Seems like the board has become much more civil as of late. Either the trolls have gone back under their bridge or maybe the school bell rang.

Happens every year at this time, Ed.
Thank goodness.

Ah, yes, the kids are back in school - AND I'm there with them....arghhhh...for the 32nd year!!!

Hey Ed,
Funny, my husband & I were just discussing this last night after our boys were fighting over computer use time.....
2 more weeks of summer vacation left in the Northeast US. My kids don't go back until after Labor Day. 15 days and counting!!!

Trish I think you misunderstood Ed's question

Dear xxx,
I thought I understood Ed's post just fine, thank you.
Some kids are back in school, others are not. Perhaps you are one that is not.

yes, the kiddies are back in school so now we can once again throw creativity to the wind and get down to brass tacks, bragging about ourselves and our little vacations which spruce up our otherwise dull and miserable lives.

Geez, Louise, the truth: that's quite an attitude you've got going there!
I found this board this summer and have gathered a lot of great information from it.
I'm definitely not one to brag. I'm just this middle class working stiff that saves my little bit of extra cash to go on vacation. What's so bad about that?
I may be a little dull, but I'm certainly NOT miserable. Life is what you make of it, don't you think?
Try to have a nice day.

Looks like 'thetruth' is still on vacation....

California schools return next Monday, August 27.

Saw on the news recently that 2/3 or 3/4 of the schools in the USA now start school BEFORE Labor Day. We do here. The first half of school is over at the Christmas Break. We're now getting out before Memorial Day. But all the schools are airconditioned. No problem.

What I'm starting to see popping up now are schools that start on Aug 1, take a 2 week break in Ocotober, 2 week break at Christmas, 2 week break in March, then only a 2 month summer break.

FYI to Kam,
Not all schools in California go back August 27th. Some started last week. Some after Labor Day. Some go year round.

But, on the whole, the board is getting back to "normal".

You are all a bunch of brainless bourgeois boobs if you think school children care about you or your travel website. How self-centered can you get?

oops...appears we spoke too soon.

I agree with alliteration king. I feel like for the most part the trolls are not teenagers or children, but mean-spirited adults who take out some of their frustrations over the internet on message boards. Granted, some probably are under the age of 21, but most of these "kids" browse more exciting websites than fodors.com.

THANK YOU, 31 yr.old. This over simplified "once the kids go back to school everything will be fine" theory is baloney. These trolls are adults, and nothing but nameless negative nincompoops.

aaaahhhhh, yes, but for those of us who have been reading Fodor's for several years, a clear decrease in the amount of garbage posted here is evident each year at this time.
No, the trolls never go away entirely. Yes, the ones who stick around are almost certainly adults.
But the overall level of background noise really drops in late August.
What a relief.
This was the worst summer I've seen at this site.