We’ve an army of digital wizards who have lovingly crafted us a beautiful blogging and tracking system.

Now, we know what you’re thinking – why the buggery would I use that instead of Facebook (or whichever social media platform is your drug of choice)? Well, our tracking system is THE ONLY place on planet earth where friends, family and sponsors are able to see updates from you and your fellow teams in real time – as well as seeing exactly where you are on the tracking map – all in one place.

If you haven’t used it yet, check it out by logging in on your phone, tablet or any other device you’re planning on taking at blogging.theadventurists.com. The best bit is you can also add your location, either by moving the little pindrop around or by entering it manually in the box. This will then put a little dot on the map for all and sundry to know where you are.

You can also just babble incoherence, we don’t really mind. You can share this link with your fans at home so they can see what you’re up to.

Here’s an instructional diagram of the extremely bloody obvious:

Due to it still being a fairly new system, it does have some quirks, but the best thing to do is start messing around with it now on your device so that you’re familiar with it by the time you get to the launch. Precisely because it is a new system, we’d love to hear your feedback so we can keep improving it.

You can easily add photos directly from your device. If you want to add a video it has to be a URL and not a direct upload. You can post URLs from YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Bam.

If you can’t log in for any reason then there are other ways you can update – either by sending an email an SMS. More on this below.

What 3 What?

We have teamed up with the clever chaps over at What3Words to help with getting your location on the map, even if you can’t connect to blogging.theadventurists.com.

In a nutshell, they’ve gridded the entire planet by 3×3 metre squares, and each square has a unique three-word code. Meaning by adding your code to your email or SMS the folks at home will know exactly where you are.

Please note, you can only use What3Words if you are updating by email or SMS, it won’t work via blogging.theadventurists.com.

Updates in which you use What3Words will geolocate automatically on our tracking map so the world will know where you are.

To use it, download the what3words app and when you locate yourself you’ll be given a URL with the 3-word code in it that relates to your actual location. All you need to do is add this URL to your email or SMS message.

Sending Updates by Email

Use the email account you signed up to The Adventurists with. If you send from a different email address, we won’t know who you are or what team you’re on.

If you’re sending updates with your location by email, make sure the what3words URL is the first line of your email message and there is NOTHING else on that line at all. Then write your update as per normal a line or two down.

It’s also worth noting that the content from the entire email will be sent as an update – so if you have an email signature be sure to delete it before you hit send. You can attach an image and it will show in your update, though sadly videos cannot be uploaded. Send your email to: [email protected].

Sending Updates by SMS

If you have no data at all or you’re using a 1983 Nokia, you can send an SMS and still let people know what mischief you’re up to. Format it like this (imagining that your W3W code is goodnight.swanky.chino):Send your text to +44 798 438 4000 Remember, you can’t use the text function unless you’ve registered your phone number.

Do this by heading over to My Adventures > Tracking Settings > SMS Tracking and follow the instructions there.

If you don’t choose to use W3W then you can enter your location manually, but you need to be as specific as you can with your location – if you just put “India” the map will plonk you in the middle. You can also use lat/long coordinates. This is what the text should look like – again, pay attention to the spaces:

Prague, Czech Republic : 100 metres in and broken down already…

Send your text update to +44 798 438 4000

Have a tracking device?

Marvellous news. If you have either a Spot Tracker or Delorme Tracker and register it with us then your progress will automatically go live on the map. All you need to do it head to My Adventures > Tracking Settings and click on the relevant tracker and add your details.

Simple.

Just One More Thing

A point to note, you might see that some people have just dots on the map, and some people have a nice neat line. WHY?

• If you have a SPOT or Delorme tracker then your dots will be connected on the map.

• If you’re updating via SMS, email or the web app, then your dots will feature as a series of unconnected dots, so the more often you update, the clearer your ‘ahem’ racing line.

Have a play around, and if you still have any questions then please get in touch with us at [email protected]

Toodle pip.