phphotography

Part of the appeal of Iceland is how scarcely populated and desolate it is. This hugely impacted our decision to travel and explore this country. We ended up driving 3300 km across the whole country and as breathtaking and mysterious our trip was, I have come across some behavior and actions that left me disappointed and resentful.

I would like to share with you my take on tourism issues in Iceland


http://befreeandtravel.com/how-not-t...ve-in-iceland/

raincitygirl

Thanks for sharing phphotography, it looks beautiful.

I don't know what to say about the behaviour you witnessed except that people suck. Maybe not all people, but a lot of people suck. I have seen the same where I grew up (Vancouver Island) and on my travels too.

thursdaysd

If you have something interesting to say to people who post on Fodors, then say it, instead of trying to drive traffic to your own site.

Bokhara2

Thanks OP, great photos & yes, it is very disappointing when people behave grossly in others' homes.

Makes you wonder how they live at home, doesn't it?

Perhaps the Icelanders should consider a levy & constrain the tourist numbers, as Bhutan does.

IMDonehere

Like 99% of blogs, it is poorly written and filled with cliches and small observations.

phphotography

thanks for the kind words.

Ackislander

As a matter of practice, I never click through to other blogs from Fodor's.

I may miss some good photography, but I avoid adware, viruses, ransomware, and the like.

RM67

I'm with you on this OP. I don't know why it's not enough for people just to go and look - why they have to climb all over monuments or relics, why they can't be arsed to pick up their own litter etc. I don't get 'activities' like driving those huge 4x4s up and down dunes in the desert or along beaches belching out diesel fumes. But there you go. Your photos are great btw.

crellston

"Like 99% of blogs, it is poorly written and filled with cliches and small observations." Much like this Europe forum then.

rfbk50

Rude posters are just as bad a rude travelers. Is that really necessary?

IMDonehere

99% of these of travel blogs are delusional moments of self-aggrandizement. The bad ones should be discouraged and the good ones praised. One of the maladies of the Internet is that people put their writing and photos on-line and think someone else put it there and that it is either profound or worthwhile. It is just another case of the dumbing down of America and the acceptance of nonsense as either information or entertainment.


If people want to have blogs, then should make an effort to write something of interest and include photos they should not post shots that have not been seen 100'000's of times before and think they are original.


If asking people to have reasonable standards is rude, than I am rude.

phphotography

sometimes truth hurts. What's rude about pointing out the obvious?

The idea is to prevent this type of behavior.

rfbk50

So don't read their blogs! If you have advice that can help them improve their writing skills to your standards, then pm them. This is a site for first time travelers, amatures and some experts. We are here to help each other. So what if someone thinks their blogs are good and pictures are great. No one is born an expert. What's rude is publicly pointing out what you think is wrong. Honestly, some people are so full of themselves I don't understand why they don't explode.

annhig

Personally we didn't find any tourists who behaved like that on our trip to Iceland about 7 years ago, but I wholly accept that you did, and deplore that sort of behaviour.

As for the criticisms of your writing and photos, I'd ignore it - no-one here is expected to be David Bailey or Jan Morris, and I thought you did a pretty good job of getting your point across - thanks!

IMDonehere

Well RFBK50, maybe you have a trick as to know the quality or content of a blog before it is opened. If so please let us all know.

OK, here are some hints:

Write without cliches or preconceived notions. Work on your craft.

Read professional travel writers, not just guides.

Become familiar with travel photography and avoid those shots. Again work on your craft and become literate in the genre you have chosen.

Professional writers and photographers must work with editors and others who amend, criticize, and alter their work, I am not sure why amateurs should be exempt from it.

annhig

Professional writers and photographers must work with editors and others who amend, criticize, and alter their work, I am not sure why amateurs should be exempt from it.>>

because that's what they [and we] are - amateurs.

RM67

Trip reports and blogs can take a huge amount of time to write, as can the upload and organisation of photos. Most people on here probably don't write in any sort of professional capacity and even if they do, I doubt that they have as much time to devote to their Fodors posts as their day job. So as far as I'm concerned they don't have to be Tolstoy. Its about piquing interest and envoking an atmosphere. You have to be mean spirited and pompous in the extreme to make your sole contribution to a TR a crushing remark about someone's writing style or ability.

bvlenci

I also don't click through to blogs, and probably it has something to do with the prolixity and underwhelming quality of most of them. But mostly it's because of the ads and the jillions of photos most of them have.

I prefer a good trip report right here in the forums.

AlessandraZoe

I usually don't click on the blogs, but I did on this one, and I'm happy I did. Good job, phphotography--we got to see your point without wading through a lot of verbal flotsam.

AZ

annhig

But mostly it's because of the ads and the jillions of photos most of them have.>>

no ads in this one, bvl and only a few photos with some interesting comments.