Map Portal is Roadblog’s mapping platform for independent travellers. It brings an interactive map, useful places, photographs, routes and trip planning together in one workspace.
Why we are building Map Portal
Planning an independent journey usually means spreading information across several services: saved places in one map, routes in another, photographs in a gallery, notes in documents, and daily plans and expenses somewhere else.
A conventional map answers the question “Where is this place?” Travellers often need much more:
- why the place is worth visiting;
- where to find the entrance, parking area or trailhead;
- what to expect from the road;
- which photographs were taken there;
- when to include it in the trip;
- how to connect it with the other stops;
- how much time and money the journey may require;
- whether the available information is verified or still approximate.
Map Portal is being built as one workspace for these tasks. It is more than a map covered with markers or another list of attractions. Geographic objects, descriptions, photographs and travel plans are connected to one another.
What you can do in Map Portal
Explore places
The main map lets you discover published places, read their descriptions, and view coordinates and photographs. Search and categories help you explore a region and distinguish between attractions, natural features, accommodation, infrastructure and other kinds of places.
Plan a trip
After signing in, you can create trips, add days, organise stops, plan activities and transfers, build routes and keep track of expenses in different currencies.
Keep the useful context
A place in Map Portal may contain more than its primary coordinate. It can also identify the entrance, parking area, trailhead, viewpoint or approximate boundary. A shared link can preserve the map position, zoom level, selected map layer, filters and open place.
Who Map Portal is for
Map Portal is primarily intended for independent travellers, including:
- people travelling by car;
- travellers preparing long-distance or expedition routes;
- people exploring remote and lesser-known regions;
- photographers and travel writers;
- travellers who rely on precise coordinates and practical details;
- organisers of small group journeys;
- local authors, guides and regional researchers.
The public map is useful without an account: anyone can explore published places and photographs. Personal trips, private waypoints and editing tools require sign-in. Open registration is not available yet.
Getting started
- Open the main map.
- Move to a region that interests you.
- Use search and categories to narrow the results.
- Open a place marker.
- Read the description and review its coordinates and photographs.
- Copy the link if you want to save or share the current map view.
Users with access to personal tools can go further: create a trip, organise places by day, add private waypoints, activities, routes and expenses.
How Map Portal relates to Roadblog
Roadblog tells travel stories and publishes reports and practical information about countries, roads and preparing for a journey.
Map Portal adds a geographic layer to those materials. An article can link to a specific place; a place can include coordinates and photographs; and several places can become a trip connected by routes.
Roadblog answers “What did we learn and what would we like to share?” Map Portal helps answer “Where is it, and how can I use this information in my own journey?”
Project status
Map Portal is under active development. We already use it as a working platform for places, photographs and trip planning, but parts of the interface and some features will continue to change.
The project is not currently monetised, and generating revenue is not a near-term priority. Our immediate goal is to build a useful and honest tool, collect reliable geographic information and test it against real travel needs.
In the future, we would like Map Portal to generate enough income to support its own development. Monetisation must not influence factual information, ratings or recommendations. Advertising and partner content should be clearly separated from editorial material. We also intend to vet partners and reduce misleading information, deceptive advertising and offers from unreliable businesses.