Tracking My Progress

One of the fun parts of doing a trip (for me) is trying to make it somewhat entertaining for my friends that can't or don't want to be with me. Writing a blog and posting up pic's along the way is certainly one way to keep people updated but it seems that the most fun comes from watching my location in near real-time on the map.

I get asked if I feel 'restricted' or somehow inhibited because I'm "being watched" but I find the opposite is actually true. Since I have a route planned there is a certain expectation that I'll be in certain places at certain times. If I deviate from my plan then my timing is off and it's possible I'll reach places like my hotel later than expected. With the tracking I know that my wife can see that even though I may be wandering off somewhere (it happens a lot) I am still moving and therefore probably just fine - lost maybe but at least not hurt or stuck somewhere. Without the tracking she will start to worry if I don't call at 'normal' times.

The original reason I set up tracking was so I could be found if something bad happened and I needed help. Now that we all have smartphones it's as simple as downloading an app and firing it up to create a tracking map so someone can follow your progress. The only problem with the phone idea is that you have to be in a location with mobile service so the phone can send it's location to the server that hosts the map. On the trips I take it's almost a given that I'll be out of cell phone range for big chunks of time and when that happens my location won't update plus I won't be able to contact anyone tell them I need help.

If not a phone then what?

I use a device called a Spot Connect. It's a very rugged unit that looks like this...

The Spot links to my phone via a Bluetooth connection and I can control it from an app on the phone. The Spot unit has a GPS chipset that allows it to know where it is and a satellite transmitter that sends messages which are picked up by one or more of a constellation of 48 satellites and relayed to ground stations where they are forwarded to the Spot servers. Since the messages are sent directly to satellites I don't have to worry about being in range of a cell phone tower, I just have to be somewhere on Earth

The messages I can send consist of "OK" messages, "Help" messages, and "SOS" messages.

• The OK messages I set up at a website ahead of time and are non-emergency kinds of things like "I'm stopping for lunch" or "Getting gas and a snack". I would send that so someone watching, like my wife, won't panic when she sees I haven't moved for an hour. I set up groups of people who can get the message and it can be sent to either email or as text messages to phones.
• Help messages (there is only one) I also set up in advance and it tells whoever gets it that I'm physically OK but I need help (ran out of gas, broke down or whatever). It contains my location and some text about how to decode that location info. The Help message goes to a specific predefined group of people that know what to do if they get that message.
• The SOS message is sent to the GEOS Emergency Response Center and it means I need help NOW. Using this button means I'm in real trouble, probably injured, no one is here to help and I can't get help any other way. The GEOS guys will call my emergency contacts (and try to call me) to see if anyone knows what is going on. If not they coordinate the search and rescue using whatever local resources are available for where I am at the time. There are SOS buttons on both the phone and on the unit itself so I just need to get to either one. I never want to use this button!

So how exactly does that big map on the top of the page work?
A special message is the 'tracking' message and that is done by turning on the tracking feature. I turn this on first thing in the morning and leave it on all day. A tracking message is sent to the Spot servers every 10 minutes and just contains my location and the time. All of the tracking messages are saved at Spot and can be used to plot a map showing where I was and when.

Spot provides a mapping service but it only works for tracking messages received in the previous 24 hours so the track sort of moves along like a snake and it doesn't show the whole trip. To get around that limitation I use a website called Spotwalla because it keeps the tracks for as long as I want. It also lets me define a 'security zone' where it won't display the tracking information. I blot out pretty much the entire DFW area because I really don't want anyone to see where my house is when they know I'm 1,500 miles away. The map above is for this specific trip and I do that by simply telling Spotwalla the exact time to start and stop recording my tracks. Anything recorded in that interval is part of this trip. If the map says there is nothing to display it means my trip hasn't started yet.

Spotwalla supposedly updates the map every 10 minutes on it's own but I've noticed that sometimes it just doesn't work that way and a page refresh is required. If you're watching and nothing is changing then reload the page and it should catch up.