How to share travel status with watchers
A short update, a private link, and people who know you are fine. It is the lightest part of the service and often the reason people sign up.
What a watcher is
A watcher is someone you invite to see your latest status. They get a private link, and they see the last note you posted: a short update, and an approximate location if you ticked that box.
They do not see your letters. Watchers and letter recipients are two separate lists, and joining one does not add you to the other. If someone should be on both, you add them twice.
Why it is separate from letters
The two things serve different moods, so mixing them would be a mistake.
- Letters are written once, for a serious moment, and read once. They are long, deliberate, and private until released.
- Status is short, frequent, and read during normal life. It says you are fine, not what you would want said at a funeral.
If the two were the same list, you would end up either sending status updates to everyone you wrote a letter for, or writing letters for everyone who wants to know you landed safely. Both are wrong.
Setting it up
- Open the watchers page and add someone by email.
- They get a private link. No account is needed on their side.
- Post a status from the ping page. Keep it short, the way you would write a message rather than an update.
- They get a notification when you post, if they allow it.
- Remove a watcher whenever you like. Their link stops working.
What to put in a status
Short beats thorough. The point is reassurance, not a travelogue.
| Good | Less useful |
|---|---|
| "Reached the trailhead at Namche, all fine, back in signal Thursday." | A day-by-day itinerary nobody asked for |
| "Quiet week, nothing to report." | Nothing at all, leaving people guessing |
| "Back on grid after two days offline." | Assuming they knew you were offline |
A one-line update posted occasionally does more than a detailed report posted never.
Location, and whether to share it
Location is optional and approximate. It is off unless you tick it.
Two things to think about before turning it on.
- Approximate is deliberate. It gives a general area, not a precise position. Enough to say someone is near a town, not enough to place them in a building.
- You choose each time. Location is a per-post decision, not an account setting. You can share it on a trek and leave it off in a city.
Think about who is on the list before you post anything sensitive. A watcher is someone you trust with knowing roughly where you are, which is not the same as trusting them with your letters.
What watchers do not get
Worth stating clearly, because it is a common assumption.
- No access to your letters, ever, unless you also add them as a recipient.
- No access to your vault files.
- No ability to check in on your behalf, and no ability to change your schedule.
- No notification about your check-in status. They see status posts you choose to publish, not your timer.
If you stop checking in
Watchers and letters do different things here, which is worth understanding before you rely on either.
Watchers see the last status you posted. They do not automatically get told that you missed a check-in, because that is a serious thing to tell someone and it belongs with the letters rather than a status feed.
Letter recipients are the people who get contacted when the check-in window closes and the grace period ends. If you want a person in both roles, add them to both lists.
Last updated: 2026-10-19