A big thank you to all trip report writers!
 

I've lurked lots here, posted some, but a few weeks ago posted my first trip report. I now have a new appreciation for all the people who take the time and make the effort to write a trip report. Looking up restaurants, prices, spelling! remembering details, all is so time consuming, much less wondering if anyone will find it entertaining or at least useful.

So now a couple of questions, do you read trip reports? If you do, do you like quick overviews or lots of detail? What motivates you to write a report?

I myself read trip reports to places I want to go, places I've been, any family travel, and if I'm planning a trip, I'll pull up years old threads. I love food and room details, as well as shopping and transportation tips. I love knowing how people actually spend their day. The only problem is that the list of places I want to go keeps growing due to these wonderful trip reports!

I like to read a trip report that is sort of in the middle on details/length. I appreciate an excruciatingly detailed trip report, but don't usually have the time or patience to read one.

I write trip reports to help me remember and crystallize my experiences. And also to pay back my fellow Fodorites who have been so helpful to me.

I read the shorter reports to enjoy and get the feel of a place.
I read the long, detailed reports to help with planning.

I like to read trip reports too but again excruciating detail is where they lose me. i dont need to know all the minute details. What is important are exceptionally good restaurants or hotels and exceptionally bad restaurants and hotels. Also memorable sites, methods of transportation and tips to make things smoother for the next person.

I love Reports with recommendations of certain places but every reporter has their own style so anything goes. It would be unfair to ask certain style Report to be posted, we will get bored so quick. Thanks to all travelers who are not lazy to report.

I read trip reports and write them...probably too long for many of you. But that's fine. I write them for the other folks planning similar trips, especially people planning trips with kids or teens.

One thing that helps me write them is that I keep a map of the city at my desk (and possibly a small guide book). That gives me correct street names, etc.

I really appreciate it when people list specific good restaurants, along with the street address.

Yes, I read them and write them (also guilty of on-the-long-side).

I read them for various reasons. Sometimes I'm planning a trip and am looking for particular information. Sometimes I'm daydreaming about a trip to blank and I need a little inspiration. Somtimes I just want to read about some of my favorite places and see them through the eyes of others. And sometimes I'm stressed at work and need a mini-vacation. ;)

I appreciate all different types of reports. And LOVE photos, hint hint everyone.

I find something new in "almost" every trip report that I read because everyone has a different perspective.

As far as writing style, well I appreciate all of them, just as I appreciate different published authors.

I really tried to post a trip report once then gave up after a few paragraphs because I was getting into personal (not private) musings from my journal. I critiqued myself and decided on my own that no one would be interested.

I wonder how many other people have had similar feelings...

I read them and write them. I probably put too much detail in mine but also get comments on how someone appreciated knowing that 2 people can have a great lunch in Rome for 15 euro total.

We started taking notes on our trips years ago to help us remember the experience.

I think the first actual trip report I wrote was for our 2000 Europe trip that we took with friends who had never been before. I thought it might help them remember the places we had been in more detail.

I find hotel information extremely helpful, especially if the price paid is included and details on sights I want to visit such as Burg Eltz, etc.

From my own experience, it does require a certain discipline to maintain your notes while traveling but I love going back and reading about all the little details that I usually forget.

I read trip reports, mostly about places I've gone and those I will soon go to - oh, and the occasional one that catches my eye!

I wrote my first trip report after our London 2006 trip. It was kind of the blow-by-blow approach. My second report, summer 2006 (various places in the UK) was in outline style, which I preferred writing and I think was easier for people to use. It was still kind of long, but at least organized. My most recent was a day by day report of our March 2007 trip to Berlin. There aren't many detailed reports for that city. I'm now working on two more!

I usually sit in my recliner with my laptop, maps, guidebooks and my journal/notes spread all around me when I write.

After having written reports myself, I nearly always comment on a trip report I've read (if it's current). It's kind of weird posting something into cyberspace and not knowing if anyone is reading, so I realized how nice it is to get comments! Plus, if a report is continuing, posting a comment puts it in "my" column so I can easily check for updates.

Even if nobody reads, I would still write a report because not only am I "paying back" for all the good advice I've used, I'm "paying forward" for those who later might plan a similar trip. Plus it gives me an account for myself!

I do read trip reports and have learned a great deal from people who have taken the time to write up their trips. I like the ones that make me long for a place I haven't been; the ones that trigger a memory; the ones that make me smile ...

I admire those who make a wonderful effort, even in their second language (LuckyLuc wrote about Paris a couple of years ago in a way that made me yearn to go back). I like writers who tell us how they felt (Murphy's reports on her travels through France and Greece were wonderfully introspective), and those who overcome challenges (remember Mebe's fabulous report about travelling in Italy with a toddler?)

I do write trip reports. Most are written while I am travelling, and then touched up when I get home. I would hesitate to share them with many people I know, largely because they are not travellers. But here on Fodor's, I know that there are people with similar interests, so it's a pleasure to share.

Anselm

I read trip reports to live vicariously through those reports. I also use them for info if I am planning a trip to the same place.
I find them entertaining, and also helpful.
surfingmomma

Trip reports are good for the soul, I think. Writing one lets you/makes you relive what you've done and seen and experienced, and that makes the memories last longer. Reading a GOOD trip report is a true pleasure - as Anselm Adorne says," I ... read trip reports and have learned a great deal from people who have taken the time to write up their trips. I like the ones that make me long for a place I haven't been; the ones that trigger a memory; the ones that make me smile ..."

I love long trip reports - and excuse me if I scan and skip after a while - I'm just looking for the particular turn of a phrase, really longing for a memory I haven't had yet. Short trip reports - where someone went, where someone ate, what someone ate, what someone saw - in a pure reportorial fashion - unfortunately leaves me cold. I long for creativity, for making the connection between something out there that I haven't seen yet that I really need to see. Good trip reports do that for me. One of these days I hope to return the favor.

KC

I write lengthy trip reports, because they make me take good notes during my travel. In turn, that makes me pay more attention while traveling, which is highly beneficial and satisfying.

I read all the trip reports on Hong Kong. I grew up there, I go there often, and I give a number of advises over on the Asia board. I read the reports to see how those trips turn out - what new stuff people find that's worth mentioning and what problems that encounter so I can warn others in the future.

I like to read trip reports of all types, long, short, personal, impersonal. I like them because they tell me something about the author and something about the place and something about the way the author and the place interacted.

It would never have occurred to me to write one if I hadn't read so many interesting ones here, so I started by writing a couple of relatively concise ones and evolved into writing War and Peace. I like it when people enjoy reading them, but I write them for myself, to crystallize the experience and to allow myself to relive it over and over. Time to go back and read one now.

Couldn't have expressed it better, Nikki. I'll read 'em all.

And I'm guilty of not sharing in kind...but as soon as I find some time, I plan on getting my trip report posted!

i_am_kane, I look for reports with personal musings much more than the "I then took the #11 bus to xyz which took 13 minutes" but of course, that type is helpful too.

If there's nothing personal in a trip report we might as well just read a travel guide. So a little of both is my personal favorite.

If I ever write one, I'm sure all would be bored to tears but heck, it'll keep me off the streets!

If you love trip reports then you can find a gold mine at www.slowtrav.com

I really like all types of trip reports - I love lots of detail and a personal tone. I generally like it when there is some grouped summary information (like - "here are all the restaurant's we went to and how much it cost" or "the things the kids liked the best") but honestly, I like all styles of trip reports. I am trying to make more of an effort to post something (anything) when I read one, so they know they have an audience!

I too enjoy the trip reports. For many of the reasons already mentioned - traveling vicariously, revisiting some place I have been, or learning about some place new to visit. I am guilty of not writing one yet but I do go back to posts of my pre-trip questions and add a note if it is applicable. So, thank you to all of you who educate me here!

I like trip reports with a good depth of detail, but only if that detail is useful or helps to evoke a mood or communicate a sense of place.

Detail for detail's sake is sometimes tiresome. Not that I'm complaining... the information we get here is all free of charge, and represents an incredible cross-section of experiences and points of view! But sometimes too much is, well, too much.

As I am fond of saying, the key to good writing is to have something interesting to say.

P.S. Expressing adequate "thanks" to all the wonderful contributors here is nearly impossible...so the best way to show your appreciation is to 'pay it forward' by contributing your own thoughts (as you have now done!).

I used to write epic trip reports, that were literally hours of work. Then when life got in the way and I also realized I wasn't read the epic length ones much anymore, but I still wanted to contribute. So I put together a shorter version, with the accomodation, transportation, restaurant details and what I considered "Good" and "Not So Good" experiences. These end up somewhat shorter, but not so that they're not useful. It works out better for me time-wise, but I also get to give back to a discussion forum that has given me so much invaluable information and deskchair travel.

I agree about wondering whether anyone was reading my trip report and appreciated any comments that were made. Now I also make an effort to acknowledge the trip reports that I read. I love reading about the interpersonal relationships that happen within the traveling group. Being together constantly for a matter of a week or two can bring out interesting sides of people!

I haven't yet posted a trip report on-line (I'm just new to this!) but I've written my own travel journals ever since I was a kid. I keep a tiny little memo pad with me at all times (handy when the vendor you're negotiating with doesn't understand English) and jot down details that I need to remember later (addresses, names of restaurants, prices, new friends). Later, when it's convenient, I transcribe it all into a not-too-long narrative - the process is made so much easier when the details (and a map, as another poster suggested) are right at my fingertips.

I read pretty much every trip report for Italy (particulary Tuscany and Rome area) and for Paris (since I am planning a trip there hopefully for early 2008).

I like reading all sorts, though lean more towards the "day to day" living/visiting rather than "This is what we saw and what we did". I like to hear about people's impressions and feelings which are generated from viewing and experiencing the sites, smells and sounds for the first time. I appreciate the reviews on hotels/apartments and small reviews of resturants (name, price, etc.), but am not a foodie so generally skip over the detailed food reports.

I generally write "day by day" trip reports. While away I write a long e-mail home at the end of the day detailing what we did, where we went, what we ate and general impressions and feelings experienced. This is to basically help my family and friends feel like they are right beside me. When I get home then I just transfer and finetune the reports for here.

I am sure they aren't as helpful for people looking for "we went here, we ate here, this cost this much" reports but I hope people enjoy regardless.

I have thought about regigging and reposting my reports to be more "helpful" to people....but the effort to look through the guides and maps...maybe one day. ;)

I generally comment on people's trip reports - particulary those that transport me to the city/location. Some writers here are marvelous and hearing from the "newbies" and their experiences is just wonderful as well.

I love to read people's trip reports. I tend to like a lot of detail so that if something interests me, it's very easy to follow up on.