starrsville

I was wondering about a particular's poster April trip and checked to see if she ever reported in after the trip. Does it ever disappoint you to spend time responding to posts and then have no idea how the trip turned out? Weeks of questions/ answers/ thoughts/ suggestions...then silence.

Scarlett

Hi, starrsville, how are you?

I feel bad sometimes when a poster never even comes back and thanks all the people who tried to help.
But then we have the great ones that make up for it, like SharonG and suehoff and all the others who pay us back wonderfully with great and funny and informative trip reports .. so I guess it balances out..

aggiemom

Yeah, I get a little disappointed, but always figure someone has a good reason why. But then, I'm not nearly as well travelled as so many of the regulars and therefore probably have not contributed much. I'm just kind of curious as to how things turned out, in general. But I do enjoy it when someone writes a great trip report - especially about some place where previously I had no interest- and I find myself fascinated.

starrsville

I don't remember any of SharonG's questions before her trip - but her trip report was the most entertaining thing I've ever read on this forum!

I'll never be able to be on a trip I've planned again without wondering if I'm falling into Trip Nazi territory!

Scarlett

LOL, when your travel companion starts to talk about the Stockholm Syndrome, is a clue that you may have crossed over into the Trip Nazi zone

abram

it doesn't matter to me one way or another if people post a trip report.

Marilyn

I don't care so much about a trip report per se, but when there's been a lot of advice about a controversial question, or when there's been an unusual situation, I really am grateful if the poster comes back and tells us what happened. And of course, preferably on the SAME thread so we don't miss it!

LoveItaly

Hi starrsville, happy Memorial Day Weekend to you!

I have noticed occassionally that a few people ask questions and get a lot of good answers and then there is the "dead silence zone". What I don't like even more then not seeing a trip report is not even seeing a thank you to those that took the time and made the effort to give helpful advice.

Then there are others (I had one today) that post a thank you because I suggested he search on Google as I did not know the answer to his question. Suddenly there was the most beautiful post back thanking me for that suggestion and fortunatly he found the answer on Google. That was very nice and I was not only pleased he had gotten the answer he was seeking but I so appreciated his thank you post. A true gentleman.

I sure appreciate and truly enjoy the trip reports. I am not the best at that so sometimes I am overwhelmed with all the details that travellers provide. And some posters just keep me in stiches, I like a lot of you can hardly wait for the next section of their report. That IMO is a true talent.

And yes, I have occassionally been dissapointed that after responding to questions etc. there is no follow up.
But the considerate posters more then make up for the others.

One thing I do get "bugged" about is the new poster that will ask a question and then ten minutes later either post the same question again or add a post to their original thread with a comment like "well, is ANYONE going to answer my question?". Good grief, do they think we get paid for this, LOL. As in are their 100 of us just sitting at our computers just waiting to answer the next question within 2 minutes of their posting it. That really really annoys me. And then I do not answer them, even when I have an answer.

china_cat

there was a poster a couple years ago who spent a lot of time planning a trip to Europe. Seemed like a nice guy, had lots of questions, and it was a very big deal, once in a lifetime kind of trip. I was disappointed when he didn't come back and post anything afterwards.

Mostly, I agree with Marilyn. Particularly when there's been lots of advice, I like to know how it turned out.

JJBhoy

Good question starrsville & yes, I do feel a bit disappointed when people don't post back.

I guess, however, that those of us who enjoy the constant comings & goings on this site have to realise that some people simply drop in for advice & then having found what they need, go away again, hopefully as satisfied customers.

Needless to say I'm glad to say that I don't fall into that category

Jim

bettyk

And then, there are those of us who do post a trip report that seems to go totally unnoticed, so why bother?

suze

Honestly I really don't care about post-trip reports. But my similar pet peeve is when someone starts a thread, gets lots of great answers, and then doesn't check back on the board (or doesn't post toward the end so that we know he/she got all the information).

peeky

You want to know why some people don't write trip reports? It is because some of the regulars get caught up in rating them and announcing this is the best report I've read in YEARS,etc. In years? Then why bother?

Some of you treat reports like part of a contest and other travelers don't want to compete.

Beatchick

I'm sorry, Peeky. I know I've been guilty of just that. But I don't have a great deal of time to read reports and when I see one that piques my curiosity it always seems like the best to me. However, I do plan to read more trip reports on Paris between now & the time I go to Paris so I'll try to remedy that and will focus on nice things I note in each. Be prepared for me to top a lot of trip reports!

suntravler

I'm getting ready to report on my trip. But I like to edit and re-edit and check all the spelling and grammar first.

suehoff

I found this question intriguing as well because from my perspective (as a relative newbie),a lot of the regular posters are so knowledgeable and then there are some rather "volatile" posters who can be quite acidic so I think it can be very intimidating. In addition one wonders if you really have anything to contribute except wanting to say thank you for all the great information.
However I am still fascinated by trip reports because often they reveal so much more about the traveler rather than the place they visited.

suehoff

Note that my self enforced attempt to stay away is not working...I was just thinking though that many of you reggies would probably be shocked at how often your names come up during a trip. We met up with friends in France last week and my friend is the pusher who hooked me on Fodors. Anyway we'd be sitting on the terrace drinking wine and saying things like-well Stu said Eze was really worth visiting or Elaine told me about this restaurant in Florence and then saying geez I am glad NYCFS can't see my outfit. So in spirit you are omnipresent.
Of course we had to totally fill our DHs in on the personalities which had us laughing and talking for quite some time!

ahotpoet

I had an incredible trip to Italy, some magical happenings and made some new friends that I will have for a very long time. I will be posting a trip report soon but have reservations about alot being lost in the translation.
I do want to state here and now that I am grateful to those who answered my questions, quelled my fears and inspired me with their own trip reports. When I was in Sorrento I actually found myself missing you guys so had to post from there to say so. Fodorites are special and unique and for the most part, people of good will. I love that!

Marlie

I've always done trip reports, even before I found Fodor's. I've done them for myself. It's nice to have as you soon forget little things that happened. It's nice to look at years later and remember.


I think I have read every Ireland report before leaving on our vaction. It really helped us plan our trip. There are people that don't want to take the time and it does take a lot of time, but it would be nice to write a litle something just to let people know you appreciated some special advice they gave you.

I agree with Sueoff that a few posters can come back with some rather rude replys, this could keep some people from writing again.

Robbyn

Statia

suehoff, I can relate because I do the same thing on trips. I will say to DH, "Well, Ira said that this is a really great restaurant, or Bob said that the best way to avoid the line is to go in on this side." Thank goodness DH knows most of the people on this board, too, and that's just from me referring to them in our planning.

With regards to the OP's question, I do wonder about trip reports from posters that had questions that piqued my interest to begin with, or those who posted many times before their trip. However, I don't wonder about a report from every single poster who is registered.

I can also relate to the anxiety of posting a report when some seem to get very many responses and then others get hardly any repsonse at all. I think it's nice to at least acknowledge the fact that someone has gone to the time and effort to post a report.

I also agree that when a thread has had many responses I wonder if the OP has ever come back to read them after all our time and effort in responding. I think they usually do, but don't necessarily post again on the thread.