I would think that one would be even more interested in reading guidebooks and checking the internet for a firsttime trip abroad. As another poster said, how can one miss or not care to read the different sections here at Fodors? They're even broken down by categories.

Oh la and la, mon cher cirq... I did not mean un-announced. I meant a family AVEC reservation. We are not a cute little pair of love birds. We are a big family. Get it?

Glad to hear that, MalMarena! I think the upstairs room at Bofinger is always a good place for a sizeable group. It's also very festive, the cuisine is perfect for holiday meals (hearty Alsatian and other rib-sticking dishes), and the waiters unfailingly gracious.

I didn't think of that Rex. That would explain some of it.
However, there's still the glaring orange tool bar an inch above this post.

I know people are afraid that if they make too narrow a request, that they'll "miss something". But that's generally not a problem here.
If people understand what you're looking for, they'll generally tell you about something similar that you might like even better, even if it's in a different part of town or costs more or the restaurant is Moroccan instead of Indian.

As I have often said, one person's dream vacation is many people's nightmare -- so know what you're asking!

MelMarena:
I left a message for you under your other post about Paris. Click on your name to find it.

Just saw the link - incredible - thanks, wliwl!

Dear wliwl,
I heartily agree with your "what the heck?" statement. I reply less and less these days. I expended a lot of energy and information in the early days, but now I just feel like posting back "Get a guidebook - a used one if you have to!" Esp. the posts which demand all the "must-sees" - I mean really, if you can log onto the internet, you can log onto a city's official website and start from there.

So why, exactly, are we here if not to gently guide the very inexperienced traveler in his quest for information? Are we here just to post our own wonderful, memorable trip reports? Agreed that posters "should" do research on their own. However, the very young and the very inexperienced need our encouragement and help. They do not need to be scolded for not being "correct" with their postings; they need our responses as best we can offer. I'm more impatient with the travel know-it-alls than with the greenhorns.

<< They do not need to be scolded for not being "correct" with their postings... >>

I don't think that the initial premise was about << not being "correct" ... >>

Rather it was about failing to convey that they have even begun to think about what criteria, what priority are their questions... and sound as if they have never cracked a book,

Sometimes, the answer is quite simple. Point them in the direction of a major library or bookstore. In the very earliest stages after (tentatively) making the decision to go to xxx - - books are a lot more useful than the internet, in my opinion.

New greenhorn trip planners are, understandably, a bit overwhelmed with not knowing where to start. Still, the &quot;dialogue&quot; can be so much more effective if they lay out at least a few clues as to the things they have <i>begun</i> to think through - - we think we want to go to these destinations, and maybe travel in this season, by this means, and stay in hotels something like this. This provides so many more opportunities to engage them... &quot;we&quot; can say... &quot;no, no.. you'll want to change this fundamental assumption&quot; - - or &quot;good idea to want do x or y or z&quot; and then add &quot;here's the next things you'll want to think about&quot; or &quot;here are some excellent resources on the internet to supplement your reading&quot;... or &quot;my experience with xxx was that we needed to abcdefgh...&quot;

crckwc: You have misinterpreted my post.
It was merely my thoughts on how a poster can get BETTER information than one or two incomplete responses - and then their post ends up being #230.

It seems we all will go out of business -- business of sharing personal experiences. Books do not give that personal touch. Innocent travel questions come from reluctance. We do have a choice of not to share or respond. Even an experienced travel does get some nice tips from a first-time traveler. Quite often some &quot;simple&quot; (I wouldn't classify them as 'silly') pop-up and in an open-to-all forum we need to probably live with it.

WOW, As someone who just started using this site, I would like to add my two cents to this conversation.

We are not asking you to be a &quot;free travel consultant&quot; we are just bouncing ideas around and looking for someone who may have had the same idea or who actually taken the same trip.

I can only speak for myself but i have purchase 3 travel books in the last 3 weeks ($68 retail value) have been to Rick steves, frommers, lonely planet, solo travel portal and various other sites on the web and my office cube is now papered with rail maps of Europe. I have done my homework.

But the answers that you get here at this site are very thoughtful, full of insight,funny and encouraging. I often read these boards several times a day.

The point is that when I stumbled across this board, I was hooked and I recommend it to anyone planning a adventure!
Anyway thats my two cents.

wliwl -- I wasn't disagreeing with the main point of your post. Rather I was reacting to phrases such as &quot;unpaid travel consultants,&quot; and a general tone of what I took to be superiority on the part of more experienced travelers. If I misinterpreted and read more into some comments than was intended, then I apologize.

You certainly do have an option of investing your time and sharing invaluable info with other people or this forum, or not.
I love doing research, and I have already bought AND read 4 different Paris books. Still, I have asked multiple questions of various nature not because I would like to take advantage of people and treat them as my UNPAID personal travel consultants, but because I find information on this forum extremely informative and valuable.I do appreciate everybody's time invested in posting responses on this forum.
If someone feels he/she is being taken advantage of (read: used), then maybe the person does not have to feel obliged to participate in forum posting.
There is NO need to treat people in a disrespectful manner, no matter how basic their questions may be.
Sincerely,
Agnes

And there is absolutely no reason not to THANK people for sharing information, no matter how trivial, and also to ignore posters because they aren't your fave person. Good answers are good ones regardless of where they come from.

Good reply Intrepid1 !

A couple of months ago I was banned by Fodors with the simple admonishment to read the posting rules. That didn't tell me much. Then I noticed that my comments to one poster had been deleted. Those comments said something to the effect of using the search box before asking and that the question was about as general as asking what kind of car should the poster buy. Some Fodorites did not like my tone. Apparently corporate didn't either and I was in the slammer for a month or so. I have only asked a question here a few times over the years but I have taken vicarious pleasure in answering scores of others. I think that the right thing to do with too general questions is as Carrybean says. Ignore them. But once in a while I will paste the URL to a previous question on the same exact topic, e.g. the three recent questions about what to do with teenagers in Amsterdam.

The real question is: what was your motive, Agnes... in excavating this contentious old thread?

I just stumbled upon it. I did not see it was this old, I admit.
I thought I would comment on it.
No hidden agenda, really.
A

I'm curious - not being rude, truly curious. How does one &quot;stumble&quot; across a 7 month old thread?

What did you search on???