Social Media Sweetens San Francisco

In case you were wondering why I haven’t been blogging this week, it’s because I was on vacation in San Francisco with my brother.

Jet-setting to San Francisco made me wonder: how did I ever get around before the Internet? My brother and I were so dependent on our free wireless connection and BlackBerries that I couldn’t imagine traveling without them, at least not as efficiently.

If you are planning a trip, and you use social media, I highly recommend that you casually mention your plans on Twitter and/or Facebook. My mom gets mad at me for doing this because she thinks that, if people know I am traveling, they will try to rob my house while I’m gone.

While I understand her point (see: “PleaseRobMe: Plea to Reevaluate Tweets“), I think the potential benefits of sharing your (vague) plans outweigh the potential risks. Obviously, you don’t have to tell everyone where you’re staying, but definitely mention that you are visiting a city within a certain time frame.

You will be pleasantly surprised. Your friends might see that you are traveling and recommend that you visit a certain place. Long-lost friends that you didn’t even know moved to that city might get in touch with you. Maybe your Twitter friends will suggest a real-life meeting or “tweet up”.

My Internet adventure started when I booked my hotel on Travelocity. We booked the hotel at the last minute, but Travelocity, used in conjunction with Google Maps, was very helpful. Our hotel, the Radisson in Fisherman’s Wharf, was one of the first results in a San Francisco search. Seeing the favorable reviews, I typed the location into Google Maps and searched for even more reviews – nearly every review mentioned the hotel’s excellent location and clean rooms. Perfect.

Without a second thought, I reserved the room.

Shortly after deciding that my brother and I were going to visit San Francisco, I started tweeting about my plans, and @onlyinsf replied to me:

@ryssiebee @aswirst Let me know if you have any specific interests. I’d love to pass along recommendations. http://budurl.com/5g3r

I told the person manning the @onlyinsf account when I would be traveling and that we were interested in arts and music. They replied:

@ryssiebee You’re coming right at the end of the Noise Pop Festival: http://budurl.com/dnwn Let me dig around for a few more ideas too.

And again:

@ryssiebee @aswirst Also check out some sights and restaurants in the Haight-Ashbury district: http://budurl.com/qtum

How cool! I wanted to check out both the Noise Pop Festival and the Haight-Ashbury district. I found out that The Magnetic Fields were playing on March 1st, the first night we would be in San Francisco and the last night of the Noise Pop Festival. However, the show was sold out. I tried looking for tickets on Craigslist and tweeted about my efforts.

One of my regular Twitter friends, someone who I have never met in person, told me that he might be able to get tickets. I was so excited! I said I was interested, and my friends said that yes, he could definitely get tickets for me. I called him, gave him my credit card information (don’t do this unless you trust your source), and he e-mailed me a receipt. When we arrived at the show at the Herbst Theater, our tickets were available at will call.

Using Google Maps on the night of the show, we found out that city bus #47 stopped right outside our hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf and directly outside of the theater. Google Maps told us exactly how long it would take and which bus number we would need to catch. I love using public transportation in strange cities, and this method made it so easy and convenient to get to the concert for only $4 (round trip).

Throughout our stay in San Francisco, Google Maps also let us know when public transportation wasn’t always the best option. To visit the Golden Gate Bridge from our hotel, we would have to make a bus transfer and walk pretty far. For a four-mile trip, the ride would take about an hours. Instead, we opted to take a double-decker bus tour that took us over the bridge and through some famous neighborhoods (we even saw the Painted Ladies from the opening credits of Full House).

I BBMed and text-messaged a picture I took of the Full House house to a lot of friends. My friends Christine had been wanting me to visit the famous house so I felt so happy that I could instantly BBM her the picture.

That night, in Union Square, we had no idea where to eat. We stumbled upon a Mac store and used a MacBook to browse the San Francisco Menupages. Using reviews posted online and keeping Google Maps open in a new browser tab, we found a restaurant just a few blocks away called Millennium, which we would have never found were it not for the Internet access in the Mac store.

Facebook was great for sharing photos and video with my mom, who just recently joined Facebook. She also admitted she was “stalking” my Twitter account to see what my brother and I were doing (I left out the parts when we went to the strip club…just kidding!). With the free wireless connection and my Facebook account, I was able to post pictures to share with my friends, and my mom, who was dying to know how much fun we were having.

The Internet and social media absolutely enhanced our trip. Have you used social media in innovative ways while traveling? Share in the comments!

Tagged as: social media, social networking, travel