@Nicola: Wow, the U.S. roadtrip without a guidebook? Well, guess that might cost a lot too. lol. Your way of traveling is very brave and resourceful; it’s something I’m only just learning. What you said about getting info from the V.C. & hotel is so spot on. Wish more travelers realized they had those resources at their fingertips for free. A live human person sharing direct information is so much better than a guidebook – quicker too!

@Irma: Thank you for sharing. I agree, some places can change once they’re listed. Whether it’s from the herd of tourism going or the owner realizing they can raise the prices. But that’s the first time I’ve heard of a place wanting to be removed from a listing because they didn’t want too many customers. hah ha

That said, I think guidebooks need to step up their game. I just got back from a trip and I met so many people who had the same guidebook as I did who all agreed that it was the worst guidebook. Bad maps, lack of good recommendations, lack of information on getting from one place to another on popular travel routes, tired insight. And it was published under a year ago in the “new look” of this particular guidebook company. It kind of felt like the the authors weren’t given the time to find key information on the country, plus guidebooks can’t keep up with the real time information on the internet.

On my trip found myself going online more than before to find travel information. And I’ve always enjoyed reading personal travel blogs for inspiration and insight into the culture before I leave. But one bad guidebook hasn’t put me off of them and I don’t think I’ll be making social media and apps a big part of my travel planning experience any time soon! I prefer to talk directly to people I know who’ve been to the destination who have similar interests or get recommendations from people I meet along the way.

@Hannah: Thanks for sharing that app. I’ll check it out! =-)

@Rosemary: Welcome newbie! Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment =-)

Haven’t tried Red Maps; that must be new. When I was living in NYC, I *always* carried one of those plastic-protected subway maps. It lived in my sling pack for close to 9 years! But when I moved to Korea to teach, carrying maps felt excessive, so I downloaded subway map apps which were.the.bomb! One was so good, you could choose how you wanted your route– quick or less transfers- and the detail was down to which car number to be in so you were closest to the transfer exit. It was like Hopstop.com, but way cooler.

@Katie: Good thoughts. So do you feel like most of your readers are travel bloggers vs. regular travelers? I feel I get a balance of both. Email questions I tend to get from readers are technical “How Tos” about Korea. My instructional posts have next to nil comments, but consistently high hits.

Interestingly, on this post, it’s mostly “travel blogger” responses. lol. =-) I’ve seen more travel bloggers write for (and *visit*) “personal” and experience-based travel blogging sites, rather than instructional posts. I think part of this has to do with networking, looking for an entertaining read and familiarizing ourselves with our niche.

Personally, 90% of the time, I don’t have time to waste in living vicariously b/c I’m juggling a few careers. If I “invest” my time into any personal blog, I’m looking for very technical information and experiences, which “inform” me. Whether it’s equipment reviews, how to learn SEO, how to fix my DSLR settings,…technical manual stuff like that. When I search Google, it’s literally for directions, guides, reviews and How Tos. Google’s been calling up travel blogs! The ones I get are more fact-heavy, so ‘travel bloggers’ may not care to read them, but normal travelers might because Google likes ranking referential and information-based blogs higher. As I noted, Robert/Leaving your Daily Hell & Mark/Migrationology got called up a lot (esp for my last trip, but also in the past when I’ve queried for information). Dave of The Longest Way Home has some good guides also. These types of bloggers have more instructional, but solid and informative articles.

Haven’t found a lot of these types of travel bloggers who do this consistently, so maybe we all have a way to go. But the occasional factual posts exist and while they not be outwardly a popular or entertaining read, …those, Google will rank high on searches. =-)