A travel guide app for Subaru drivers by Subaru drivers
Subaru created an online and mobile travel app that crowdsources Subaru owners' favorite road trip destinations and insider tips.
Looking for the best camping and hiking spots in your area that are also dog friendly? Subaru has created a guide for travelers just like you.
Subaru's Guide to Everything is like a Yelp for road trips. The new crowdsourced travel guide contains 250 unique reviews written by Lonely Planet, and other destinations supplied by Subaru drivers.
The guide is available online and as a free downloadable iPhone app. Guide users can search for or add locations for camping, hiking, biking, dining, and sightseeing, and write comments, reviews, and provide tips. There's even a travel section specifically for dogs that aims to provide travel destinations that are Fido-friendly, but right now it's just a list of people's home addresses where their dogs live.
The app provides navigation to your destination, can share the site on Facebook, and lets you add photos to the review once you get there. Although it was designed with outdoorsy adventure-seeking Subaru owners in mind, anyone can use it, and you don't need a Subaru to add to it. Anyone with a Facebook account can create points of interests or share their two cents about locations.
Other automotive manufacturers are also trying to marry travel and social networking to entrench their user base. BMW created the Ultimate Drive Android and iPhone app to encourage vehicle owners to share their favorite stretches of pavement, and MINI owners have their own dedicated app for social motoring.
While Subaru's Guide to Everything looks great for finding travel destinations, it could benefit from a feature for trip planning. I'm hoping the next version will let you create and share an itinerary that plots pit stops, roadside attractions, and dining plans. I'd even be open to sharing the itinerary online to get feedback from other Subaru drivers.