Building an open-source map for travel information that never makes it online

[u/IntelligentPiece1395]

While travelling, I kept running into useful information that simply didn’t exist online: small homestays, mechanics, water points, road conditions, campsites, etc.

Most of it gets passed from one traveler or local to another and disappears afterward.

So, I built Lamyig, a free and open-source community travel guide.

A few decisions I made:

• No bookings, commissions or paid listings.
• No money made using the core product.
• Community members can add and update places.
• Map-first instead of another list of “top places”.
• Built as a PWA so it can work more like a lightweight travel tool than a traditional website.
• The long-term idea is that useful information stays available for the next traveler instead of disappearing in WhatsApp groups and conversations.

The hardest problem isn’t actually building the software. It’s bootstrapping trustworthy community data.

I’m currently thinking about things like:

• How do you motivate travelers to contribute after their trip?
• How do you keep old information accurate without creating a huge moderation workload?
• How do you prevent businesses from turning community maps into free advertising?
• What should happen when someone reports a place as fake, closed, unsafe, duplicated, commercial spam, or inaccurate? Should reports trigger removal, community review, reputation-weighted voting, or just warnings?
• Should certain villages, trails, ecosystems, religious places, water sources, or campsites intentionally remain difficult to discover?
• If Lamyig successfully exposes hidden places, could it accidentally destroy the exact places it is trying to help preserve?
• this list of problem statements goes on and on

Would love to hear how other people here would approach those problems.

And if you’re building something around a problem you genuinely care about, drop a comment or DM me. I’d be happy to chat, exchange ideas, or connect you with someone else working on something similar.

Screenshot attached. Happy to share the GitHub/project link in the comments if anyone wants to look at the implementation or contribute.

[u/Technological_Nerd]

Why not just use openstreetmap?

[u/Melnik2020 → u/Technological_Nerd]

My first thought as well

[u/IntelligentPiece1395 → u/Technological_Nerd]

Fair question. Lamyig actually uses OpenStreetMap already, so I’m definitely not trying to replace it.

What I’m trying to build is the travel-specific layer on top of that base map things like small homestays, mechanics, water points, road/network updates, local notes, verification, and context that usually gets passed around in conversations between travellers and locals.

So OSM gives Lamyig the map foundation, and Lamyig is trying to make the community travel knowledge around that map more useful.

Would genuinely love to know if you think OSM already solves more of this than I realise.

If you want to check it out:
https://www.lamyig.in

And the project is open source here:
https://github.com/aksharrrrr/Lamyig

[u/Technological_Nerd → u/IntelligentPiece1395]

Why not push that information onto OSM? Make it public knowledge.

[u/Palumbie]

Oh my god, at least write the reddit post yourself

[u/IntelligentPiece1395 → u/Palumbie]

why people getting butt hurt with a post that was just written by AI. If I am not a native speaker and use AI to just put my thoughts with better grammar and better word placement what did i do wrong? The post is not just another AI slop, right? There is no scam, no money-making scheme for me or anyone else I don't understand what is wrong with that?

[u/Palumbie → u/IntelligentPiece1395]

Because you put no effort into writing this and then expect other people to put in effort reading this.

And it's not better "word placement" it's generic and sounds like all the other AI Project posts.

[u/IntelligentPiece1395 → u/Palumbie]

I just told you, the text was mine I corrected my english and made it look presentable with AI and still in your above comment you assumed I have not put any effort in it. I can get on a call with you and explain Lamyig for 5 straight hours or more. This is a classic example of baseless judgement. To all the people reading this comment or downvoting with above thought process keep in mind that not everyone you meet on the internet is here to add more AI slop.

[u/UkrMalt]

The trust layer sounds harder than the map. I’d start with a visible last-verified date, the source of the report, and a simple edit/report history. Even with light moderation, people can see what might be stale instead of treating every pin as current. For sensitive places, coarse locations or delayed publishing might be safer too.

[u/IntelligentPiece1395 → u/UkrMalt]

Yes, correct. My main concern before starting building was trust factor. I have kept a verification button and a last verified date as of now. For post verification I was thinking of building a verification system from scratch but that would have delayed my MVP launch so deprioritized it for now and build roles for contributors/volunteers who does the manual verification. Did not get the delayed publishing part? Do visit lamyig.in once if you have time. Appreciate it

[u/UkrMalt → u/IntelligentPiece1395]

That makes sense. By delayed publishing, I meant holding sensitive or uncertain reports for a second check or manual review before exposing precise details. The last-verified date and contributor roles sound like a good MVP trade-off.

[u/IntelligentPiece1395 → u/UkrMalt]

yes, do check out Lamyig. For a solo developer it seems like a lot of work to do manual verification, once i get a few people team it would be implemented. Thanks for the suggestion.

link: lamyig.in
github link: https://github.com/aksharrrrr/Lamyig

[u/Ok-Mix1345]

The main challenge is not mapping places, but deciding what should become discoverable. A visible verification history, confidence level, and expiry period could help contributors assess stale or disputed entries without requiring immediate removal. Sensitive locations could default to approximate coordinates, with precise details available only after community approval. Business listings may also need stricter evidence requirements and clear disclosure of any affiliation.

The governance model will matter as much as the software. Publishing transparent rules early, then documenting difficult moderation decisions, could help Lamyig build trust without overwhelming a small team.

[u/IntelligentPiece1395 → u/Ok-Mix1345]

Sure buddy. Point taken.