Capture and share trips with a travel blog

— -- The annual rite of summer — the family vacation — hasn't changed much over the years, but the way we record and share our journeys sure has.

It used to be that families would drag out the projector and put on slide shows after their film came back from the lab. Even if Mom and Dad were good photographers, however, photos only told half the story of a trip.

Some families would go to the trouble of keeping a trip journal, too, but those often got left behind in hotel rooms or ruined during sudden downpours.

Today, free travel blogging websites give families a one-stop multimedia and social networking platform to share the best parts of their adventures with family and friends. Whether you're going around the world in 80 days or spending a week at the lake, these sites and their related apps are worthy travel companions.

TravelPod. This site not only gives you a travel blog, but a full-blown travel website. Post your itinerary and check in once you've reached your destination. TravelPod offers tracking features to help you brag about how many miles you've traveled or places you've visited.

In addition to hosting your travel information on the Web, the site will also turn all of your blogs and photos into a book — for a fee. This can become an impressive coffee-table book to commemorate your amazing trip.

TravelPod even has a donation feature, which is ideal for college students traveling on a shoestring. You'll never have to worry about your travel fund drying up when you're off in a foreign land. Simply set up your site to accept donations, or use TravelPod's iOS app, and you're good to go!

Everlater. Investment banking dropouts and best friends Nate Abbott and Natty Zola were inspired to startup Everlater (an anagram of e-Traveler) a few years ago while on a round-the-world trip.

With an Everlater account, families can upload journal entries, photos and videos. Participants can create maps that show where you've been, and can even track where you are now.

The online platform works smoothly with popular networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. With the free Everlater iOS app, you can create entries offline and sync later when you're able to make a network or Wi-Fi connection.

This site will also turn your electronic travel journal into a premium hard-cover book — once again, for a fee.

Off Exploring.|-| Off Exploring is another great travel site with an app that works on both iOS and Android. This site also offers a blog-to-book option.

Off Exploring gives you a free message board where people can post comments on your trip. Your loved ones can comment from their Facebook accounts, and you can cross post your blogs to your social networking profiles with ease.

In addition to posting your itinerary, you can map it out and attach a detailed Google map to your page. Your family will have an easy way to follow along with your journey!

GetJealous. This site allows you to attach detailed maps to your blog, too. You can tag posts with locations, so they'll appear whenever users view your map. It will even tell visitors what the weather is like in your current location.