Travel withME is an open-source travel blog starter built with Gatsby and Contentful that gives editors a CMS-driven way to publish destination stories and gives visitors a map view of visited countries. The project is marked as ongoing and is maintained by enyelsequeira on GitHub. It uses Contentful as the headless content backend, so adding a post means editing content in Contentful rather than writing code. The front end is built with React, GraphQL, and styled-components, and it relies on several Gatsby plugins including Helmet, Gatsby Images, Google Fonts, and Reading Time.
What is Travel withME?
Travel withME is a Gatsby-based travel blog template that uses Contentful to store and fetch all blog content. It accepts a Contentful API key as configuration and produces a static site with a homepage, destination cards, and individual blog posts for each country. The repository is public on GitHub, currently has 6 stars, and its readme includes a feature checklist showing which parts are complete and which are planned.
Key Features
- Implemented — Homepage — A landing page that serves as the entry point to the blog, as required by user story #1.
- Implemented — Destinations — A page displaying cards or information for each country, with data pulled from Contentful.
- Implemented — Individual Blog — A dedicated blog page per country that shows the full travel story.
- Planned — Comments — Users sending and posting comments is a listed feature, but the checkbox remains unchecked in the current version.
- Planned — Language switching — A "Change Language" feature is on the roadmap but not yet implemented.
- Planned — Multi-author support — The project intends to let other authors share their experiences, but this is also unchecked.
- Map view — The user requirements describe a map where users can check whether they have been to a location, though this does not appear in the feature checklist.
- Gatsby plugin stack — Includes Contentful, Background Images, Helmet, Gatsby Images, Google Fonts, Styled Components, and Reading Time plugins.
Who is it for?
- Travel bloggers who want to publish stories through Contentful's editing interface instead of modifying code directly.
- Gatsby developers looking for a starter that demonstrates Contentful integration, GraphQL data fetching, and styled-components setup.
- Content teams that manage travel content and need a front end that pulls from a centralized CMS.
What can you do with Travel withME?
- Travel writers: Add destination content in Contentful, and it renders across the homepage, destination cards, and individual blog pages automatically.
- Travel enthusiasts: Once the comment feature is implemented, visitors will be able to leave messages and share their experiences.
- Developers: Use the starter as a base to build the planned comment system, language switcher, or multi-author workflow.
How does Travel withME work?
The setup process is documented in the readme: clone the repository, install dependencies with yarn, start the Gatsby server with gatsby develop, then add your own Contentful API key. After that, the site fetches all blog and destination data from Contentful via GraphQL.
FAQ
Is Travel withME free?
The repository is public on GitHub and the readme contains no pricing or licensing information, so it can be freely cloned and used.
What do I need to run Travel withME?
You need Node.js, the Yarn package manager, and a Contentful account to generate an API key. The setup also assumes Git is installed to clone the repository.
Can I add comments to the blog?
The comment feature is listed as an unchecked item in the Features section, so it is planned but not yet implemented in the current version.
Does Travel withME support multiple authors?
Multi-author support is listed as "Other Authors can share their experiences" and is currently unchecked, meaning it is not yet available.
Why does Travel withME need Contentful?
The template uses Contentful as its headless CMS to store and fetch all blog content. The Key Concepts section states that a functional CMS using Contentful fetches all the information, so a Contentful API key is required for the site to display posts or destinations.
