advice for my startup
pedalpete: First of all, I love the way you posed the question. 
Mine will be 1 year old soon, and i've got some of the issues you've got too.First off, you are in a very crowded space as far as I can tell. I've got a very tiny bit of experience with PlanetEye, so I know a bit about the space that I think you are going for.... but that is the problem. 
What are you going for? what are you REALLY trying to do? What is the differentiator. There are some really good trip planning/sharing sites out there, why should I use tripntale.When I first hit your homepage I'm confronted with a big image and a sign-up, aka fail. 
Below the fold you have images that link to trips. 
I'd move those above the fold and make sure they are seen, and make them look more like links. Just a picture isn't good. Tell me where it is, maybe when the trip was, what user added it. That HAS to be above the fold.Move the 'sign-up' stuff to a sign-up page. One button says 'click here to sign-up' that way you can give people more info, etc. 
Move your searchbox up. top of the page would make sense, and the login stuff can probably go somewhere else.Playing around for a bit, i just wasn't dragged into the experience. I can look at photo's but maybe there just isn't enough content or something. Not quite sure, but I'd say you have some product/UI issues to deal with first.I don't think you'll get much major blog love until you get your usability figured out, and focus on the users first experience.On another note, TC is not a marketing plan, and I can speak from experience. As great as it is to have a positive review from TC, it doesn't make your company, but it is a great way to get feedback.