Thoughts on Wikitravel

          I had never heard of Wikitravel before but now that I have it sounds pretty amazing. Like the about section says: "Wikitravel is a project to create a free, complete, up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide." The two best parts of Wikitravel can be seen from this sentence.

          For one, Wikitravel is free! Travel brochures are not new to the world and though most of them are free the really nice travel destinations about places are not. I personally never bought any of these on any bookstore trips because for one I would wonder how old they would be. Places, things to do, attractions are constantly changing and just because it can be found in a travel booklet now does not mean it will actually exist six months from now. The second reason is that I figured if I ever needed information about a place I would just look it up online because it is free. No matter what the occasion, if there is a way to access something for free I will always use that even if it might not be the most reliable. So, the fact that Wikitravel is free already means that it is something I would use over anything that costs money.

         Moreover, it seems like a great online resource because there are rules that regulate what people can post and there are individuals that check posts and will delete anything that seems obviously unreliable. One of the things that I do when searching a place on the internet is to check various websites because I sometimes find information that seems misleading. There could be an official website of a place like a restaurant I would like to visit but the site will be under construction providing me with no information. Or, the place will actually be under construction for repairs or be closed for the season and their website will not say so. Another challenge is finding a specific place at a destination. In travel book and even on the internet popular destinations will overshadow smaller areas. Though it is great to see the popular places that people visit if you rely on one source you might miss out on an even better place.

          Wikitravel seems like a great resource because it does not cost me any money to use and by providing posts from various people around the world no one popular place will be able to take over and push out smaller little-known places into the shadows. I haven't researched about a place because I have not traveled in a while but I definitely plan on keeping Wikitravel in mind when I do.