Wanderfly: travel inspiration

January 3, 2012 10:32 AM

Wanderfly is travel inspiration site. Enter your starting point, when you want to travel, how much you want to spend, and what you want to do, and Wanderfly spits out some suggestions from sites around the world, including things to do and places to stay.
posted by filthy light thief (47 comments total)

Tip of the cap to EmpressCallipygos.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:32 AM on January 3, 2012

Actually, the tip of the cap goes to ames, who tipped me off to it when I was looking for such a thing.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:34 AM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Interesting, but I always stay in hostels though. And skyscanner.net rocks.
posted by jeffburdges at 10:42 AM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Neat site, although I wish they would skip the adventure-y, outdoorsy results if you don't check "outdoors" and "eco" and "adventure."

I hate being outdoors.
posted by JoanArkham at 10:45 AM on January 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

It recommended "Iai, Romania". I guess the ș was outside my budget.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:54 AM on January 3, 2012

Jeff, skyscanner.net requires you to enter a destination - Wanderfly is more for the people whose thought process is, "I live in Topeka, I have a week off and I have a thousand bucks. Where can I afford to go?"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:55 AM on January 3, 2012

(and I prefer Youth Hostels too -- I think of Wanderfly as more of an idea generator site.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:56 AM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Things to do in Kyrgyzstan: [none]
Hotels in Kyrgyzstan: [none]
posted by Wolfdog at 10:58 AM on January 3, 2012

(I actually really like this site, I'm having a lot of fun exploring it.)
posted by Wolfdog at 10:58 AM on January 3, 2012

I don't get how it thinks I can get over to england, italy, or egypt for an entire week for under $500. Thanks, but no thanks.
posted by rebent at 11:07 AM on January 3, 2012

I have used this before and have not been desperately impressed by the results, it seemed to make little difference which continent you started from as to where it suggested, which generally tends to suggest to me it is not paying sufficient notice to the funding element. For example, it suggests with a budget of $1000 I could have a week in one of multiple locations on the west coast of the USA in July, leaving from SW England - I do not find this convincing. Checking again, it says I might also be able to do 14 days in the Galapagos for a $1000, in July. Intrigued, I looked at the price of the suggested flights, a very reasonable $600, unfortunately, to Rome and not the Galapagos, even though I was most definitely still on the Galapagos page.
posted by biffa at 11:10 AM on January 3, 2012

It wants me to go to Athens.

Athens, Georgia.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:10 AM on January 3, 2012

Is this the end of AskMeta's travel section?
posted by infini at 11:13 AM on January 3, 2012

It's being blocked as an Adult site. Is it NSFW?
posted by desjardins at 11:16 AM on January 3, 2012

When I put on the "romantic" filter and looked at "things to do" in any city I chose, it showed me almost exclusively shops. This is especially weird since I had it narrowed down to the lowest per person budget possible. When I took off the romantic filter I got a larger variety of activities/venues. Huh.

I wish the "Categories" of stuff to do was a drop down list. And I wish they had filters for solo or budget traveling. It seems useful for generating ideas if not actual planning, though. Hopefully, it will get better with a growing user base.
posted by swingbraid at 11:22 AM on January 3, 2012

Is it NSFW?

It's not helping my productivity.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:23 AM on January 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

rebent: I don't get how it thinks I can get over to england, italy, or egypt for an entire week for under $500.

Agreed - some of the suggestions seem to skip or underestimate the cost of getting there.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:29 AM on January 3, 2012

It recommends I go to Eiffel Tower and goes on to list Things to do in Eiffel Tower.

If it can't even get this sort of thing right, it has quite a lot of work to do before it is usable.
posted by jontyjago at 11:37 AM on January 3, 2012

Interesting that the default is $3,000 per person. I may not be the target audience for this...
posted by JoanArkham at 11:46 AM on January 3, 2012

Using the default setting, with a whole world to choose from, it suggested I vacation this February in Winnipeg.

Inspiration might not always be comfortable and obvious, but that's bordering on malicious.
posted by CaseyB at 11:48 AM on January 3, 2012 [11 favorites]

The "north american-centricism" bugged me, but if you enter a specific region rather than searching "the world" it does generate a new series of answers.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:50 AM on January 3, 2012

The pricing is a bit odd. I plugged in From: Portland, $1000, Late April, Beaches Food Single, and it suggested Tenerife. Flights start at $1500.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:52 AM on January 3, 2012

It sent me to Jersey, which is indeed a place I'd like to visit. Not really buying I can get there and stay for a week for $1200 US.
posted by maxwelton at 11:55 AM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

A week's vacation in NYC is $400?!
posted by Houstonian at 12:03 PM on January 3, 2012

yeah it doesn't seem to price the flights well. or allow for other methods of transport to and from your destination. Which when in Europe is often cheaper and easier on the train then flying.
posted by mary8nne at 12:11 PM on January 3, 2012

hmm even the flight options dont allow me to change the from Airport. Its a nice idea but poorly executed at this stage.
posted by mary8nne at 12:13 PM on January 3, 2012

It sent me to Jersey, which is indeed a place I'd like to visit. Not really buying I can get there and stay for a week for $1200 US.

You know, I read this, looked at your profile, puzzled for a bit, and then decided, you must mean Old Jersey. 'Cause otherwise this is all very confusing.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 12:15 PM on January 3, 2012

Umm, skyscanner.net does not require any particular destination, just select everywhere, or pick a whole country, or look at the map.
posted by jeffburdges at 12:33 PM on January 3, 2012

Hmmm. That doesn't seem to work for me, Jeff...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:35 PM on January 3, 2012

The lowest you can choose is $400 a person. They don't travel like I do!
posted by Miko at 1:18 PM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

mary8nne & Miko: according to an interview with co-founder Christy Liu (2nd link in OP), there are/were plans on adding car rentals and roadtrip vacations to the mix, but that interview was almost a year ago now.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:30 PM on January 3, 2012

So this site helps people with too much money and not enough entertainment figure out what to spend their money on? Fucking first world problems, eh?


Portland, OR to California, $1000/person, mid-March, 4 days, more than half the interests selected ... no results? Well shit, half my vacations from the past seven years must have never happened.
posted by LoudMusic at 1:37 PM on January 3, 2012

You know, I read this, looked at your profile, puzzled for a bit, and then decided, you must mean Old Jersey. 'Cause otherwise this is all very confusing.

I don't have enough spray tanner on hand to visit the new world Jersey.
posted by maxwelton at 2:30 PM on January 3, 2012

Fun site, but it thinks that Mexico is in Central America. Also, like others have noted, it clearly doesn't include realistic flight prices in its cost estimate.
posted by ceiba at 2:37 PM on January 3, 2012

Mexico is in Central America for vacation purposes.
posted by smackfu at 2:41 PM on January 3, 2012

I asked for "landmarks, history and art". It suggested Stonehenge, the Vatican, the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal, and Billings.

Boy, has the Montana Tourism Bureau ever been holding back on us.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 2:48 PM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Mexico is in Central America for vacation purposes."

Interesting perspective. I live in Mexico. I wanted to see places outside of Mexico, in the continent known as Central America, which doesn't include the country I live in.
posted by ceiba at 3:58 PM on January 3, 2012

Based upon my budget and preferences, they're sending me to.... New Haven.

The Postindustrial Vacation Capitol of Connecticut (or something like that)
posted by schmod at 4:05 PM on January 3, 2012

The algorithms are really out of whack. I gave a ceiling of $2000 for a week in mid-May, and, among other recommendations, it listed Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy. Price: $5843. Machu Picchu: $5190. And Modesto, Calif., was included for an outdoorsy type of trip.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:23 PM on January 3, 2012

This is pretty cool.
posted by caddis at 6:38 PM on January 3, 2012

They want me to go to Phoenix. And then, to add insult to injury, right there in what one would think would be their go go happy description of Phoenix, instead there is this: The city fully earns its reputation for oppressive heat and urban sprawl. . . Nature-loving author Edward Abbey once described it as an “oasis of ugliness in the midst of a beautiful wasteland.” I mean, hot damn! Who wouldn't want to go there with $400, art, nightlife and history on their minds?
posted by mygothlaundry at 6:53 PM on January 3, 2012

computech_apolloniajames: And Modesto, Calif., was included for an outdoorsy type of trip.

Modesto was immortalized in the 1973 George Lucas film American Graffiti. The award winning film captured the spirit of "cruising" and friendship. How isn't that outdoorsy? In all seriousness, it's kind of close to a number of outdoorsy destinations that wouldn't get mentioned on their own, if I were to stretch and try to cover for an otherwise questionable suggestion.

I'd actually be interested in how they compile information for these destinations. I still like the site as a tool to suggest locations I might not otherwise think about (and would then have to research, in terms of how to visit them on a real budget).
posted by filthy light thief at 7:38 PM on January 3, 2012

Consider me fascinated. Entering 2 weeks in October from Vancouver BC, $3k per person, adventure/food/family gave me the choice of Birmingham or the Amazon Rainforest as the top two recommendations.

Trying to find any sort of a common thread between inhospitible jungle and West Midlands life is the sort of thing I can spend hours on.
posted by N-stoff at 8:07 PM on January 3, 2012

Apparently no adventure begins in Phoenix.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 8:58 PM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Which when in Europe is often cheaper and easier on the train then flying.

I'm going from London to Amsterdam for about $110 return in a few weeks. You can't buy plane tickets there for that price, never mind the cost of getting to and from the airport which can be anything up to $30 each way on public transport.
posted by mippy at 4:15 AM on January 4, 2012

It's telling me that to get from Reading to Manchester, I should fly. THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE PLANET
posted by mippy at 4:18 AM on January 4, 2012

Way too beta to be on the blue.

I was hoping this would be good, and it's not. Doesn't have much world travel, eg for the pacific, it appears to have american samoa and hawaii. That's it.
posted by Elysum at 1:01 AM on January 8, 2012