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Show HN: The Notorious BYG – Before You Go Travel Guides to 70+ Countries

1 points by sashatobago 8y ago

sashatobago 8y ago
I love to travel afar. Whether I was headed to the Great Wall, Great Pyramid or Great Barrier Reef, there were certain things I always researched beforehand: visa requirements, exchange rate, plug adapters, immunizations, safety alerts, et al. Doing so, however, entailed visiting multiple websites to find all the accurate answers I needed. A super inefficient process. So I created BYG. A collection of 'Before You Go' dossiers for over 70 countries (and counting!), where you can view all the key travel info you need to know about a country. Quickly, easily and on 1 delightful page. Saving you time , money and international headaches . BYG data is collected and updated from official government and NGO sources, using journalistic and academic research methods. I invite you to check it out, and bookmark it for your next globe-trotting adventure. Thoughts, feedback and questions are most welcome. Thanks and Bon voYaGe!
who-knows95 8y ago
hey there! i love travelling too, and if this website is going to become a one-stop then i'll definitely keep it in mind. a little bug stuff i found just through user end point use. - passport selection is white, and only highlights when moused over. (google chrome) - when i selected UK passport the max stay became blank (i know this is just a data entry thing) i like the simple and straightforward layout, but i'm wondering if you can have a google map part that shows the country? or a outline of the country and it's capitals? then i guess it depends on your vision for this is, if its just travel advice that's technical (plug style, currency) or if it's a travel guide ("best places to do in Croatia" kinda thing.) anyway, cool stuff!
- sashatobago 8y ago
  Thanks for the feedback! Re: bugs, I'm not replicating the Chrome issue on my end, but if you're amenable, DM a screenshot to me (@sashatobago) on Twitter or IG. Max stay for UK passport goes blank if it's a EU Schengen country because -- for now! -- there's no max stay when you travel to those countries. Maybe I should add a tooltip? Map - Was on the fence about including a map, wanted to see if users would request it and, if so, how they'd want to use it. Vision - This is definitely just the beginning of what I want BYG to be. So any other thoughts you have on what features / content you'd find useful on your travels, lmk. Happy Travels!
  - who-knows95 8y ago
    hey there, tweeted to you, Whoknow01344807. with the pic. ahah, well for a few more days we are good (crying inside). though some countries require you to report your presence if you are staying for non-tourist reasons. (https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/39201/length-of-stay-as-tourist-in-another-european-country-as-schengen-eu-eea-citize https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/39201/length-of-s...) well, i have two minds about the map, if its just a black map, with a outline you could include main roads, capital/cities. keep it simple like your current style. if you use google maps, you could tag cities/places to visit(?) i think the currency should be flipped, with the countries currency on top, and then the exchange rate below it (my personal preference) {i also got the same white backed issue with the exchange rate)} maybe include things about culture? food and basic language (hello, goodbye). kind regards Joshua.
    - sashatobago 8y ago
      Hi Joshua, thx for the tweet (that whiteness is a nightmare :-0, lol). Never encountered it when testing Chrome, but def a problem. I can tell you were on the New Zealand page. Do you mind if I ask... Was it on desktop or tablet? What OS are you using? And what version of Chrome? This will help me troubleshoot accordingly. Love the other suggestions. Adding to the roadmap. (Note: I had thought about adding key language phrases but many languages have multiple ways to say Hello, Thank You, etc. But I may use the power of crowd-sourcing for that. Stay tuned!
      - who-knows95 8y ago
        ahah, that's no issue. i do love the NZ page. desktop / win 10 (10.0.17134) / Chrome 71. i did think about that, i guess it just depends on what you want the website to be. adding the lang, map, culture and stuff is all extra stuff that adds value, but doesn't add to the technical information. kind regards Joshua.
        sashatobago 8y ago
        Hi Joshua, Bug FIXED! Hopefully this will prove true on your end. Thanks again for alerting me to it. I wish you happy travels in these pre-Brexit days of yours ;-) S

1 points by sashatobago 8y ago

I love to travel afar. Whether I was headed to the Great Wall, Great Pyramid or Great Barrier Reef, there were certain things I always researched beforehand: visa requirements, exchange rate, plug adapters, immunizations, safety alerts, et al. Doing so, however, entailed visiting multiple websites to find all the accurate answers I needed. A super inefficient process. So I created BYG. A collection of 'Before You Go' dossiers for over 70 countries (and counting!), where you can view all the key travel info you need to know about a country. Quickly, easily and on 1 delightful page. Saving you time , money and international headaches . BYG data is collected and updated from official government and NGO sources, using journalistic and academic research methods. I invite you to check it out, and bookmark it for your next globe-trotting adventure. Thoughts, feedback and questions are most welcome. Thanks and Bon voYaGe!

who-knows95 8y ago

hey there! i love travelling too, and if this website is going to become a one-stop then i'll definitely keep it in mind. a little bug stuff i found just through user end point use. - passport selection is white, and only highlights when moused over. (google chrome) - when i selected UK passport the max stay became blank (i know this is just a data entry thing) i like the simple and straightforward layout, but i'm wondering if you can have a google map part that shows the country? or a outline of the country and it's capitals? then i guess it depends on your vision for this is, if its just travel advice that's technical (plug style, currency) or if it's a travel guide ("best places to do in Croatia" kinda thing.) anyway, cool stuff!

sashatobago 8y ago
Thanks for the feedback! Re: bugs, I'm not replicating the Chrome issue on my end, but if you're amenable, DM a screenshot to me (@sashatobago) on Twitter or IG. Max stay for UK passport goes blank if it's a EU Schengen country because -- for now! -- there's no max stay when you travel to those countries. Maybe I should add a tooltip? Map - Was on the fence about including a map, wanted to see if users would request it and, if so, how they'd want to use it. Vision - This is definitely just the beginning of what I want BYG to be. So any other thoughts you have on what features / content you'd find useful on your travels, lmk. Happy Travels!
- who-knows95 8y ago
  hey there, tweeted to you, Whoknow01344807. with the pic. ahah, well for a few more days we are good (crying inside). though some countries require you to report your presence if you are staying for non-tourist reasons. (https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/39201/length-of-stay-as-tourist-in-another-european-country-as-schengen-eu-eea-citize https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/39201/length-of-s...) well, i have two minds about the map, if its just a black map, with a outline you could include main roads, capital/cities. keep it simple like your current style. if you use google maps, you could tag cities/places to visit(?) i think the currency should be flipped, with the countries currency on top, and then the exchange rate below it (my personal preference) {i also got the same white backed issue with the exchange rate)} maybe include things about culture? food and basic language (hello, goodbye). kind regards Joshua.
  - sashatobago 8y ago
    Hi Joshua, thx for the tweet (that whiteness is a nightmare :-0, lol). Never encountered it when testing Chrome, but def a problem. I can tell you were on the New Zealand page. Do you mind if I ask... Was it on desktop or tablet? What OS are you using? And what version of Chrome? This will help me troubleshoot accordingly. Love the other suggestions. Adding to the roadmap. (Note: I had thought about adding key language phrases but many languages have multiple ways to say Hello, Thank You, etc. But I may use the power of crowd-sourcing for that. Stay tuned!
    - who-knows95 8y ago
      ahah, that's no issue. i do love the NZ page. desktop / win 10 (10.0.17134) / Chrome 71. i did think about that, i guess it just depends on what you want the website to be. adding the lang, map, culture and stuff is all extra stuff that adds value, but doesn't add to the technical information. kind regards Joshua.
      - sashatobago 8y ago
        Hi Joshua, Bug FIXED! Hopefully this will prove true on your end. Thanks again for alerting me to it. I wish you happy travels in these pre-Brexit days of yours ;-) S