Grreat idea! Especially if you don't buy a pass and have to stand in line to get into 14 museums, going da-DUM da-DUM the while.

I have no objections to paragraphs, but I do hope people don't limit their reports according to tedgale's standard (what does this tell me about a flight I might take?). I want to hear about people's quirky experiences, even if they are not as well organized as they could be and even if they don't remember the name of the wine.

And while a well organized trip report can be a pleasure to read, so can a stream-of-consciousness one, so I would not want to pick one as worldinabag suggests to use as a template for all posters.

In fact, I would not like to make anyone feel that they can not write a trip report because they are not as skilled in writing or in organizing their thoughts as some of the other people whose reports they have read.

I agree with Lori re paragraphs. Also brevity is a virtue.

The rambling, stream of consciousness style probably stems from pervasive cell phone babble.

Pascal noted I sent you a long letter because I did not have time to write you a short one. A little writing organization would really help.

I thoroughly enjoy reading trip reports. I do not use websites and often rely on the first-hand experiences of travellers to help evaluate my plans.

This is meant as a friendly exhortation not as some snobby Professor Higgins' rantings. I always say thanks for shared experiences regardless of the parsing.

Anthony

I am really happy that Lori wisely gave the recommendation to use more paragraphs in posts, not just trip reports. It really is tough on the eyes to have to read a huge, solid block of tiny letters. And gosh, the typeface here is tiny, at least on my iBook it appears so.

I don't mind one bit the little details that others may find boring or irrelevant. Often times they reflect the effort and enthusiasm of the poster, which I enjoy. If I find a report to ramble on a bit too much, I can always stop reading it.

My pet peeve (are we onto pet peeves now?) is the use of HELP!!! or PLEASE HELP!!!! in the titles. I mean, isn't that why we are all here, to offer tips, advice, and help?

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!! makes sense for emergencies such as:

PLEASE HELP!!! I am bleeding.
PLEASE HELP!!! I have unexpectedly gone into labor.
PLEASE HELP!!! I find myself in a foreign prison with angry cellmates and am being carried off for torture.
PLEASE HELP!!! I am trapped in a rocky ravine.

It is seems out of place when the message is PLEASE HELP!!! Should I go to Lucca or Pisa?

Sorry, I had to get that off my chest!

Doesn't the Mac give its user control of the font size? Gee, how user-unfriendly.

"The rambling, stream of consciousness style probably stems from pervasive cell phone babble." - I wouldn't say the causality works in that direction.

Yes, (mac font) but it goes from tiny to huge.

And, I actually need to say sorry for going off topic there with my last post.

<<It is seems out of place when the message is PLEASE HELP!!! Should I go to Lucca or Pisa?>>

I fnd it equally annoying (but I really do try to bite my tongue) when I read:

"Please help! Three days until we leave for xxx and I don't know..."

I can't count how many times I have wanted to use that time-honored reply that "your failure to plan is not my emergency".

Tedgale, I am not as smart as you are, not as educated as you are, so my reports may be like one you've described.

So what? I will continue to write reports, nobody makes you read them.

Faina,
You may not be as smart as tedgale, but, trust me, you certainly are *at least* as smart as he is. I've read your reports; they're charming and witty and hilarious.

Keep on writing in your own unique voice! What a dreadful bore if all reports were the same.

whoops, I meant "you may not be as educated as tedgale." Don't want any scathing critique of my internet post, after all.

How does anyone know how *educated* I am?

Did they post my CV without telling me?

And I don't recall reading a trip report by Faina -- so I cannot have meant her when I echoed the OP's criticism of run-on thinking and run-on paragraphs.

Is there something I am missing here?

Oh, tedgale, I can top my last report for you.

tedgale,

After I posted that, I thought it would come across as too critical of you as an individual. And I immediately regretted it.

I'm sorry! I just happen to enjoy all sorts of trip reports and dislike seeing people discouraged.

I do like paragraph breaks, however. It's so much easier on my eyes.

Never under estimate the power of paragraphs and UPPER and lower case writing. :)

Rex - you make me *blush*.

My tip: If you know HTML code, you can add bolding and italics to emphasize certain areas of your report. Sites such as webmonkey.com can help with this.