Bloggers will hate me for posting this, but I’m known for my honesty, maybe for being rather pedantic at times. Reading too many travel blogs can give you entirely the wrong impression!
I’ve always been a Lonely Planet girl, I didn’t know travel blogs even existed ’till I started blogging myself, less than 12 months ago. A whole new world opened up to me, information at my fingertips, first hand experiences, parents’ eye views. Fantastic! I’ve loved reading them and made some superb new friends in the blogging world.
I’ve actually ditched my Lonely Planet habit recently and started to rely on the travel bloggosphere instead.
But, I’m starting to notice that I’m not always getting suitable information.
A couple of times now I’ve looked at blogs to research destinations, 10 things to do in whatever place with kids, sort of posts. There are some great ideas and suggestions, but I’ve realised I can’t always trust this type of post.
You don’t know the blogger’s budget. They may be loaded, we’re not. They may think nothing of blowing a few hundred dollars on a day out. You also don’t know what this blogger considers nearby. Do they mean 5 minutes walk or 3 hours in a taxi? Different people like different things, I love temples and culture and history, some people like the big purpose built tourist draws. Unless that blogger spells out the costs and practicalities of getting to a spot, you don’t know if it’s going to be do-able for your family.
Our ideal budget is $41/day, we know that’s very low. Another blogger may consider $100/day or even $200 to be a tight budget, you just don’t know. Some people are happy to stay in a hovel, others would consider a 4 star hotel slumming it, I know one blogger who only sleeps and travels for free.
A couple of times now I’ve seen cool things to do on travel blogs, arrived at my destination without doing enough solid research for myself and found that the attraction was just too difficult and expensive to get to or admission costs were through the roof.
My bad, I know.
I’m just saying, before you decide to go to Timbuktu, because a blogger says they had a great time there, do your research. See if it fits your needs and budgets. Don’t make my mistake, it’s no big deal, we’re having a great time. But we have had a few disappointments along the way.
Blogs are great, fantastic reads, but I’m going back to buying the guide books and reading them alongside the blogs to check the facts.
