Plan my Walk is a world-first trip-planning app. Wilderness talked with Rebekah Wilson, who helped design the app, to find out how users can best make use of it. 

Rebekah Wilson from New Zealand Mountain Safety Council (MSC) helped create the new trip planning app, Plan My Walk (PMW). She discusses some of the app’s features to help potential, and new, users understand what’s in store for them when using the app, and how to get the best out of it.

Will you be adding more tracks other than the existing Department of Conservation (DOC) tracks?

Yes! We’ve just added over 200 tracks from the greater Wellington region and more than 30 from across the Auckland Regional Parks network. These will be live in the next Plan My Walk update due out later this month. We’ll continue to add more tracks as we source the data needed.   

You’re releasing a new version with updates soon, what will that include?

Heaps of new features: there will be wishlists, a new profile and account section, the ability to customise notifications, add photos to track reviews, a review function added to huts and campsites, an entirely new plan page with the ability to add a custom trip name and include a daily schedule of the trip, a revised gear page, and a bunch of little bug fixes and improvements that make using the app easier.  

How can people going on a trip with a group best use the app? 

One of the new functions enables a more collaborative planning process. When a trip plan is created, it can be shared with contacts, provided they have set-up a user account in PMW. They will also be able to edit the trip plan.

Does the app work when out of signal?

No, it doesn’t, but one of the new features we’ve enabled is the ability to download a PDF of the trip plan so it can be saved to your device and accessed offline, such as when you’re in the hills. Try it out by finding ‘My Walks’ in the profile section. 

Can a trip be customised if the exact track isn’t shown in PMW? 

If a trip is planned with a variation to how the track is described in Plan My Walk, the app can still be used. We suggest selecting the most relevant track and in the ‘plan’ section add a custom trip name and use the new ‘Daily Schedule’ and ‘Trip Notes’ elements to describe the exact plan. 

By selecting the most geographically relevant track, Plan My Walk will still provide a forecast for the area, an interactive gear list, weather warnings or watches for the area and other alerts.   

This story is the final in a four-part series with Wilderness. Read parts one, two and three.

Download the app, Plan My Walk, from your preferred app store, or check it out online at www.planmywalk.nz. Select a track, enter your trip dates and find alerts, an interactive gear list, weather forecasts and much more. Create a trip plan, assign an emergency contact, share it and you’re ready to go!