UPDATE--January 13, 2010: The folks from Trapster just issued a new version of the app which adds even more features, including the ability to communicate and track other users of Trapster. I can't wait to get out there to give it a go, but the program did crash upon first launch.

For me, serious roadtripping began a good ten years before the I began publishing Roadside. Still in college and a few years beyond, I'd take off with a friend or two deep into Vermont and New Hampshire foliage country, challenging myself to see how far I could travel and how lost I could get in a single day.

Over the years, I've taken every possible opportunity to apply some of the latest tech to road tripping. Back in 2000, while traveling on Ball Publishing's dime, I used a Delorme GPS system that required having a laptop in the next seat. I also had a Handspring PDA for recording changes to the database, a Motorola Timeport cell phone, which allows me to surf the web and email people in a very primitive fashion as well as make phone calls. The phone also served as a modem I could hook up to the laptop.

Today, I hit the road with my iPhone, which largely incorporates the functions of all of those aforementioned gadgets. I've come to rely upon it more an more for navigation as well as communication in all forms. I waited out the whole dedicated GPS thing, and I'm glad for it since I mostly have that ability with the iPhone now. The iPhone also directly connects back to the diner database on my home server, so I can make real-time updates.