It began when my sister decided to live out of a converted panel van and travel across the United States. At the time, we were living in Ohio. As she made her way through places like Arizona, Nevada, and California, I found myself constantly worried about what would happen if she stopped responding to texts or went missing altogether. If that happened, the entire United States would become my search area. I explored the apps and technologies that already existed but they all had the same flaw: they tracked devices, not people. None of them offered proof of life. Most were also deeply invasive, monitoring every movement without context or meaning.

As an experienced programmer, I knew I could build something better—something that actually mattered. I didn’t want to track a phone. I wanted to know my sister was okay. The system had to provide certainty. It had to prove not just where she was, but when—and that she was well at that exact moment. So I built it carefully, layer by layer. I used the same encryption trusted by online transactions to securely identify the device. I added biometrics to ensure the device was undeniably tied to the person holding it. And I relied on the phone’s GPS to capture precise location and time. When she pressed the button on Caminha.me, all of those elements came together in a single moment. That one action told a complete story: she was there, in that place, at that time—and she was okay.

If something ever went wrong, I wouldn’t be searching blindly. I would know where to start. I would know when she last checked in. I would know she was safe at that moment. That certainty—that quiet reassurance—is why I built Caminha.me. What surprised me most was what happened when we began using it every day. Before this, after she left Ohio and I moved to Oklahoma, we spoke only occasionally. But once we started using Caminha.me, something changed. Even though we were physically far apart, I became aware of her daily life. Following her travels through the app brought us closer together.

Our relationship shifted from out of sight, out of mind to in sight, in mind. When she checks in, I know what she’s up to. I feel connected to her life in a way I hadn’t before.

Caminha.me didn’t just give me peace of mind—it brought us closer.