🤲 Should you trust other people's travel recommendations?
Two tips before trusting someone's travel advice
Hi friend, how are you today?
I hope you’re doing great and welcome back to Itchy Feet.
Thanks for taking a mini trip with me this week. Your readership means a lot!
Bon voyage!
In case you missed it, last week we took a deep dive into sustainable travel. More specifically, we chatted about slow travel.
Click the link below to read it:
My goal for 2025 is to be a more conscious traveler, so this topic hit home.
This week, let’s talk about something that’s also very important:
Getting travel advice or recommendations from other people.
Have you ever asked your friends, social network, and colleagues for travel tips?
The results can be mixed.
Imagine this: one day you want to travel to Sri Lanka.
You’ve never been there before, but it’s high on your list of places to visit.
A logical first step of research involves asking around.
You can ask your travel-loving friends, make an announcement on Facebook, or even chat with coworkers.
Any information you get back can be extremely valuable.
If anyone you know has ever been to Sri Lanka, you’re in business. First-hand experiences from people you trust are often more important than info from any guidebook or blog.
But you must consider two VERY important things:
#1 - All experiences are relative
What one person thinks is awesome another person may feel stinks.
We all have a unique perspective.
So, if one friend who’s been to Sri Lanka says Arugam Bay Beach is amazing, you should consider this.
You also need to consider whether their interests align with yours and if you can trust their judgment.
If they prefer white sauce over marinara sauce and anchovies over pepperoni, perhaps you’ll need a second opinion. (jokes, but a little serious!)
A follow-up question of “Why?” can often extract better insight.
#2 - Everything is always changing
If this person had gone to Sri Lanka five years ago, things would surely be different now.
Many aspects of Sri Lanka will probably be the same. However, it’s possible what made your friend happy back then doesn't exist anymore.
Maybe the bar that served that one special drink shut down. The hotel staff who gave excellent service perhaps changed jobs.
That one hole-in-wall restaurant was remodeled and now looks totally different.
People are changing, too.
Maybe your friend had very different interests back then.
So, what they thought was great during their trip may not appeal to them (or you) anymore.
On the flip side, consider these when someone has a negative view of a place.
Maybe it was raining, they got food poisoning, or something unrelated to the quality of the place ruined their experience.
So, just because your friend said Sri Lanka is gorgeous or horrible, you must remember everything is relative and things (and people) constantly change.
In the end, the only way to truly know is to book a flight and visit yourself! ;)
🚀 Travel Quote of the Week
”I wish I was a postcard. For under $2 you can travel the world to any location in the world.”
– Unknown
🤲 Did You Know?
There’s a place in Japan where human-size puppets outnumber people. Approximately 40 miles outside of Osaka sits a rural town called Ichinono.
The average age of its inhabitants is around 65 years old. Ichinono’s population has slowly dwindled because young people moved to bigger cities.
In fact, it’s famous for being the town with the lowest birth rate in Japan (just one baby born in ten years).
The void in people became too noticeable, so its residents began creating life-size puppets and placing them all around town.
On the one hand, it’s quite creepy.
But each puppet has become a fixture of the town. They give the town’s residents happiness and a sense of pride.
Refer one friend: Get a Free Solo Travel Check-list PDF
Refer three friends: The PDF plus a personalized mini-city guide (written by me, you choose the city!)
Refer six friends: Both of these, plus a free 30-minute travel planning call with me
Use this link to begin referring folks to Itchy Feet. Thanks for helping this publication grow.
, , and my buddy Chris have already taken advantage!🎏 Culture Corner
If you’re in Cambodia in November, you’ve made it just in time for Bon Om Touk.
This is Khmer for the Cambodia Water Festival. Although it’s celebrated everywhere in the country, the biggest festivities happen in the capital, Phnom Penh.
During the three days of revelry, locals and visitors flock to the cities’ riverside. The Tonle Sap River becomes the scene of massive boat races, fireworks shows, candlelit floats at sunset, and floating lantern parades.
This tradition dates to the 12th century. King Jayavarman VII enacted this special celebration to kick off the fishing season.
It’s a national holiday, so Cambodians usually spend time with their family.
On the second night of Bon Om Touk, people celebrate the moon with blessings, prayer, and tasty food.
The most typical dish during this time is og ambok. It's a combination of fried rice with coconut juice and banana.
🌆 Fun Things to Do in Andorra
Andorra is a small country nestled in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France. Its official language is Catalan and it doesn’t have an airport. Andorra's currency is the euro.
To arrive from Spain, it’s most convenient to go by bus or car from Barcelona or Girona. If you’re traveling from France, try leaving from Toulouse. Trains leave from both countries as well.
The closest I’ve been to Andorra is Girona. If I were to ever visit Andorra, here’s what I’d do:
Visit during Fallas de San Juan de Andorra la Vella: This UNESCO world heritage celebration takes place during the summer solstice each year (June 23). Small monuments (falls) are burned on the streets and plazas throughout the capital, Andorra la Vella. This celebration is similar to Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain.
Explore the Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley: This is Andorra’s only UNESCO site which covers 9 percent of the country. This visual masterpiece is a massive glacial valley perfect for hiking. Wanderers will find lakes, streams, and waterfalls.
Hit the slopes: During the winter, Andorra has plenty of runs for ski and snowboard lovers. Some options include the Pas de la Casa resort and Grandvalira.
La Noblesse de Temps monument: The “Nobility of Time” is a surrealist bronze sculpture created by Salvador Dalí in 1982. It was ceded to the country in 1999 and installed at the Plaza de la Rotonda in Andorra la Vella in 2010.
The longest alpine slide: Tobotronc holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest alpine slide. You can find it at Naturlandia, a resort near Sant Julià de Lòria. It’s 17,000 feet long with a 1,300-foot drop.
Ok, let’s set up camp for the week. Thank you for reading this far! I deeply appreciate your support. Have a wonderful week!
Much love,
-Daniel
Instagram / X / YouTube / Travel Planning
P.S. Need help planning a trip? Let’s work together.
I love planning trips and thoroughly do research every week, so let’s chat. Send me a message or learn more here.
I have a rule of thumb about negative reviews from strangers. I feel like I can sense a tone sometimes that a person is very hard to please, and if I go hunting for their other reviews, I can usually tell right away if I'm correct about that. In which case, I'll disregard.
Your advice about recommendations from friends is on point, though. I'm a camper so if a friend who hates camping but loves luxury hotels is doing the referring, it might not be my kind of trip. Great tips!
Great post!
IMO, it's preferable to trust travel advice from someone who knows you well (as opposed to casual or social media friends), and to take said advice with a grain of salt.