byway, every landmark laid out for you, with “PATHFINDER.”
Pilgrims, hikers, history buffs, eco-tourists, fans of novels of travel (like “On the Road”), tourists looking for an alternative, tourists without a tour guide, trekkers, tourists looking for unity and meaning in their travels, or visitors to an area just looking for something interesting to do, all like to be able to follow the route of a famous trip exactly, and to know exactly where things happened—even if they are standing in the middle of a parking lot.
Sometimes, the route of a famous trek will follow a main road, but then veer off. People who are interested in the true route of the famous trek like to know exactly where the trail veers off the main road, whether they decide to follow it or not.
Sometimes trekkers will locate a site of interest along their legendary trek, but can find out nothing about it.
Sometimes a trekker gets hungry or needs lodging while following a famous trek.
Also—it would be in the clear interest of any municipalities and/or places of business along any of these routes to A. advertise on PATHFINDER, and B. recommend PATHFINDER to visitors and patrons.
THE DESIGN:
Tie in GPS to an APP, “PATHFINDER,” that directs such fans and buffs along a famous trek, step by step, landmark by landmark.
The trekker can be kept on course minute by minute, with information provided for each site of interest, no matter how insignificant, in real time.
And then:
As the trekker nears a site of interest:
A. Relevant historical narratives, background, photos, videos, and descriptions, as well as
B. Recommendations, admonitions, things to do, opening/closing times, nearby restaurants, lodging, medical and law enforcement facilities, etc., can pop up, just in time.
POSSIBLE TREKS?
In the U.S.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Santa Fe Trail
Route 66
The Trail of Tears
The Selma-Montgomery Marches
The Mormon Trail
Braddock’s Expedition
Paul Revere’s Ride
The Battle of Brooklyn
Sherman’s March
Jack Kerouac’s “On rhe Road” Trips
Ken Kesey’s Merry Prankster “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” Trips
John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charlie” Trips
Chief Joseph’s March
ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD:
The Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem (Israel)
The Exodus Route (there are several possible routes) (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel)
Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North Trip (Japan)
Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” Pilgrimage (England)
The Appian Way (and other Ancient Roman roads) (Italy)
Other Pilgrimages like Lourdes (France), and Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
Voyages of Marco Polo (Many Countries)
Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” Trip (Many Countries)
The 3 Crusades Routes (Many Countries)
Napoleon’s Invasion of and Retreat from Russia (mostly Russia)
The Ancient Greek Marathon (Greece)
Leopold Bloom’s Bloomsday Travels from James Joyce’s “Ulysses” (Ireland)
Cortez’s Route to Mexico City (Mexico)
The PATHFINDER app will be more intense, precise, comprehensive, and immediate than tour books or generalized web-maps and descriptions.
It will turn the usually fragmented touring experience into a satisfying whole, with a meaning—like a pilgrimage, even if not actually a pilgrimage.