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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
(ARA) - I admit it, I'm hooked. I have farewatcher programmed on Travelocity to track down the cheapest airfare to my four favorite vacation spots. I check it regularly, and just for fun, log on over to Orbitz to do some comparison shopping, even though the only place I plan on visiting anytime soon is my office. I satisfy my fix for travel by living vicariously through trip reports and blogs and globetrotting in warp speed, without ever leaving the comfort of my chair.
Thankfully, I rarely get tangled up in the World Wide Web -- where I hate getting lost, or worse, wasting valuable time trying to get to the "right" place on my crusades. America Online's travel message boards, which are now also available to AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) users, make it easy. By far the easiest site online to navigate, they're as up to date as a pending museum strike in Paris.
Many folks (like me) confess they are addicted to AOL's travel boards. If you're the type that believes half the fun of taking a trip is planning it, and "you've got AOL," navigate your way up to the keyword box and type the word travel. Click on the community tab and, voila! You've arrived. The entire world is now at your fingertips, neatly sorted into a roster of countries, cruise lines and RV-speak. Get ready to explore, and maybe even conquer.
This is Not Your Mother's Travel Agent
Less intimidating than a chat room (where things can get uncomfortable), a message board forum allows you to scroll through hundreds of topics, listed in chronological order. Sift leisurely through the numerous posts and you may just find what you're looking for, as frequently asked questions often cover popular topics. Or, ask a new one by selecting the button "create new subject," which starts a new Q & A cluster, commonly known as a thread. Members reading the new inquiry have the option of responding via private e-mail to the original poster (OP), typing a response and posting it on the message board, or both.
Travel questions are answered as fast as a New York minute by those with first-hand knowledge about a particular place. Resident experts may include expats living abroad, natives of a particular place, or frequent visitors who can tell you anything you want to know. Favorite restaurants, hotel recommendations suiting any budget, safety tips, you name it, this is the place to turn for the best travel advice found in cyberspace. The world is a big place. Talk about the places you'll go, even when you can't.
Dear Diary
Those needing a dose of their favorite place find solace just reading about others' vacations. Members oblige by posting trip reports on the boards, serving as the perfect antidote for those homesick for wherever they want to be. And while the boards are primarily a travel forum, at times things do run off topic. Like an old-fashioned game of telephone, a thread can start out recounting the details of someone's holiday and suddenly deteriorate into a discussion of lace undergarments. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But do post responsibly. As one member put it, "friends don't let friends post drunk."
Newbies and Lurkers and Trolls, Oh My!
Even in cyberspace, there must be order. An active group of nightly regulars rule the travel board often going to great lengths to keep the board intact. New members, also known as "newbies," are escorted onto the boards with a virtual welcome mat, and cautioned not to be afraid of trolls. "Lurkers" or read-only types, hang out on the boards anonymously. They are content to read posts and gather information for their upcoming trips, but rarely post publicly, and for good reason. Trolls, many afflicted with multiple screen-name personality disorders, love to stir the pot. Some even fancy arguing, or agreeing, with themselves under numerous aliases. But it's the die-hard regulars that keep things together. They love nothing more than to help others plan a trip, sharing from experience what they know (and that can be a lot); gratuitously googling the rest.
Members helping members is the name of the game. Most like to play nice, except sometimes they don’t. Every now and then, one member may try to "out do" another (as if trolls weren't enough). Overly competitive sorts with supersized egos to match, challenge each other, in duel-like fashion, to an occasional round of "who knows more about what." Sometimes it's a pleasant battle of the wits, but when keystrokes clash, things can turn ugly. Gangs of screen names have been known to launch attacks in an effort to run irritants off the boards -- as if that power existed in cyberspace. Unless you happen to be up for some serious cyber-slashing or in a Jerry Springer frame of mind, simply skip these threads as you would an annoying radio station, or consider using the "ignore author" feature if a particular screen name or two offends you. While these threads do have limited entertainment value, eventually things return with friendly travel-related advice -- like the latest airfare sale to Europe, or the name of a newly discovered natural sedative for combating jet lag, finally!
It's true, the world can be your oyster, and AOL's travel message boards are a real gem.
Courtesy of ARA Content
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