suze

So true! I recently had my first experience(s) of being trashed for expressing my thoughts after years of successfully posting on Fodors. It was humbling and a rude awakening.

Marilyn

Happens to the best of us, suze!

Scarlett

suze, welcome to the club

gravysandwich, funny !! Actually , I sit down and crack my toes Take a deep breath and prepare for Trolls to tell me they love me quot;>

Googling is great, you can verify your answers, or opinions, or memories but what makes me grit my teeth is the poster who has no idea, but googles for an answer then cuts and pastes with no credit ( leading one to think they are answering from experience)..I , on the other hand, probably have the CopyRight Police after me as last week I was told that I should not have posted a New York Times page that a poster here could not access..sigh..

mermaid_

I answer from my own experience and refer to my files (stuffed full of business cards, brochures, guidebooks with notes scribbled in the margins, etc) so I can give an accurate answer. I work from the premise that people ask questions here because they want personal reviews or opinions. Anyone can google stuff or cut and paste but I honestly don't think that's what posters are looking for. They want the extra touch that the guidebooks won't provide. So for that reason, I don't do research for any posters, I just tell them what my experience in regard to their question.

Fodorite018

I go strictly by memory...which isn't all that great at times, lol! I keep notes in a file on places we have been...but they are buried in a closet so are not very easy to get to. I have to REALLY want to see something to even attempt to dive into that particular closet!

Scarlett--OMG, too funny about the googling heehee!

Patrick

Mostly from memory, but all my travel journals are sitting right here by my computer, and inside each one is an itinerary with the hotels names and usually email addresses and/or fax numbers. I usually am pretty general, but if there seems to be in interest in a place I've mentioned, I'll then look it up and give pretty detailed directions or comments.

LoveItaly

Well my approach is to be as honest as I can regarding what I know. At times, to verify what I am almost sure I know I will pull out a map to verify facts.

I am still frustrated because as I have mentioned before I threw away tons of information regarding Italy. And then about three months later discovered Fodor's. So I feel my information is not what it could be.

When posters ask for opinions I give my honest opinions, knowing that what pleases me will not always please someone else. I do not get upset if my opinion does not agree with others. After all, opinions are just opinions and we all have different likes, dislikes and thoughts.

I do however lose respect with posters that get hateful and insulting to another poster just because they do not agree with the first posters thoughts or opinions.

Jssmith, there are places in Italy or San Francisco etc. where I can say "walk one half block, turn right, turn left etc. Only because I have taken the route so many times.

Personally I think most Fodorites are so generous in sharing their knowledge. I am sure that posters here on Fodors have added so much to so many travellers vacations.

kismetchimera

Mostly from memory and first hand experiences of my favourite's places.
I dont keep journals or files of certain countries or cities, although that I admire the people that are well organized, but is not for me..

Fodorite018

Patrick--I'm impressed! I like to think I am organized, but then I read posts like your and realize I am only half organized, lol!

easytraveler

Well, I try to understand what the original poster wanted in terms of information. It isn't always that easy! Once in a while, after reading a posting several times, I end up typing a reply that's full of questions: "Are you coming or going on the 5th?"

Then I try to answer the question in terms of my own experiences, memory, and - sometimes with a quick check on yahoo ("Do you yahoo?" "Yahooooo!&quot - to make sure I got the number, mileage, spelling, etc. correct...

The thing that makes this forum so dynamic is the personal aspect of the responses. Can't get that out of an impersonal guide book! Add to that the astonishing amount of information the responders have and the generally honest, sincere, detailed, and careful responses - wow! This is a great forum! Keep up the great work!

tedgale

Sometimes I consult a reference book or map; sometimes I do a google search to corroborate my hunch.

I used to rely on my memory. But as I lately find my level of conviction is inversely proportional to the accuracy of my recall, I now try to check my assertions before posting.

But most frequently of all, I just write: I agree with Scarlett -- goes double for me.

sheila

It depends what the question is. I haven't looked up word one on the issue of Thursday's elections, for example

I travel in Scotland a fair bit, so I have quite a lot in my head. I also read the travel supplements and restaurant reviews in the Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, Sunday Times and Observer every week, so I keep up to date with published opinions.

I own three Scottish travel guides and two eating out guides, and they, with two atlases and a couple of folders of cutting live at the side of my computer. Sometimes the papers give away quite good throwaways and I've kept some of them for reference. The Scotsman did a "rivers of Scotland" map the other week, and I've kept it.

I bought, for no other purpose than to be able to answer questions here, a clan map and a castle map of the sort that usually only sell to tourists.

And I sometimes check on line for up to date prices and times- I still think you can get from Quuen Street station to Buchanan Street by.....oops, wrong question.

I sometimes google for inspiration- if someone says "do you know a good....?"and I think I should but can't quite remember the name, I might google to check it out, but I don't recommend places I don't know unless I have a solid piece of current information about it- at least not without a health warning.

But, about a year after I found this place I put together a pile of docs- because hundreds of people, literally hundreds, ask the same question and I got fed up typing out the answers repeatedly, and sometimes I forget to bring them up to date. caroline caught me recommending Littlejohn's in Perth the other week and it closed at least 3 years ago.

Now, about Buchanan Street.....

gradyghost

Based on my own expectations when I post a question, I assume that the poster is seeking personal, first-hand information, not what Joe told Sally who, in turn, told me. If I have had such personal experience, I respond, usually from memory. If not, I pass. Gradyghost

JN

I make things up.

(Insert smiley face thingee here. I haven't figured out how to do that)

Nikki

Tedgale wins the honesty in posting award, with extra points for best line of the day.

tedgale

Thanks Nikki

(I love to flirt on Fodors, with Scarlett)

Scarlett

tedgale,
Ditto

jsmith

One complaint I have is how few OPs return to thank responders. Since I don't want to be accused of such ingratitude, I thank you now.

I am not surprised that the posters I admire most do use tools other than their little gray (grey for the anglophiles) cells in formulating helpful answers. I'm also not surprised that a few who have nothing constructive to say, say it anyway.

Again, thanks.