When One Has "Special Talents"...

My dearest travellers,

I don't think I have ever told you what a huge fan of applications for travelling I am. Most of all, when we schedule a trip - especially outside borders - we like to use 2 applications: 1) for booking housing (be it a room or the entire house/flat) we love using Airbnb - a platform similar to couchsurfing, where people rent (for money) their rooms/flats/houses, sometimes even in dead straight city center! for a lower amount of money than a hotel would charge you ;) and usually with better views and much more friendly environment; 2) for finding the places we want to visit and make a plan of the trip, according to the map of the city and the days that we have to spend, I love using TripAdvisor - I really love the sincerity of the people grading the places and in 99% of the time, after the trip takes place, I end up doing similar reviews :) I love the profile options and how in time you collect "badges" according to the experience you have - in rating the places and doing reviews (and also adding pictures of your own, if you are so inclined). I think that sharing information about a place visited is important both for the places you have been plus for the people who think of visiting next - it saved me a couple of times from going to really awful places and sometimes it recommend me places I did not even know they existed. So kudos for the awesome TripAdvisor! 

A week or so ago the "Travelers Choice Rewiewers Awards" for 2016 were posted and they also notified me via email that one of my reviews helped Globtroter Guest House Kraków to won it's award! :) it is always nice when you get your ideas recognised in some way or another. I am also in the 10% of the best reviewers of Kraków (due to the love I have for this lovely city that can steal your heart!). I know it ain't much compared to other people who traveled the world... I know I did not manage to visit every continent (yet!) but it's my wish :) but what I see and what I visit and what I try (in terms of restaurants and café and pubs) I will always share to everyone. It is better to know where you should not go, especially if you are new in town. I would have liked someone to guide me troughout Kraków when I first came here 5 years ago. I had friends telling me about certain places but a lot of places I have visited and tried on my own, reviewing them on my blog, on TripAdvisor, and most recently on the Cracow.Today site (specially designed for expat people in Kraków,  just like myself). 

Small details from my profile on TripAdvisor:

• 72,679 total miles traveled
• 11% of the world traveled  
• 88 Reviews
• 200 Ratings
• 12 Photos
• 21 Helpful votes 
• 10,181total points = Level 6 Contributor

My readers are: 20% from Poland, 19% from the United Kingdom, 10% from the United States and 51% from other countries around the world :)

Top 3 cities I have contributed with reviews on TripAdvisor

Traveling opens up your mind to possibilities you have never thought of before. It teaches you acceptance towards fellow men and gratitude for the things you have. While I was traveling I always thought how wonderfully reinvigorating is to live only from the contents of your suitcase... no extra luggage, no clutter and no unnecessary things... you forget that when you are not on the road. When you travel, when you see the world, you develop "special talents" in finding the perfect spots - and if you are kind hearted enough, you will want to share them. That is what TripAdvisor is for - the community for sharing the moments that define you and the places that left a mark on yourself (be it positive, like my Charlotte in Kraków, or negative - Roast & Toast). 

How about you? Do you use Airbnb and/or TripAdvisor to help you along the way of planning your holidays? Or maybe you are not the DIY type and you like the trips organised by the travel agencies? How much do you trust TripAdvisor and do you have experience with it? I would live to hear your options :)

Yours truly,
The Twisted Red LadyBug That Loves To Travel (And Review)