Why We’re Building Intrip — A Better Way to Discover (II)
Have you ever scrolled through social media and felt a chill realizing how much they know about you?
You’re being tagged in their databases.
To an algorithm, you are simply a collection of interest tags. Because you clicked a photo of a latte, the system labels you a “specialty coffee lover.” Because you hovered over a trending landmark for three seconds, you are categorized as a “mainstream follower.” These tags dictate your feed, showing you the same things over and over again — like a bird in a cage, staring at the same window all day.
This is why the thrill of discovery has vanished. When everything is predicted, fed, and pre-arranged, you aren’t an explorer on these platforms, you are just a worker, keeping building your tags to sell to more and more corporates to build their empire, not our real life.
Rethinking Discovery from the Ground Up
We don’t think discovery should work this way. It shouldn’t come from calculations or predictive models; it should come from something much simpler and much more human.
People sharing experiences they genuinely care about. Because that’s how discovery has always worked.
We trust people, not systems. We remember stories, not tags. We love being the one who knows a hidden spot, and sharing it with someone else.
That feeling — the pride, the connection, the surprise — is something no algorithm can replicate.
On intrip, you aren’t a target for advertisers. You are a contributor of experiences.
From “Pushing” to “Sharing”.
Existing platforms are designed to keep you in, which is why they flood you with dancing cats and visual impact or language. intrip is designed to get you out the door.
We are building a Living Map — a digital ecosystem that isn’t built on ad budgets or rankings, but on the collective footprints of a community.
Authentic Weight: There is no complex bidding system here. Visibility is earned through genuine visits and heartfelt recommendations, not by who pays the most.
Beyond the Filter: We encourage the promotion of actual quality and service, not just “Instagrammable” shells. We want to ensure that the craftsmen and shopkeepers who focus on their craft — the ones who aren’t marketing experts — don’t vanish from our street corners.
We built intrip to be the lifeboat.
In our first article, we spoke about the “sinking boat” of our current commercial ecosystem: where business owners are forced to be full-time content creators just to survive, and consumers are forced to wait in lines for mediocre products.
intrip is the lifeboat.
We are designing a system where sharing remains real. When you share a hidden spot, you aren’t generating ad revenue for a tech giant; you are breathing life into a local business you love and strengthening your community. We are redefining “discovery.” It shouldn’t be about the volume of traffic, but the joy of a new adventure right around the corner. Even in a place you’ve called home for ten years, yet never truly visited.
We know that challenging the ad-driven giants is an uphill battle. But we also know that if we continue to surrender to being “tagged” and “sorted,” we lose more than just the vibrant color of our streets, our lives will start to look just like our digital feeds.
In our next piece, we will dive into the specific interface and functional logic of intrip, showing you exactly how we plan to give the joy of exploration back to you.
finding maria was a highlight of our journey.
Maria Adey is an outdoor adventure blogger at mariaadey.com. She is based in the Vancouver Lower Mainland and is passionate about safe and equitable access to the outdoors. Originally from Newfoundland, Maria grew up camping around the province and hiking on the East Coast Trail. Her love of adventure encouraged her to travel and she moved to BC in 2014. Maria has a favourite hobby for every season. She loves to ski in the Winter, kayak in the Spring, backpack in the Summer, and relax by the fireplace with a good book in the Fall.
Maria believes the outdoors are for everyone and focuses on sharing her experiences so that others can safely and sustainably enjoy the outdoors. She uses her blog to share trip reports, guides to local hot spots, and practical resources for outdoor safety. Maria is a long-time volunteer with Girl Guides of Canada, working with teen girl guides to grow their skills and confidence when recreating in the backcountry. One of Maria's highlights was learning to surf with her unit in Tofino.
Maria is excited for the opportunity to pair with Intrip to foster more community within our beautiful province. After 12 years in BC, she is still astounded by the quality of experiences on offer across the province and her bucket list of activities only continues to grow. She is looking forward to connecting with other locals and discovering new places to explore.
Maria lives on the unceded traditional territory of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm, which includes shared territories with the səlilwətaɬ, Stz’uminus, Qayqayt, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Semiahmoo, Stó:lō, and Hul’qumi’num.