For all those who come here and post items such as: "I/we
am/are going round/across USA for 1/2/3 months this summer,
can anyone suggest where to go?", or asking what to see in a
city like NEw York, might I suggest a tactic that has proved
useful down the years - BUY A GUIDEBOOK. You must have
bought a lonely planet book to find the web site, and if you
are going on holiday to a continent like USA, buying a
guidebook is surely an essential. Rather than ask people for
information on ANYTHING, why not buy a guide book, see what
takes your fancy (you must have some idea what is in USA
anyway, as it is always on TV or in films, and all the
sights are famous - Grand CAnyon, Statue of Liberty etc
etc) then ask if there are more specific questions - car
parking, opening hours, crowd size, cost etc.
I'm not a yank, by the way, but a Brit, in case anyone is
wondering, but I make the abovep oint because I planned a 3
month trip to USA using guide books, then came to teh thorn
tree for additional, more specific info. I'd didn't just ask
someone where to go. I only make the piont because I feel it
is very hard for anyone to help you if you are so vague. The
very first thing to do when going across USA is to get a map
and sit at home and circle a few things to get a vague idea
of the route, then look into it deeper for the less well
known sights. I've found almost everysight worth seeing is
in Lonely Planet books.
Bye
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I couldn't agree more. I get the best responses to specific
questions, and find that the URL's forwarded to me are every
bit as useful as the personal stories (which, of course, I
love.) Guide books, tourist board websites and the like
should be the starting point, not the TT!
Dear Traveling public:
Take this advice, read up on your interests and then ask
specific questions that couldn't be answered from the
guidebooks.
Cheers and have a great holiday in USA!
Patrick
Thank you for putting into words what I was thinking just
yesterday and this morning as I read posts like "I want to
know everything about everything in France and Italy"...or
"what should I see in western Europe?"
good grief people do some research yourself! I wonder how
these people ever get across the ocean!!!!!!!
So what if people ask vague questions? You don't have to answer them. Maybe they're using as a starting point BEFORE they buy the guide books.
A question as detailed as "what's the cost and open hours" is a bit TOO specific in my view...those details are always subject to seasonal change and are best left to a phone call direct to the site.
It is very helpful when folks with the general questions at least mention what they know they enjoy ... gardens, museums, historic buildings, etc. and narrow the geography to a city, state or region (not the entire USA)
This joker has nothing better to do than complain. He/she/it
is constantly harping about similar useless subjects on the
NE Asia TT.
ZZZ, why don't you go and get some and quit whining? Who
really give a shit about your silly opinions anyway? If you
don't want to answer don't, but please refrain from
attempting to control this thread in the way you attempt to
elsewhere. I mean, really, who the fuck died and left a
whiny asshole like you in charge? Not to mention that you
see no hypocrisy in wasting several paragraphs whining about
other people who have legitimate questions to ask and are
here to get information, not judgement...
its like some of the damn regulars think they own the page.
for gods sake, i cant belive the dictatorship that rules
this tree. some of you regulars behave like you rule the
page, and its your damn page and if someone asks a vague
question theyre mocked. jeez there is no right and wrong,
or brilliant or dumb questions to ask. is it really such a
waste of space and time? what the hell is this page for
otherwise? you snooty nosed bastards. people like tex zzzz
and patrick are really beginning to piss me off. if its
such a dumb question (in your opinion) for petes sake JUST
DONT RESPOND. Do you regulars have anything better to do,
or do you just read the fricken thorn tree all day long.
get a bloody life. EVERYONE OUT THERE, KEEP THE QUESTIONS
ROLLING, THATS WHAT THIS TREE IS DAMN WELL FOR.
its like some of the damn regulars think they own the page.
for gods sake, i cant belive the dictatorship that rules
this tree. some of you regulars behave like you rule the
page, and its your damn page and if someone asks a vague
question theyre mocked. jeez there is no right and wrong,
or brilliant or dumb questions to ask. is it really such a
waste of space and time? what the hell is this page for
otherwise? you snooty nosed bastards. people like tex zzzz
and patrick are really beginning to piss me off. if its
such a dumb question (in your opinion) for petes sake JUST
DONT RESPOND. Do you regulars have anything better to do,
or do you just read the fricken thorn tree all day long.
get a bloody life. EVERYONE OUT THERE, KEEP THE QUESTIONS
ROLLING, THATS WHAT THIS TREE IS DAMN WELL FOR.
In response to an earlier post, I am not actually whoever
you think i am from a different topic tree. i may have used
his handle by mistake, but there you go. My point is that I
like to help people. I did a lot of research for my trip,
gained a lot of knowledge, and found thorn tree very useful.
Nothing pleases me more than to be able to share my
knowledge to help others, because there were some things I
wish i'd known before I started.
However, it is very dispiriting to be unable to help people
because they are too vague. They would gain more benefit
with specific questions. It also shows a lack of application
to the task in hand. If someone were going to the back of
beyond in deepest rainforest or asis etc, then it's probably
fine to ask what there is too see, but to have to ask what
to see in the USA - that's insane. Anyone who watches any
films and TV at all will be aware of the sights the USA
contains. Besides, what puzzles me is, why plan a
trip/drive, THEN think about what to see? The reason I went
to the USA was to see specific sights I knew about - Grand
Canyon, Niagara, New York. I have little desire to go to
Zimbabwe (no offence) because I do not know what is there. I
don't understand how people can plan a trip then think about
what to see. Surely the reason you planned the trip was
because you had something in mind already.
Controlling the thread? Hey, Regular Reader, he offered
suggestions that will elicit the best information. And it's
true. I'm sure there's a reason why you felt you had to
throw in so many profanities in your brief message, but
surely you couldn't think that would lead to more support
for your view. Or do you just feel now that you've "told
off" that bugger? Hey, folks, it was a useful suggestion.
People who ask broad questions without doing any research
first or even including any specifics about their interests,
budgets, etc. are just hurting themselves. Though there are
not nearly as bad as those young students who say "I'm
writing a report about country x, please tell me anything
there is to know about it." Sure, they're also hurting
themselves, but why not make the effort to do a bit of
research and then ask questions. The results will be
better. It's just a suggestion not, Regular Reader, an
attempt at "control."
Those who criticzed the original posting by saying that
he/she can just ignore those postings he/she doesn't like
seem to have missed one point: they, too, could have
ignored his posting, but chose not to. Are they any less,
or more, dictatorial then the original writer? And those
who think this is dictatorship have surely never lived under
a real dictator.
Those who criticzed the original posting by saying that
he/she can just ignore those postings he/she doesn't like
seem to have missed one point: they, too, could have
ignored that first posting, but chose not to. Are they any
less, or more, dictatorial then the original writer? And
those who think this is dictatorship have surely never lived
under a real dictator.
Unlike the outside world, where there is indeed the possibility of someone stopping you on the street , holding a gun on you ,demanding all your money AND even worse, forcing you against your will to describe in excrucitating detail all of the "must see ,must do " things in your neighborhood , you are free here to read any question ,or answer for that matter ,or to just skip over it. While I agree that there are quite a few postings that indicate signs of premature brain death , to say nothing of the responses , unless you are going to post that admonition every single morning , since many people don't even check to see if their question was asked the day before, you will be in a constant state of disappointment. There is no obligation to fruitlessly attempt to figure out Bill's logic. As two old songs went ,"Just walk on by",and "Take what you need and leave the rest."
What's dictatorial got to do with it? I don't see anywhere in Thorn Tree's rules that state only specific questions are to be asked. It is, however, a travel site, so one ought to expect to see questions or comments relating to travel here, not whining about how questions are asked.