looking for best way to share travel with family back home

You can put notes and photos in Dropbox and give them access.

http://itravel.life/best-travel-journals-iphone-ipad/

Not sure if there is a best. I've used Evernote. I've also used WhatsApp. Brevity is the key for WhatsApp.

Might be wise to experiment with each before you go to discover which works best for you.

I just email my photos using wifi with some captions.

I use facebook. I set up a group private message before I leave and have the details of my flights in there. Then I can write and post pictures whenever I want. This does not go out on the facebook feed so only those in my group know I am traveling.

Agree with Suki, I just send pictures and a daily blog on e-mail, simple because most all European hotels have wifi access now days.

You can set up a private group on facebook ahead of your trip and only invite members you want to see your photos. I've done this in the past with our Rick Steves tour groups. That way, after the trip, any of us from the tour were able to share photos with each other. In your case you would want to share your photos with your group using the WiFi at your hotel.

On our last European adventure I created a blog using Blogger. You can set privacy settings so only people you invite can see what you post. I used a program called Blogsy on my iPad that let me write and add photos offline, and then I'd post when I got somewhere with wi-fi. It's easy to use and I still like to look at it when I feel like reliving my trip!

Carol,

I'd also suggest using a Blog, as they can also accommodate photos and in some cases, videos. You can write as much or as little as you want, and the photos add a lot of appeal for readers. Some Blogs allow either private or pubic viewing, or you could just send the Blog link to specific people.

There are lots of Blogs available and many of them are free (although free versions usually have adverts). Blogs tend to be very user friendly and easy to set up. Some that you could look at.....

• Wordpress
• Travellers Point (free but I believe with ad's).
• Travelark2.0 (free, very new and not all features finished yet, but it is workable)
• Off Exploring
• Travelblog.org

I've found that it's not always possible to complete Blog entries every day due to time limitations (especially on tours when the schedule is controlled by others). I travel with a Netbook and always diarize my travel days using a Word file, so it's very easy to update the Blog when convenient.

Thank you everyone for sharing your ideas. I like the FB idea and have participated in private groups before but am hesitant to to use it for this purpose since I prefer to not have personnel photos of my family on FB. I like the blog idea. I did one several years ago but have no idea what I used. Will try to go back and find it to see. it worked but I recall it was cumbersome to use. I was hoping there were some better/easier to use alternatives available now. Thanks again and I'll go research all your ideas some more. Carol

Honestly why don't you just enjoy your trip and share photos when you're back? Seems a shame to spend all kinds of time posting pictures to family and friends instead of just bring present in the moment. If they want to see what it's like, they can go on their own trips.

With some friends and family we would send a group whatsapp text with up to 30 pics per text to about 5 or 6 friends/family. Quick and easy.. I would do this every couple days just picking some of the good pics with location.

I also set up a private Facebook photo album and included all in my family that are on the trip as well as Grandparents nephews and nieces that want to be able to keep up with our travels. Everyone in our Travel Group can upload pictures as they want. Its private so not sure what the concern might be there.

"Seems a shame to spend all kinds of time posting pictures to family and friends instead of just bring present in the moment."

I don't find that it's a huge burden to spend a few minutes at the end of the day to post a few comments and photos to a Blog. As I always diarize my trips, it's easy enough to go back later and expand the material if desired. Some of my faithful readers enjoy travelling vicariously as they don't have the time, money or ability to travel at the moment due to circumstances in their lives. I don't / won't use Facebook so a Blog is the best option.

Thanks for sharing Vick and Ken. And...well put Ken. My sentiments exactly.

I don't do it much anymore, but some trips I have more time with. I used Shutterfly - uploaded photos for back up and there is a journal component. You can set it as public or private. If private, you can;t access it without the link you provide to friends and family. As I often made photo books after trips, this allowed me to keep in touch, back up images and create a book once home.

I'm with Ken on this one. I posted to FB daily. Kept me in touch with my peeps. As a solo traveler, I liked sharing immediately and appreciated knowing my fam/friends were following along and enjoying my trip with me.

But there are no rules. Do what works for you.

You can make your Instagram account private. That is what I use when traveling.

I will add to this. After returning home and updating my private facebook album that i had created for our travel group and friends/family, i later make the album public. At that point, it is simply accessable to everyone but it saves from timeline posts.

I prefer not to inundate people with my trip posts Plus, because of my business/clients, (and relatives that dont have our same ability to travel) i prefer not to "throw it in their face" so to speak. No sense in creating animosity and jealousy.

Thanks Vick. For this trip I opted not to post any photos on FB until the night before we flew home. I didn't want to make it public that my house was sitting empty. Ironically a good friend of mine who I have not seen for 20 years was in Rome the same time as me but he was holding off posting photos too. Had we each posted a photo earlier we would have been able to connect in person far from home.

I love the blog thing - so easy to share with others and its a great way to journal my trip. I will be using Travellerspoint for my next trip - um - in FIVE days!!!!

Honestly why don't you just enjoy your trip and share photos when
you're back? Seems a shame to spend all kinds of time posting pictures
to family and friends instead of just bring present in the moment.

Astoriene, I totally agree! I'm always so surprised how much time and energy some of my friends take to do this while they are on vacation. Their posts look like they took hours to write while they are still on vacation.

I like to enjoy my vacation and spend the time detailing our trip when we get back. I usually Facebook message my mother a quick picture of day of me and my husband and a brief description of where we are so she knows we are OK and she won't worry. But other than that - she'll get the details when we get home.

I like sending and receiving postcards.

It would be better if you put all the files on Google drive and share with them

Since my two sons and hubby and I have iPhones, we set up a Photo Stream. You invite whomever you want. We take pics with our phone and at night in the hotel we post the ones we want. You can also attach comments to the pics when you post, thereby giving them info about where you are, what you see
and so on. They can post, and ask questions, and then you can repost and answer. Only people you have invited see the pics and comments. Its easy, and safe. When I get home years later and I want to remember where such and such is, I can go to the photo stream I set up to look at the comments I posted about the pic, and it's a good reminder.

Have a Great Trip!
Mimi