I remember when I loved the travel pages of my city paper. They proudly proclaimed that they didn’t take freebies and explained why. If we pay our own way we can be objective in our comments. They also published readers travel stories. I was inspired to go to many places based on those stories. Then they took freebies saying they couldn’t afford to send people to travel sites without free flights and a accommodation.
As a result, I find the travel pages to be more like a brochure for expensive resorts and tours and not inspirational at all.
All of this makes me grateful to be writing on Substack. No chasing algorithims, no having to only cover the positive parts of our nomadic lives. Sure, we mostly live where we go and what we do, but not always and we tell people that. As for paid trips, etc. that hasn't come up for us and if it did, of course it would influence what you write, no matter how much you might not want it to!
I remember when I loved the travel pages of my city paper. They proudly proclaimed that they didn’t take freebies and explained why. If we pay our own way we can be objective in our comments. They also published readers travel stories. I was inspired to go to many places based on those stories. Then they took freebies saying they couldn’t afford to send people to travel sites without free flights and a accommodation.
As a result, I find the travel pages to be more like a brochure for expensive resorts and tours and not inspirational at all.
Honest and thought provoking … thank you Stuart!
Wonderful read. Thanks Stuart!
I just learned that Hin Wong Bungalows has closed down. Definitely one of my favorite places 💔
I really enjoyed that Stuart. Thank you
All of this makes me grateful to be writing on Substack. No chasing algorithims, no having to only cover the positive parts of our nomadic lives. Sure, we mostly live where we go and what we do, but not always and we tell people that. As for paid trips, etc. that hasn't come up for us and if it did, of course it would influence what you write, no matter how much you might not want it to!