The following is a sponsored post.

2007 was not an especially social year for me. Once I started down the road of learning how to build a blog for my trip, it was all over. My spare time was soon accounted for in trying to put the pieces together. And I never did figure out how to draw the lines between locations on my embedded Google Earth map. Meanwhile, Sosauce Travel, an innovative new community was being developed to address all the wishes and needs of today’s passionate traveler.

Travel communities typically offer users the ability to keep a journal, track their locations on maps, and share photos and videos. Sosauce Travel sets itself apart from the pack by tightly integrating all of these functions. Their web designers are clearly working overtime to create such an experience for users.

For example, in viewing a recreated trip by one traveler to Southeast Asia, I can start with a bird’s eye satellite view of the route through Thailand and Laos on a map, drill down to journal entries by location, and then access the associated photos in the form of a slideshow in a separate window. If the traveler writes any tips or reviews for community consumption, those too are available.

Once a trip has been documented, the user (or viewer) has several options available to share the new content with the world. Bloggers will appreciate the embed feature which includes the necessary HTML code and the ability to preview the Shockwave media. The second option is a simple web link to the trip, useful for text links and e-mails. The third option is a quick way to publish the trip link to popular social networking sites like Facebook.

The Sosauce Travel home page is dedicated to trip listings organized by sauciest (user rated based on a scale of peppers), editor’s choice, and most viewed. Reading about other people’s experiences is a great way to get get excited about a future trip, while sharing trips, tips or reviews with those who are going to the same places you have been can help ease the transition from long term travel to a more routine life at home (I hope).

On the lighter side, there is a Sosauce journal kept by the staff which includes invitations to happy hours (for those of you in New York City), and photos of a person wearing a giant chili pepper costume in various urban locations.

According to the website, Sosauce is currently in public beta.