Every time I stay in a hotel or eat in a restaurant or visit a significant attraction – especially when abroad from the UK – I try and leave an honest review of what I have experienced. I am amazed by the number of readers that they receive.

I have been asked direct questions via Trip Advisor and actually see the sense of the travelling community. Some of the general questions about certain things do make my eyebrows raise in desperation though. I left a review about Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Savannah, GA a couple of years ago. Nothing much to say about it really but someone posted a question about the opening times. Why would you scroll through reviews on Trip Adviser rather than go to the chains own website for restaurant times? Another one asked everyone what eggs did they serve. Come on people this doesn’t mean the end of free thinking.

What I appreciate about Trip Adviser is when there is a response to the feedback that has been left. I have had to leave some very poor feedback about a couple of hotels (they shall remain nameless – but they are on Trip Advisor) and of course had no response from them. One even had a sign welcoming feedback and that they take it very seriously.

I know that there are many contributors that have posted way more than me but by plugging away for 4 years I have over 160 contributions from 155 different cities (not all America) that have been read by nearly 200,000 readers. I think it is amazing. I started adding pins to the map and Trip Advisor calculate that I have visited 17% of the world. I know this pales into insignificance compared to others but here is a screen shot of my American places. I do keep remembering more and adding to it.

So not only do I blog about my trips but then add reviews to Trip Advisor. It is like living the holiday all over again.