Hi there...

I'm a student at the university of washington working on a research project this quarter on travel and how the internet has changed how we travel. As a part of the project I will be posting how travelers use the web to research their trips and learn about foreign cultures.
So if any of you are willing to help, please share on one of the following questions:

1)how do you use the internet to research the culture of a place where you wish to travel
or...
2)share an experience where researching the culture of your destination has proved to be helpful
or...
3)share an experience where it would have been helpful to have researched a little more about the culture of a certain destination of yours. (this could be problems you experienced with transportation, food, customs, religion, etc)

Include your name and age if you'd like. The info will be put on a washington.edu website and taken down promptly after the class is finished.

Thanks a bunch and happy travels!
Kristin

Hi Kristin, since the computer, for me at least, travel has become more fun and a lot easier. I am addicted to the Fodor site; here we get the benefit of other's good times and mistakes. For me, the planning is at least as much fun as the trip itself. I follow as many leads as I can on the area I plan to visit, hoping to pick up some obscure bit of information that will give me the feel of the place. I don't enjoy standing in front of some building, just recognizing that it is important. I like to know why it is important; with the internet, I have all that at my fingertips. I cut and paste and make my own travel book. Knowing the days and hours certain places are open saves a lot of precious vacation time. My only regret is that sometimes I don't find just the right shop, etc., until I get back home. But that only increases my wish to return. Friends ask why do I return to the same place more than once. It's because I want a real feel for the city and the people, not what a Swedish friend called the American vacation - "run to a place, take a picture of it, leave, and not 'see' it until you return home and are looking at photos." With the internet, I have found the experiences that draw the locals - the art market, the out of the way cemetery, craftsmen, etc. Beth, old enough to be a grandmother

Hi Kristin,

My daughter is a student at uw, so i'm happy to help out a bit.

I too (like the previous poster) am "addicted" to this website, although I check into other travel websites too--frommers, virtualtourist, ricksteves, and some others.

I've made reservations hotels and planes on the Internet and am able to do comparative shopping quickly and easily this way.

I also use several different sites to get information on my locations such as europeanvisits.com, okspain, spainalive, on so on. This, along with guidebooks (I use several) help me plan my trip. This helped so many ways, one which was getting tickets to Alhambra on the Internet as well as for the ballet in Paris.

A few things I wish I had know before our last trip was how to make train reservations on the Internet. We were travelling in Spain and France during Easter and had to change some of our hotels because we couldn't get on to trains because they were full. Also, I wish we had known about Autoeurope.com because we rented from Hertz and that was a nightmare.

Will be interested in seeing the results of your survey--will check the UW website (another real benefit of the Internet--I remember when we used to have to wait in line for hours to get our classes.)

What should we search for to find your results?

Good luck,
Paula (I'm in my 50s)

My reply is complex. I have different replies on food and transport, which I see as travel information, to those on customs and religion. So you I have two replies per question.

1)how do you use the internet to research the customs and religion of a place where you wish to travelMy chief transport is by rail, and for this the net is poor compared to the Thomas Cook European Timetable. I do go into the net for the longer journeys, by air, to see what low-cost, no-frills, flights take me to and from the continent, and for the short journeys, by bus, in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I would use other sites for bus if I knew of them. I do use the Turkish Rail web site, as I do not have the relevant Thomas Cook timetable, their Overseas: please see http://www.thomascooktimetables.com/Like others, I use the net for a first search for pensions and two star hotels, then follow up by fax or e-mailI do not use the internet to research the culture of a place where you wish to travel.

I hear about culture in lectures (please see http://www.indiana.edu/~victoria/lectures.html), and to some extent in newspapers, for example please see http://travel.independent.co.uk/europe/eastern/. and notes from The Independent. I read these notes on paper, not on net.Social climbing in the Tatras 25 May 2001Poland's Tatra mountains are an alpine wonderland for walkers, cyclists and wildlife-watchers.Is this the start of the Cool war? 29 September 2002 Poland's Baltic coast is aiming for Ibiza status, but Vijai Maheshwari says it hasn't yet lost its charmWhere the Hell am I? 30 September 2000 Where exactly is Hell ? The best the atlas could offer was a little fishing port in Poland.

or...2)share an experience where researching the culture of your destination has proved to be helpfulI share travel and food experience by noting questions frequently asked on Fodors forum for Europe and the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree branches for East and West Europe. You will find examples if you use the Fodors forum search software at the top of this page, enter the words Ben Haines, and search.I share my own experience of customs and religion of London when I see enquiries about these on any of the three fora.

or...3)share an experience where it would have been helpful to have researched a little more about the culture of a certain destination of yours. (this could be problems you experienced with transportation, food, customs, religion, etc)I suppose I might bother to read more about food on the net before I go. But in fact I learn of new food by looking round tables in restaurants and ordering a dish that looks (and sometimes smells) good, and by finding new things in menus. The fora seldom carry any news on transport that would save me from bother. For example, a month ago the night train from Split to Zagreb carried no sleeping car: nobody on the fora mentioned this, and the Croatian Rail site is in Croatian. Again, the web sites on cycle hire in Paris and on museums in Belgrade fail to say that many are closd from Christmas to New yearName Ben Haines.

Age 67. Not copyright.

My I comment on Artlover's reply ? The question of how to book train seats or sleepers from the States comes up repeatedly, and I advise people in this perhaps thrice a week. Nothing in Google takes enquirers to the relevant web sites, Euraide in the states and German Rail in Britain. Indeed, a web search is positively misleading, as it tends to take enquirers to RailEurope, who take a hefty handling fee, and do not know the trains well.

[email protected]

I've traveled extensively before using the web, and since.

As useful as the web is for researching and planning trips, and learning a very limited bit of other cultures, I would never rely upon it exclusively. While you could, rather successfully, there is much available through other resources not available on the web.

I, personally, subscribe to the theory that you cannot read too many tour guides (each with something different to offer) and other printed material relevant to your destination (traveler's journals, history books, historical novels, books written by local folks over the centuries), all of which significantly enhance one's experiences.

I would say that the internet has somewhat enhanced my planning (saves a zillion phone calls and dealing with less than favorable parties on the other end) and booking, though, there is still much within well organized tour guides that one would overlook on the internet, or not be aware of, on the internet. On the other hand, folks tend to skip over the "safety" section, for example, in the tour guide, but perk up and take notice when "watch out for pickpockets" is mentioned on a travel board such as this one.

Hi Krisitin,

I agree with all that has been said above, and probably all that will follow.

Before the internet, one had to rely on advice from limited sources - travel agent, friends, a few guide books. Today, you can get advice from hundreds of people on very specific questions, eg, what should I wear to visit the church in xxxx?

Advice on restaurants and food is much better.

Suggestions for visiting lesser-known places are more readily available.

You can prepare your own guide book.
I have used fodors.com (along with other forums) to prepare a 57 page set of notes for my upcoming trip to Italy by following up suggestions here and searching the net for further information.

Good luck with your project.

Kristin
I'll take Door Number 2.Wisely, I chose to do some research for a trip to Fiji.I knew what the "land" would look like--tropical,beaches,etcetc.But during my research on the inernet prior to embarking on the journey,I learned that men DO wear skirts on a regular basis.Therefore I wasnt shocked when I actually did see this immediatley upon arrival.I learned that in Fijean lore/legend,the fair haired (blond,red)men are considered godlike.I have reddish blond hair and I got a lot of attention.I suspected that I would be included in a Kava Ceremony,usually extended upon arrival at some point in time.When given a bowl of kava,receive it with both hands saying ThankYOu.Then be SURE, its down the hatch.Had I NOT know these things,I assure you I would have been red faced in front of my hosts.
Best of luck to you
Stephen
Age 25

Hi -

I am a 44 year old married female with a family who uses the internet daily for travel. 6 years ago I left my life as a corporate professional to pursue travel/food writing full time. I live in Europe and California and travel to Asia and Australia every six months. I could not do this without the internet. I find hotels in Singapore and small towns in France. I find tourist information, maps and everything I need to know to find my destination. I can figure out just where the best place to be is from the Internet. In July I will be in Brasil, booked through the Internet. In August I will be in Western Australia, and Cape Tribulation Queensland, booked through the internet, researched through the internet and all searches for cheap airfare (there are 5 of us) is through the internet.
I practice languages ( I speak Spanish, Portuguese, Catala' and some French, Italian, Mandarin and German) through the internet. When all is said and done, I contact editors and send in Articles through the internet. I love the internet. Sights such as Fodors, Rough Guide, Fromers, Traveladvisor, or Lonely Planet are where I go when I am getting really tired of being stuck in some little town with my computer for too long and feel I need to connect with my American side. (I also have an australian passport.) My kids don't complain when they are stuck in foreign places anymore, because they can IM friends or email just like they were sitting at home. Last March I looked over my son who was im'ing two friends at the same time from Spain. One in California and one In Australia. They asked him what he had been doing lately and he replied, "not much". Of course it was the middle of the night and he had just returned from watching a provencal bullfight in Arles, but on the internet he is not a world traveler just a teenager. Don't you just love the internet?

Just topping for Kristen in case the class is not over.