During early years of social media, I found it childish of people who used to update everything on Facebook. This thought kept me away from updating statuses on Facebook. Most of my posts revolve around photography, blog, a little on technology, my friends etc. Once I was travelling with a friend who is habitual of doing check-in while roaming around. During this trip, we could connect to our old friends in that region. That triggered this thought of using check-in to connect with people.
Now whenever I go out on a trip and I have time to connect with people, I ensure that I check-in and put appropriate details about my plan, stay and timings. That way, lots of people who are in that area connect back and we schedule our meetings. The above photograph shows old friend Akash Katare, who I hadn't met in years and who was generous enough to take me on drive around San Francisco. We went to Mori Point together and shared lot of things which happened in our lives in 5 years. We were meeting after 5 years in California.
The above photograph shows was shot during my recent US trip when Smriti was also travelling from India to the US during same time and our 2 common friends were also around in Bay Area. We met during the weekend for picnic around Half Moon Bay.
This cheerful group always included me in their photo-walks when I am in California and I have always loved the experience.
Since there is a purpose of doing check-in, I don't shy away from doing it. At times you would be surprised to find out that some friends are around in an unfamiliar city and you didn't even know. At times, they might be travelling to that place during the same time. Technology has solved many such problems in a beautiful way.
Can you think of any other advantage of checking-in while travelling or visiting a place? Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving your comments below.