Levi KeswickThough the internet is easy to access and it has plenty of information, these same features can often become a problem when you want to find an answer. There is such an overwhelming amount of information that it becomes challenging to tell what is true and what is useless. Unpopular topics, in particular, can be quite difficult to get reliable information on since searches will often produce so many other irrelevant results. The last thing you want during a vacation is to be stuck somewhere because you didn’t come prepared. Here are some techniques to help you learn about your next journey so you can start off on the right foot.
Specialized Search Engines
We are all familiar with Google and Yahoo as the major search engines. These are general search engines that look for information from the entire internet. These mainstream search engines have indexed billions, if not trillions, of pages so you get a very broad search result. Then there are specialized search engines such as those used to find cheap flights or beachfront hotels. These engines focus on a small group of websites. So when you search through these platforms you only get results from websites that are either selling cheap flights or have beachfront rooms. Use specialized search engines to look for a particular thing you need for your journey.
Travel Forums
Next to specialized search engines are the numerous traveler-oriented forums. If you use Quora or Reddit or Twitter or any other website that focuses on text and/or provides forums for people to discuss things, this will be a big help. The advice from the Expert Vagabond suggests that you shortlist only the most active and the most recent forums for your research so when you start looking for forums, for say hotels in Mexico, you could find posts that are over twenty years old and this might give you inaccurate or invalid information. By sticking to the latest information you will reduce the amount of information you have to sift through and you will drastically improve the chances of getting a response if you choose to post in one of these forums.
Social Media
Similar to forums are pages and groups on social media. The most popular platform, in this case, is Facebook, but you can find similar communities on other social media platforms that are focused on providing useful information for people traveling to a certain place. Today, social media is a great help because it provides you with such a diverse range of information. You can find videos of places and things, you get written reviews, photos, GPS stamps, maps, timestamps, and even direct links to people and businesses that you can find there. Since social media is used for so many different purposes and by such a diverse audience, this one platform alone might be enough to give you all the information you need.
Local Experts
One of the great things about the internet is that you can connect directly with people all over the world. Whether you do this through social media or forums or even personally reaching out to them through their website, you can get direct access. There are many experts that provide their services professionally to tourists and this eliminates the burden of having to do research. You can simply connect with a local expert and let them handle all your queries rather than managing everything on your own.
Travel Reviews
Before you purchase a ticket, make a hotel reservation, or anything else in your vacation destination, have a look at the reviews. There are specialist websites that are built for the purpose of compiling user reviews about different services available in countries across the world. For instance, at Tripadvisor, you can get reviews for services in nearly every country on the planet.
The great thing is that these are highly moderated environments so you can be sure that none of the reviews are fake or posted with an ulterior motive. Even if there are a few fake ones, the volume of real users is so high that it barely makes a difference to the real rating of a product or service in that country.
A lot of content these days is in video form. Platforms like YouTube offer a lot of information on a diverse range of subjects in your travel destination. You can follow specialized travel channels or content creators from that country and see what they have to say about things. This way you don’t have to spend hours researching and you can just watch a brief video to get an idea. Moreover, you will also find videos posted by other people and those will give you additional insight. However, there is nothing like real-world experience. If you find these platforms useful, share your two cents and help someone else out.
