Your browser appears unable to display this SVG image. To view it, you have the following options:

Use one of the following SVG-capable browsers (recommended):

  1. Opera (best SVG support)
  2. Mozilla Firefox
  3. Other Gecko browsers such as Netscape Navigator, Mozilla SeaMonkey or Flock
  4. Safari

Also see other good reasons to switch to an alternate web browser

If you are not permitted to install an alternate browser, you could try to install the Adobe SVG Viewer (plug-in for Internet Explorer)

If that fails, you can always view the original, but not up-to-date Flash version.

Alternatively, use the non-graphical HTML version to access the same information.

About the road trip site

This site displays the road trips made by Katrina and Alexis, as well as the pictures taken in each visited state.

Why SVG?

As of July 2007, the primary interface has been created using SVG, rather than Flash which had been used since 2003. The reasons for this change were as follows:

  • Flash is proprietary, SVG is an open standard
  • Flash requires expensive software to create, SVG does not
  • Being text-based, SVG is easier to modify/update
  • Being XML, SVG data can be used for other purposes
  • Many modern browsers offer native SVG support, so there are no plug-in issues
  • SVG is more accessible than Flash when using non-traditional Web access devices

Additionally, my own personal reasons were:

  • My Flash project file was rather messy and inefficiently written
  • I'd been experimenting with SVG, and enjoyed its advantages
  • I'd become much more experienced in writing javascript, which is used for SVG interaction
  • I wanted to be able to update the site more easily

Of course, there are some disadvantages, too:

  • SVG requires a plug-in to work in Internet Explorer
  • The Flash plug-in is more commonly pre-installed than the SVG plug-in
  • SVG support by viewers and browsers is often incomplete

The pros outweighed the cons in my opinion, and thus the change was made.

How to use the site

Hopefully this is mostly self-explanatory. Hover over a visited state to see how many pictures taken there are available, as well as to see Alexis' sign picture. Clicking on a state with pictures will bring you to a page displaying them. From there, use the "next" and "previous" links to navigate through the pictures.

Hover over the trip list text (upper-right corner) to highlight specific trips and find out more about them. Click on the checkboxes to show or hide the routes.

The size comparison options from the Flash version are still in the works.

If not all functions are working, use the "HTML" link the view a text-based version of page.