No One Reads This Forum
 

Those of us that frequent this forum know that many people will post here when they should post their questions in a geographic specific forum (e.g. Europe or USA). Generally these posts get a reply telling the person to which forum it would be better posted. This is a nice friendly thing to do and I've done it myself many times.

I'm always somewhat dismayed though when the person replying states "no one reads this forum". This is not true. I read this forum and obviously the reply poster does also. This forum may not be as busy as some other forums, but that's a far cry from nobody reading/posting to this forum. I don't see how making these comments helps the OP but may discourage them from posting legitimate travel tips and trip ideas in the future.

I agree. I may not have posted here very often, but read it every day. My routine is to go first to Air Travel, then here, then the Lounge. After that, if I'm planning a trip somewhere, or if time allows, I'll go to some of the other Forums.

If Fodor's got rid of this forum, that almost no one reads (glance down the column, there are at most 4 to 7 replies per DAY here) then people would naturally post their questions elsewhere on the website... in the Europe forum, in the Lounge, Air Travel, etc. which ALL have a greater readership so virtually guarantees the person more replies than they will ever get here.

Even Fodor's Editors post suggesting people post their questions elsewhere (Doug Stallings said exactly what you are complaining about recently I remember). Now how bad is THAT is even they know this is a dead forum.

What's frustrating though is there isn't any other logical place to post questions about family travel. I've had several questions in years past about car seats, etc before this forum was created and had no idea where to put it. You can't ask for advice about which lightweight car seat to buy to cart through an airport in a location specific forum - I'd be blasted!! Though I don't post here often I too check it every few days... more so than the other boards.

Suze,

Why do you bother visiting this forum if you think it's of no use?

Perhaps there would be less confusion about the purpose of this forum if the name was changed to something like "General Travel Talk and Tips".

Why? I try to help keep it alive & not become a dead zone. More importantly to welcome the people who are new to Fodor's by helping them get to a forum where their questions will actually be answered.

I understand the car seat example but if someone's asking about a hotel in Venice or Paris, they will receive perhaps 2 or 3 answers here, where if they post on the Europe forum they'll receive dozens & dozens of suggestions.

ShelliDawn~ This branch DID used to be called "Other Topics" Fodor's recently changed the name to "Travel Tips".

Here's a pefect example of my point. The new queestion about *honeymoon registries* has received 4 replies here in an 8 hour period on "Travel Tips". Same question over in the "Lounge" forum has 26 replies in just over 1 hour.

now her question has 44 answers in the Lounge

Suze,

I'm not surprised that the thread on the lounge has more hits; it is a much busier forum. That's okay. Not all forums need to be uber-busy. One of the reasons I frequent this forum is because it isn't as busy and it's easier to track the posts. I also find that, generally, threads with many posts often repeat each other or have branched conversations within the same thread. I don't know if this is the case for the honeymoon one as I haven't read it.

Your comment about visiting/posting to this forum to "keep it alive" is in contradiction to your comments in posts that "No one much reads this" forum. All I was commenting on is that comments like yours do nothing to encourage people to post (appropriate) topics here and may discourage them.

I don't think I discourage anyone from posting. I think it is OK to direct people to where their questions will receive more replies, as I've mentioned the Fodor's editors themselves do that too.

I will kindly suggest though, if your intension was to encourage participation on this forum, you might rethink the title of this very post you started? YOU posted "No One Reads This Forum" and if people don't open this thread and read the discussion, you've contributed to what you're complaining about.

I read this forum, so here's another hit on this backstreet. :)

That was a lazy reply from me. There are topics on this forum that are better answered in other places. Best Romantic Rest in Venice for example. Questions about travel insurance, solo trips and on line booking companies would get lost on the Lounge and wouldn't always fit in a specific forum like Europe or Asia. Maybe the answers to travel insurance vary depending upon what part of the world one is going to. But if the OP posts them on the Asia forum, those people who only go to the US and Europe for example might miss some vaulable information.
Unlike the Lounge, this is about travel and it doesn't have to be specific. That's what I like about this one.

Now, it's just getting people to post here.

I joined Fodor's Travel Talk because I LOVE travel..... researching, discovering and sharing. Have really enjoyed the Trip reports, received lots of helpful advice and I've provided some in places where I travel. I went to this Forum for Road Trip packing advice last year, was given great suggestions! Funnily enough Hlphilips, I visited this Forum today for infant travel and car seat advice! Our first grandchild is joining us for Christmas in Hawaii and I was looking for travel hints with a 3 1/2 month old.

But I've only been a Fodor's member since Jan 08 and I sometimes feel like I've entered a very private sometimes vicious club. The Lounge terrifies me...talk about people biting your head off. Most topics have nothing to do with travel!

So I am happy there is a Travel Tips and Ideas Forum but as LSky says "it's just getting people to post here."

Hey jojo, "The Lounge terrifies me...talk about people biting your head off."

Don't worry about that, they aren't all that tough. I suppose when I get my ego fired up I can be one of those biters too.
But I was reading something the other day about this, the author Eckhart Tolle compared it to ducks. They squabble and it's loud, then they seperate shake their feathers and pretty soon are floating down the river together again.

Have fun in Hawaii, which island are you going to?

Thanks LSky. I realize Fodorites are generally clever and witty whereas I feel I 'sound' pedantic in print so I can be oversensitive! There are many who have been helpful, some who can be actually sweet, (Scarlet comes to mind) so I'll hang in there.. maybe only as a Lurker in the Lounge!?!
We're off to Kauai, an island we love and know well. But this trip will be especially celebratory, DH newly recovered from major illness, it'll be our 40th anniversary and first Christmas with our new grandson!

jojo~ Fodor's specifically created the Lounge branch to accomodate non-travel posts and keep the other forums focused. That's the whole idea of it (when you say "most posts have nothing to do with travel"... that's absolutely correct!). It's OK to stay out of the Lounge and use only the other branches, lots of people don't care for it there. Have a great trip to Hawaii, I'm going there myself later this week, aloha!

jojo, Congrats X 3.

I wonder how many people feel that they "'sound' pedantic in print"? That probably goes for a lot of us, which is why it takes me so long to post a trip report.

Have fun in Hawaii. And you too suze!

Thanks muchly LSky, I'm sure I will (lol). I think the title of this thread could be "see some people do read this forum" seems more appropriate to the subject at hand :-)

You know how some people come onto Fodors and say, "I want to do something Off The Beaten Path"?
Well this forum is off the beaten path and the thing about otbp is that you have to make your own entertainment. It's not flashy, it's just relaxing and slow.

Hope you vacation is both :)

hey!! That would make a great name for this forum, Off-The-Beaten-Path.

Maybe that would bring in some traffic. But then it wouldn't be Off-The-Beaten-Path. It's like having a favorite town or thing to do, you want to tell people but if you do the next time you go they will ALL be there :)

I need to get back to writing my trip report.

Really appreciated your responses and background explanations LSky and Suze! Ended up off Fodor rest of today... finally confirming nonstop flight SeaTac to Lihue (ridiculous that return flight was booked but we hadn't arranged to get there yet!) Then thought my mileage plan had lapsed-not. Everything ended up being very time consuming! Love Hawaiian Airlines but can't beat the ease of an Alaskan Lihue non-stop!

Thanks again to both of you for background on Lounge. Suze have a fabulous time and mahalo! Look forward to that trip report LSky!

My pleasure. De nada (as we say in Mexico). And thanks for the good wishes. I do love Hawaiian Air but since I'm flying Seattle/Honolulu mine IS a nonstop. Believe me I understand the attraction of nonstop flights!! All the best.

As you see, it just takes a couple people to get a thread going, but still I wish this one had a different, more positive name to illustrate the point ;-) bye all, suze

How about a new thread called "We need more people to read this forum"? Would that be OK?

What are we going to have to do, recruit?

I thought you'd be making leis by now, suze.

Sigh! I like Off-The-Beaten-Path too but for increased traffic ask Fodorites to brainstorm new titles?..... Travel Tip Central, Travel Essentials, Trip Center, the 3 Ts, Travel Tune-up.....but too alliterative and I'm still sounding pedantic LSky! How about HELP!

LSky, 3 more day... til aloha :-)

It's a chicken/egg problem. You need an interesting forum to attract participation, and you need participation to have an interesing forum!

This could also be the Test Site for Trip Reports for those who are a little shy about posting trip reports. HELP might work too.

Well, 3 and 1/2 days now suze :)

I think I'll post my first installment of my trip report here. That way if no one reads it, I won't worry. :D

At least no one will yell at you on this forum ;-)

31 people have!

LSky and Suze, Thanks for NOT yelling and welcoming "the people who are new to Fodor's by helping them get to a forum where their questions will actually be answered" (Suze)

Enjoy your travels. Look forward to your trip reports... wherever they're posted!

coldplay~ 31 people have yelled at you on this forum? just kidding!

jojo46~ no trip reports from me. i love to chat on these forums & ii love to travel, but i just kick around wherever i go. i don't really have much to report that would interest other people probably.

I really enjoyed your Waikiki 'food' report Suze! Hope you had a great time. So rainy, dreary here in the northwest I can't wait to leave. My Kauai Kountdown is now 10 days!
Just had to post this on No One Reads This Forum! The original KK had tons of responses.

Thanks jojo. I had an incredible 10 days in Waikiki. Best trip so far to Hawaii. I hope yours in Kauai is fabulous too.

Hi, I'm a long time Fodors poster but spend almost all my time on the Europe forum because that's where I like to travel. Only rarely (when I'm bored) do I go to the US forum (primarily to look for questions about Ft. Lauderdale which is where I live) or to the Lounge (when I'm really, really bored) Today for the first time, I saw this forum mentioned on a thread on the Europe site and came here to check it out. I'll try to remember it and return more frequently. Perhaps if those of you who really like this forum but post on other forums as well can drum up some excuse to mention it in your posts on other forums, you'll get more people like me to learn about it and check it out. I'll try to see if I can't find some way to mention it in my latest trip report about Lake Como, Piemonte and Nice.

Tell your friends!!! Seriously, that's a great idea. All it takes is a little attention and a few interesting new topics to make a branch more lively. Travel Tips could be like the Lounge but without the drama : )

And the Travel Tips re: traveling with infant, are starting to pay off. DH and I are in Kauai now-YES!-and baby grandson's Pack' n Play arrived intact. Family doesn't arrive for a few days but DH and I flew business, allowed 2 free checked bags each, so brought it. Thanks to Fodor, passed on lots of flight info to my daughter.

Anyway Thanks Julie for bringing thread ttt. Aloha!

I've only noticed this forum in the last few days and think it's a great idea. As others have said, travel chat that's not destination oriented can get a bit lost amongst all the political stuff on the Lounge.

My Tips for today are: (1) check for festivals, major sporting events or business conventions in towns & cities you are planning to visit. Apart from possibly making accommodation more limited /expensive, traffic and unexpected other disruptions may suggest a variation to your itinerary.
OTOH, there may be something on that would interest you - an Opera, concert or Art exhibition, which would not necessarily appear on tourist information sheets or in guide books. Most destinations have websites and it only takes a minute to check.

2. Re: car rental insurance excess. Check specifically whether your credit card covers the country you're visiting and get it in writing from them. If it does not, see if you can have the Excess waiver added to your Travel Insurance policy. I added AUD 2500 to my annual policy for an additional $50. Saves me at least AUD 25/day on car rentals, without risking $2700 - $3500 excess for every scratch.