If you read this blog, you probably know me as the person behind TrekMail. What I haven't talked about here is the other project I've been building for three years. It's called TrekGuider, a marketplace where independent creators sell their travel guides, maps and itineraries straight to travelers. It went live on October 6, 2026.
This post is the story of how it got built, and a full tour of what's inside.
One small detail connects the two projects. TrekGuider's email runs on TrekMail. Every receipt and account email the marketplace sends goes through the same service this blog is about.
The story behind it
It started with a trip. On a long journey through Kyrgyzstan, I kept writing my own little guides just to get around. The information I needed was scattered, out of date, or buried under generic "top 10" lists. My notes were more useful than anything I could find online.
Then came the first version. I turned those notes into an online store with more than twenty guides. I built the site, set up payments, and ran straight into the wall every small publisher hits: getting people to find you. Ads were expensive. Outreach was slow.
Then it flipped. I realized I had it backwards. I didn't need to build an audience for my guides. The people who really know a place already have one. Local guides, hikers who've walked every trail in a region, food writers, travel bloggers with years of footage. What they were missing was a good place to turn that knowledge into something they could sell. So TrekGuider stopped being my store and became their marketplace.
Then I took it on the road. I spent two of those three years traveling through 16 countries. My office was a rented apartment in Montenegro, a bungalow in Thailand, a high-rise in Kuala Lumpur. It wasn't a vacation with a laptop. It was a daily routine of designing, building and testing, while living the exact problems TrekGuider solves. When you're the traveler standing in a new city with fifteen browser tabs open, you know what a good guide is worth.
And I built it on my own. There was never a team of people behind it. TrekGuider is built by one person, and so is TrekMail. My team is AI. I design the product, make the calls and check every detail. AI agents write and test the code and help run the day-to-day work behind both platforms.
That's how one founder ships two full platforms. One is a marketplace with creator storefronts, payments and payouts. The other is an email service with its own web inbox, cloud storage and white label. It also shaped the product itself, because TrekGuider is built so that AI agents can work in it too. More on that below.
After three years of that work, TrekGuider opened for real on October 6, 2026.
What TrekGuider is
In one sentence: TrekGuider is where travel creators get paid for what they know, and travelers buy practical guides from people who've actually been there.
What you'll find there:
- Travel products from real creators: city and country guides, itineraries, maps, audio tours, courses, checklists and more.
- Insights and travel news: long-form articles on planning real trips, plus the latest travel updates.
- A creators directory with about 1,500 travel creators, and it keeps growing.
- A community on Discord for travelers and creators.
- AI agents welcome: creators can run their store through an AI assistant, and buyers can send one to shop.
Built for AI agents, on both sides
This is the part I'm most excited about. TrekGuider doesn't just tolerate AI assistants. It's built for them.
For creators: run your whole store by chatting. Connect ChatGPT, Claude or any other AI agent to your creator account, and it can manage everything you can manage yourself:
- add new products and edit the ones you have
- set prices, subscription discounts and refund terms
- create and run promo codes
- write Insights articles and schedule when they go live
- update your creator page
- read reviews and reply to them, and keep up with comments
- handle refund requests
- check your sales, donations and analytics for any period
- keep an eye on your earnings, notifications and support requests
You decide exactly what the agent is allowed to do, and you can change that or switch it off at any time. For anything that moves money, like a withdrawal, the agent prepares it and you confirm it yourself in your browser.
In practice, "add my new Lisbon guide at $14, write a short Insight about it for Friday, and reply to yesterday's reviews" becomes one message instead of an afternoon in the dashboard.
For buyers: send your agent shopping. An AI agent can sign up on its own, browse the catalog and buy guides for you. You set the rules. You choose what it can do and how much it can spend, and you can take that access back whenever you like.
For travelers
Finding what you need. Search by place, type of trip or creator. Filter by rating, price, category or location, or just browse what's on sale. Save anything you like to your favorites for later.
Knowing what you're buying.
- Every product page shows preview images, exactly which files you'll get, and who made it.
- Reviews come only from people who actually bought the product, so you're reading real opinions.
Buying is easy.
- Pay once, or subscribe to guides the creator keeps updating.
- Some products are free.
- Checkout takes a minute, Apple Pay and Google Pay work, and you don't even need an account to buy.
Gifts. Buy any guide as a gift. Add the person's email and a short note, and they get a private link to claim it. It's a nice present for a friend who's about to travel.
After you buy. Your purchases are waiting in your library right away, ready to download. If you subscribed, new versions show up in the same place.
Refunds. Each creator sets their own refund window, up to 90 days, and you see it on the product page before you buy. If a creator doesn't answer a refund request within 30 days, it's approved automatically.
Supporting creators you like. Follow them to keep up with what they publish, or leave a tip, once or every month.
Insights and travel news
TrekGuider isn't just a store.
- Insights are long articles on planning real trips: family vacations, road trips, choosing a resort, budget travel, photography spots and much more.
- Travel News covers new openings, routes and changes that affect your plans.
The idea is simple. Read the article, then get the guide, map or checklist that helps you actually take the trip. Creators can publish Insights too, which brings readers straight to their products.
The creators directory
The creators directory has about 1,500 travel creators, and new ones are added all the time. You can:
- search and filter by audience size, category, language, country and platform;
- sort by name, followers or number of products.
Each creator has their own page with their story, their channels, their audience and everything they sell. Many pages were put together from creators' public channels, and each of those says clearly that it isn't run by the creator until they claim it.
If you're a creator and you find your own page, click "Claim this page" and it becomes yours to edit and sell from.
For creators: how selling works
Who can sell. Any travel creator aged 18 or older. Everyone who passes verification can sell, whatever the size of their audience. Creators from all over the world are welcome.
How it works.
- Sign up and get verified. It's a short check, done once.
- Upload your products. Add a title, a description, preview images and a price. Or ask your AI agent to do it.
- Sell and get paid. Your earnings collect in your balance, and you withdraw them to your bank.
That's it. Your personal details stay private. Buyers only see the name and profile you choose to show.
What you can sell. Anything digital that helps someone travel. You can offer:
- one-time products;
- subscriptions for guides you keep updating;
- free products to grow your audience.
File storage is unlimited.
Tools that help you sell more.
- Your own creator page. It works like a personal website. Put the link in your bio and send fans straight to your store.
- Subscriptions and tips. Earn every month from guides you keep up to date, and let fans support you directly.
- Gifts. Your products can be bought as gifts, which brings in buyers who aren't traveling themselves.
- Promo codes. Run your own discounts, free for every seller.
- Articles. Write Insights to bring readers to your products.
- Sales dashboard. See your sales, products, articles, tips and earnings in one place, for any time period.
- Followers. People can follow you and see what you publish next.
You keep ownership. Everything you create stays yours. TrekGuider sells it for you. It doesn't take it from you.
What it costs to sell
Listing your products is free. TrekGuider only earns when you make a sale, and the commission gets smaller as you grow:
| Your total sales | Commission |
|---|---|
| Getting started | 10% |
| After $1,000 | 8% |
| After $5,000 | 5% |
| Top sellers | Under 4%, by agreement |
Once you reach a level, your rate never goes back up. New sellers also get the 5% rate for their first 30 days, so you start at the best price.
To put that in real numbers: on a $20 guide at the 5% level, TrekGuider's commission is $1.
The referral program
Everyone with an account gets a referral link, and there are two ways to earn with it.
Invite buyers.
- Your friend gets 15% off their first purchase, up to $50.
- You get your own 15% promo code for your next order.
- Every ten referrals earn you a free bonus product.
Invite creators.
- You earn 25% of what TrekGuider makes from their sales in their first month.
- After that, you earn 12.5% for the rest of their first year.
The more people you bring, the more you earn.
Community
TrekGuider has a Discord community for travelers and creators. Connect your account and you get a role that shows whether you're a buyer or a creator. It's a good place to ask a creator a question before a trip, or to swap notes with other creators.
Questions people ask
Do I need a big following to sell?
No. Anyone who passes verification can sell. A good guide finds buyers through search, the catalog and Insights, not only through your followers.
What does it cost to start?
Nothing. There are no monthly fees and no listing fees. You only pay a commission when you make a sale.
Can my AI assistant run my store?
Yes. Connect ChatGPT, Claude or another AI agent, choose what it's allowed to do, and manage products, articles, prices, reviews, refunds and analytics by just asking.
Do I keep the rights to my work?
Yes. Everything you upload stays yours.
Can I sell from outside the US?
Yes. TrekGuider welcomes creators from all over the world.
How do I get paid?
Your earnings go to your TrekGuider balance, and you withdraw them to your bank.
I found a page about me. What do I do?
Click "Claim this page." Once it's yours, you can edit it and start selling from it.
Can I buy a guide as a gift?
Yes. Add your friend's email and a note at checkout, and they'll get a private link.
Who should take a look
If you travel, for work or for fun, TrekGuider beats fifteen open browser tabs. Find someone who knows the place, buy their guide or map, and plan from something a real person tested.
If you know a place better than anyone, whether you're a guide, a blogger, a photographer or an expat, TrekGuider is the shortest way from what you know to getting paid for it. And your AI assistant can handle the busywork. When sponsors start writing, a professional email address on your own domain makes a better first impression.
If you run an agency or a web studio with tourism clients, like guesthouses, tour operators or outdoor guides, TrekGuider gives their know-how one more place to earn. And the referral program pays you for bringing them in. If you look after their email too, our guide to business email for small businesses is a good place to start.
If you're already a TrekMail customer, you know how I work: fair prices, one price instead of per-person fees, and you own what's yours. TrekGuider is the same idea, applied to travel.
Take a look at trekguider.com. Creators can start at the sellers page, and if you'd like to earn from introductions, see the referral program.
Questions about either project? Write to me. I read everything.
Alexey Bulygin
Founder of TrekMail and TrekGuider
