Share your vacation in real-time

Sharing a special moment of your vacation with loved ones back home has never been easier.

Thanks to a growing number of free blog, photo-sharing, and social networking Web sites, such as Windows Live Spaces, Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, YouTube, and Where are You Now? (WAYN), friends and family no longer have to wait until you get home to hear about your vacation.

Free and easy

Most social networking sites are free and easy to use. Some, such as Windows Live Spaces, enable you to tell your friends what you're doing, post up to 500 photos per month, and blog about your adventures. The little star icon, called a "gleam," that appears next to contacts in Windows Live Messenger lets friends know you've recently updated your Space.

Others, such as Flickr, Picasa, and Photobucket, specialize in hosting photo or video galleries and slide shows. Traveljournals.net is another free service that provides travelers with a place to post their photos, share stories, and keep friends and family up-to-date on their locations. Users can have multiple travel journals, upload unlimited photos, and pass on their individual URL to friends who can check on their travels any time they want.

"The real-time aspect is very nice," says Sam Javanrouh, whose Daily Dose of Imagery photo blog has won awards every year since he launched it three years ago, including the 2006 Best Art/Photo Blog from the Canadian Weblog Awards.

"It changes the dynamic," he says. "People have already seen where you've been and the conversation (when you return) starts from that."

User-friendly

When you're on the road, traveling through different countries or soaking up the sun, it's not uncommon to take tons of photos and want to share them with friends and family. But the last thing you want is technical difficulty. Because these "sharing sites" are so user-friendly, you don't need to be a computer whiz to use them.

What you will need:

• A digital camera or camera phone

• A computer (either your own laptop, or a computer located in a hotel, library, cyber café, cruise ship—the options are increasing, daily)

• A media card reader, if your laptop doesn't have one

• For travel outside of North America, a power adapter for recharging your cell phone or laptop

You might also want to pack a battery charger if you use rechargeable batteries.

If you prefer to pack light, as I did on a motorcycle trip through Europe, some sites, like Windows Live Spaces, accept text and photo posts from cell phones. Under Settings, enable "e–mail publishing." You will then be given an e–mail address just for blogging. You can e-send blog entries and photos right from your cell phone to this address, from anywhere in the world where your phone has Internet access. Your friends and family just have to check your Windows Live Space to see exactly what you're up to—as you're doing it!

It can be helpful to have a Wi-Fi phone for easy access to the Web when you can't get to an Internet café. I had a Hewlett-Packard iPAQ camera phone with Wi-Fi capability that allowed me to access the Internet anywhere I could find a wireless signal. During my trip to Europe, I even found free Wi-Fi hotspots at inexpensive hostels.

Photo-editing on the fly

If you want to modify images, there's a wide range of photo-editing software to choose from. Windows Photo Gallery comes free with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Its Auto Adjust feature can automatically lighten and sharpen a too-dark photograph with just one click. You can also fix red eye, crop photos, and change color photos to beautiful black and whites—with just a few clicks of your mouse.

If the computer you're using doesn't have Windows Vista installed, you can also use online photo-editing services at sites like Phixr, GIFworks, or Picnik to make quick changes. The Microsoft Professional Photography site is an excellent source for additional information.

Microsoft Research has been working on some cutting-edge editing software that takes your photography to the next level. Microsoft Photosynth transforms regular digital photos into three-dimensional, 360-degree experiences that change the way you experience and share photos. Photo collages celebrate important events and themes, and Microsoft AutoCollage lets you create a unique memento to print or e–mail to your family and friends.

Where to find wireless access

Web access is available pretty well everywhere these days. Most hotels and cruise ships offer wireless services that allow you to access the Internet from a laptop in your room. If you don't want to pack your laptop, many provide Internet facilities with computers.

Free Wi-Fi is available at many cafés and some restaurants, including many Starbucks and McDonald's locations. If your laptop has a wireless card, just click your wireless icon and ask for a display of available wireless networks. You can find a directory of free Wi-Fi locations on the Wi-Fi FreeSpot Web site. While Wi-Fi hotspots provide a valuable service, it's important to keep security in mind when accessing any Wi-Fi network. Wireless networks range from paid services, such as T-Mobile or Boingo, to free connections at your local coffee shop or library, but they all have one thing in common—they're all open networks that are vulnerable to security breaches. And that means it's up to you to protect the data on your PC. Get 7 tips for working securely from wireless hotspots.

On my motorcycle trip, I favored full-out Internet facilities, which provided computers and even webcams. Full-size keyboards are definitely more comfortable than cell phone keyboards. Sites like EasyInternetCafé provide links to Internet cafes in several cities in Europe and the U.S. Simply search for your city and get a map and contact info for the closest café.

When booking your hotel or other lodging, you might want to ask about Internet access. "An Internet connection is part of my criteria when I book a hotel," Javanrouh says.

Technology has helped make travel a shared experience. Not only can you send e–mail to family members back home—you can show them what you're up to at any given moment, and where you're off to next. For many people, it adds a new and exciting dimension to travel.

Article written by Liz Metcalfe and adapted from an original piece from Microsoft Home Magazine.