Last week a new app called OffTheGrid was launched which is targeted to give travelers a Tinder-like experience. Users will have the ability to swipe and chat with travelers who have similar interests and discover new destinations to visit. You can share photos and videos of your travels as well as post about upcoming trips.

The most notable feature on the app is its “Discover” tab, which allows users to vote by swiping left or right. Similar to a lot of the other dating apps on the market.

Founder, Ethan Serbantes founded the app after catching the travel bug. He saw a niche where travelers can make connections with other travelers and discover new experiences together.

Winter Holiday Destinations — Mikhail Nilov

Whose It For?

Millennials and Gen Zers love to consume wanderlust content on social media platforms such as Instagram for inspiration. Arrivia, a travel company that specializes in loyalty programs and rewards, surveyed 2,000 Americans to find that 60% of Gen Zers and 40% of millennials use social media for ideas on where to travel or go on vacation.

Serbantes noticed that browsing social media for destinations could be a bit time- consuming. While Instagram does showcase a lot of vacation destinations it doesn’t give enough information on the actual locations people posted about. So Serbantes who was also a solo traveler, found out that many people were nervous about traveling solo. They feared being alone in a foreign destination.

Serbantes and six other colleagues got inspired to develop OfftheGrid which “address the fragmented travel planning process and solo traveler problems,” stated Serbantes.

OfftheGrid has a swiping feature where users swipe left or right on a person’s post, whether that’s a photo of a beach, mountain or maybe a nice park. Users can like, comment and favorite a photo to look at later by using the bookmark icon.

Features

OfftheGrid swiping feature lets users swipe on pictures of beaches, mountains, or just gorgeous views. You can comment, like, or favorite these photos and even bookmark them on the app. The catch is, if a user really likes a location and wants more information about that destination, the user would need 10 in-app coins to have the information disclosed to them. For every swipe the user makes a coin is earned. Once the user has unlocked a destination, they would be able to access the photo and description of the location.

The app then has a “Trips” tab, where users can meet other travelers at their destinations. Users can post where they’re going and for how long they’ll stay as others can connect and offer advice or even schedule meetups. There’s also a limit to how many users you can message a day. And after chats with three individuals, you would need more coins to start conversations with other travelers.

The app can be found on Google Play or the App Store and is recommended for adults 18 and over.

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