The Wild Blue Wander

Traveling sometimes hinges on a single email: someone, somewhere in your network, has been compulsively (and bizarrely?) storing personalized tidbits and recommendations about a place, which they gladly email to anyone who asks. Get your hands on it, and your trip is National Geographic; miss it and your trip is National Lampoon.

New York startup Fathom serves up online guides like those magical emails, along with tools and stories, to get the aspiring airborne out of Dodge. The curatorial bent shouldn't surprise, given the site was founded by a pair of Daily Candy alums, Pavia Rosati and Jeralyn Gerba. The guides are topically varied (i.e., Burning Man Survival Guide to family reunion recommendations) and the broader content is also searchable by a passion point, for those who base trips around, say, doing "good."

And for those unable to get away, Fathom's newly launched shop will bring the holiday to you. Offerings include big-ticket items -- the iconic Adirondack Chair -- and small gifts -- like Nantucket's famed Portuguese Bread. Shoppers can browse by destination or even individual travelers (check out Lockhart Steele).

With the shop and a newly launched Kate Spade partnership, the founders are, well, immersed. And literally all-over-the-place: Rosati splits time in New York and London, Gerba's on the road with her DJ husband, and their third's in Los Angeles. "We are always on Skype, iChat and in the cloud," Gerba told us. "We're used to working in different time zones and make it a priority to connect every day."

Avoid the fate of the Griswolds, and check out Fathom for yourself here.

Now go forth (and gallivant).

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