Travel Advice: Use travel blogs instead of travel sites

There is a ton of information on the web and most of it is junk.  You have huge travel sites like CNN and yahoo travel that do provide great information.  There are also great travel forums like lonely planet thorntree and bootsn all.  While sites like these provide good information nothing compares to the wealth of information that travel blogs provide.

A group of us on our trip to Costa Rica

Try getting in contact with someone from Yahoo travel.  How about CNN travel?  See a customer service number or an email address?  Travel blogs are the direct experience and expertise of people that are living in the areas of the world that you want to get to (and have visited).  They are extremely experienced travelers that love to share their passion and help other travelers around the world.  Gary Arndt’s Everything Everywhere is a great example of that passion.  Whether you want more specialized information like culture travel or even blogs about specific cities and countries, they all exist.

One great thing about travel bloggers are that they are committed to their readers.  Even some bloggers that get hundreds of emails a day still make sure to reply to them all.  Every comment you leave will usually get a response as well.

Trying the local beer on one of our trips

Sometimes the big travel sites don’t give you up to date information about what’s going on the world.  Take Iguazu Falls for example, there was a flood a few months ago that destroyed part of the walkway to devil’s throat (where you can see the falls up close).  The big travel sites don’t have updates about those kinds of things.  I was able to start planning my itinerary around the world with the help of all the new travelers I met.  If that was the highlight of your entire trip imagine how you would feel if you weren’t able to see it.  With travel bloggers they know exactly what’s going on because most of them live in these locations and have visited them recently.  If they haven’t done either there is an extensive travel network on social networking sites like twitter where they can obtain the information for you.

One of the biggest reasons to use travel blogs for travel advice is because travel bloggers LOVE to meet new people (LOVE: capital letters).  They love to meet other travelers and share experiences and meet new people.  They gladly will open their door to you if you are in need.  I’m taking a weekend trip to Quebec this weekend to cross off one of my things to do in Canada thanks to a fellow travel blogger.  The trip was made in half hour, talk about spontaneous.

Whether in times of need overseas or want you advice and tips on your trip.  Always reach out to travel bloggers because they are great people and have a wealth of knowledge that you can explore.

DISCLOSURE: YOU MAY HAVE TO BUY THEM THEIR FIRST DRINK (not everything in life is free)

Have fun on your trip!

WanderingTrader