Originally published in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus - February 2004
An internet business founded by a university graduate has helped thousands of gap year students to tell their travel stories to the world.
Iain Row formed myworldjournal.com after graduating from Bradford with a degree in Media, Design and Production from the university's School of Informatics. And it's proving a hit with travellers of all ages who are logging on from destinations across the globe to create their own travel journals.
The journals can be updated with stories and pictures from anywhere in the world and automatically sends an email to friends to alert them to the update. There is even a map so that you can track the progress of the journal writer. The website has been running for a year, has been used by thousands of travellers and made its first profit in December.
Freelance web designer Mr Row, 26, said he got the idea after a friend decided to take a year out from university. "I asked him what he wanted as a leaving present but he said there was no space in his rucksack," he said. "That immediately got me thinking about a present which would take up no room and weigh nothing: a website about his trip."
Mr Row said the highly practical and up-to-date course at Bradford had been essential in helping him set up the venture.
"When I was at Bradford the whole internet boom was just beginning to take off," he said. "In a sense, it felt as though I had missed out a bit because I was still at university rather than in the workplace.
"But, in actual fact, it worked out quite well because we missed the big crash. When we came out of university a lot of the companies had gone or were in bad shape but we still had all the enthusiasm."
The venture began with the creation of a website specifically for his friend who was travelling in the Far East and Australia, but within two months he had turned his bedroom into an office. He helped build up interest in the site by giving away free trials and around two per cent of the trialists signed up for the annual £9.99 membership.
"Success has just been getting people to use it," he said. "I always thought that it was a good idea but you never know until you put it on the market.
"It was something no-one had done before but it is growing and growing - we had record visitors in January which is traditionally a quiet month."
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