Blog

Practical notes on group travel, product thinking, and the occasional post-mortem.

Group travel · Coordination

Why Group Trip Apps Break the Moment You Hit Share

You built the whole plan. Then you shared it, and the group never actually got in. Here's how each app fails at the group step, and how to invite people so they actually join.

Group travel · Money

Splitwise Capped Daily Expenses. Here's Every Free Way Around It.

Splitwise put adding an expense behind a daily limit and ads, which breaks on exactly the trips people bought it for. Here's what changed and every free way to still split a trip.

Group travel · Money

A Friend Bailed. Who Eats the Cost?

Someone dropped out and left a non-refundable hole. Before the group argues, here's the decision tree for who actually owes what, the answer most people get wrong, and how to never run this risk again.

Group travel · Money

When a Friend Won't Pay You Back

You fronted the money. Now one person has gone quiet. Here are the exact words to get paid back, in escalating order, and the line where you stop chasing and start deciding.

Product · Craft

A DESIGN.md to teach coding agents our editorial voice

A single markdown file at the repo root, written in a format AI coding agents actually read. It lets us hand the editorial system to any agent without loading the internal spec.

Group travel · App comparison

The Best Group Trip Planning Apps in 2026

We tested the apps that claim to run group trips. Most were built for one person with sharing bolted on. Here's where each one works and where it breaks.

Group travel · Budget

Group Trip Budget Basics: Agree Before You Book

Agree on a range before anyone books. Surprises once money is moving are how group trips blow up.