In January 2018, I had a one week business trip in LA with a lot of downtime. My job entailed visiting the top vape shops in California, taking pictures of the shops for a blog, as well as learning about any unique products they offered. It was my first time in LA and I wanted to see some live shows, check out some modern art museums and do a little club hopping. So I searched TripAdvisor, yelp and a few other review sites. I was obviously disappointed because we both know that most of those reviews are rigged by individuals on a mission for profits. If only I knew people in LA, a “cousin” maybe, that could give me advice on the best vape shops, info on relevant live concerts and some information on modern art museums or some events that were taking place around that time. Well, with the cool cousin platform, I can now find someone who shares my interests, in the location that I’m visiting, to give me relevant and trustworthy recommendations. The name given to these modern day trip advisors is “cousins”. How cool is that?

My trip to LA would have been much more enjoyable if I used cool cousin

What is Cool Cousin

Cool cousin is a revolutionary trip advisory platform soon to be powered by blockchain technology and will utilize a token called CUZ to reward locals for sharing their knowledge of their location as well as rewarding travelers for adding to the said knowledge and making sure there aren’t any discrepancies. It's a really unique idea and a very good use case for blockchain technology and crypto currencies. Cool Cousin was launched in 2016 and is VC-backed. It is used by 500,000 travelers worldwide and the numbers are growing daily. Users of the platform enjoy the experience and word of mouth is a major drive of growth. A variety of heavy weight media outlets have also given Cool Cousin the thumbs up, with names such as The New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today, National Geographic and TechCrunch applauding the venture.

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Cool Cousin already has a working product, the plan is to integrate blockchain to incentivize and scale.

The good thing about cool cousin is that they already have an existing product that actually looks really great and works smoothly. Thier plan is to integrate blockchain technology into this award winning app so they can scale and incentivize in order to revolutionize.

Take a look at the App in action. ( This is an older version, they frequently update.)

Cool Cousin iOS App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cool-cousin/id1071088231?
Coming soon to Android.
NOTE: At the moment, not all locations are available but will be rolled gradually. My advice, get the app and sign up to be a cousin in your area, get in early. If you like to travel, get familiar with the platform and be the cool kid who knows how to travel new era style. And once the blockchain technology is implemented in Q 3 2018, you will be well on your way to rewards.

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How Cool Cousin will change the travel industry

• There will be no need for travel advisory companies as locals will be incentivized to be the new era trip advisors.
• The system will be built on trust unlike the travel advisory review sites of today, as it is in the cousins’ best interest to give good recommendations and for travelers to give feedback on the cousins recommendations ( that interest being rewards in CUZ token and reputation). Blockchain technology will help to foster this system of trust.
• Planning for travel will no longer be seen as this cumbersome search for relevant attractions but as an enjoyable social experience.

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How Travelers benefit from Cool Cousin

• Travelers will be able to get tailored recommendations from like minded people simply by typing in their interests and the system will go to work matching them with the right cousins. This will make travel more meaningful and enjoyable.
• Less time will be spent by travelers trying to find things to do as they will be able to contact a like mined cousin directly and get straight to the point. They can ask numerous cousins who are versed on various topics and will be able to recommend the ideal locations and activities. They can further use other services cousins may offer such as itinerary planning.
• Bookings for restaurants, hotels, Uber, tickets etc will be built into the system making it a one stop shop for travelers. From tailored advice to bookings, all on one platform.
• Travelers can earn rewards by adding value to existing data on the platform. For example, giving a cousin a better picture of a location.

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How locals benefit from Cool Cousin

• Locals will be able to gain from their knowledge of their location and it will encourage them to gain even more knowledge. On the platform they are able to create their own personalized maps of the city with 25-50 locations that highlight their lifestyle and personality, making it easy for the system to match them up with like minded travelers.
• Locals could actually be "Cousins" as a full time job as travel is a major industry and the Cool Cousin platform gives them the freedom to be mobile, which is the dream of most.
• Small businesses that locals may know and admire will get a chance to flourish, boosting the economy in the area.
• Small businesses also get a chance to advertise on the Cool Cousin platform which makes marketing efforts more effective as it is localized. ( This feature can be turned off by travelers but is a good option to have don't you think?) The good thing is that cousins get to vote which businesses make it to the platform. ( Note: It was decided by the Cool Cousin community that large corporations cannot be featured on the platform.)

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I'm definitely gonna sign up to be a cousin and give recommendations in my area. This is something I'd do for free. The thought that I can earn rewards in crypto just makes it a tad bit more exciting. I can't wait to become a "cousin" and recommend places here in the Japanese countryside where I'm currently based ( Gunma Prefecture). There is so much to do here, especially for the naturalist. But figuring everything out is time consuming. With someone like me in the know, I can put that knowledge to use on a platform that brings travelers and locals that are like mined, together for a revolutionary experience that will change the way we travel.

The Cool Cousin ICO is now live and is 90% sold, I encourage you to do your own research and see if this project resonates with you. Links are provided at the end of this post to make the research process easier.

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To sum it all up, please take a look at this well put together video. Kudos to their marketing team.

Here is the CEO of Cool Cousin ITAY NAGLER, giving his pitch at the Crypto Economy World Tour. Here you can better understand the vision of this revolutionary idea.

For more information on Cool Cousin please see below.
Cool Cousin ICO website
Cool Cousin web App
Cool Cousin White paper
Cool Cousin Telegram
Cool Cousin Reddit
Cool Cousin BitcoinTalk
Cool Cousin Twitter
Cool Cousin Facebook
Cool Cousin Linkedin
Cool Cousin Medium
Cool Cousin Instagram
Cool Cousin Youtube

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For @originalworks
Cool Cousin
by @dmilliz
cc2018