What this is, in a minute

It is a trip planner for the big lap

People driving around Australia use it to work out where they are stopping, what the drive costs and how long their money lasts. It runs in a phone browser and as an Android app, with no account and no sign in for travellers.

The map shows caravan parks, free camps, fuel, drinking water, dump points and the things worth stopping for, with what the road is actually like between them, reported by the people who just drove it.

Your place is probably already on it

The pins come from public map data, so most caravan parks and workshops are on the map already, with nothing but a name. This is Gemtree Caravan Park, on the Plenty Highway, exactly as a traveller sees it today.

Claiming it is what turns a name into your place: your photo, your phone number, your website and a line in your own words, so somebody deciding where to pull up tonight reads what you would tell them.

What it costs, honestly

Claiming your business is free. It puts your own details on the map: your phone number, your website and a few words about the place. The Pin plan is $20 a month and Search is $40, with free months first for businesses who start early. Pin gives you a picture pin that stands out to travellers passing through or planning the trip, and your own showcase on your listing: a banner, your deals and specials, and a button straight to your bookings. The price is the same whether you are a family run park or a national chain, and it stays locked for as long as you stay.

The businesses who come in early are the ones making the map worth opening before there is much of an audience, so we want to keep those claimed listings visible and free for as long as we can. Nothing will ever start charging automatically. If paid advertising arrives, joining it is your choice.

Who is behind it

Ryan Johnsen, in Queensland. The Lap Map is built by FTG Systems, an Australian business. There is no investor to answer to and no booking commission, because nothing is booked through it. If you want a person, email admin@thelapmap.com.au and you get me.