How to write travel guides.

Hi!

We're writing travelguides to the entire world, for backpackers, together.

You can join too, here is how.

Anyone can write.

Anyone can write. Add a hostel, write a travelguide, add a place that's not in there yet. Just log in and go for it. You don't need a degree, you don't need to be an official writer. We don't believe anyone is so special that they're the only ones who have something interesting to write - everyone has something interesting to share from their travels. So go for it! Don't be afraid to write something bad, other people always review things, and if you write something that's wrong or something, they'll help you correct it and improve it.

Travel, not tourism.

The travelguides are focused on travel, not tourism. That means cheap hostels over expensive hotels, public transportation over guided tours. Always remember that the travelers don't have a lot of money to spend.

Cheap hostels.

Cheap hostels are the most important places to stay. List enough alternatives if available. Camping grounds and other cheap options (room shares, ...) can also be included.

Mid-range hotels should only be included if there are none or not enough cheap hostels available. We should assume budget travelers will prefer cheap hostels over mid-range hotels.

Expensive places should only be included if they provide something really really special, something a budget traveler would like to splurge on for one night. It would be very strange for their to be more than 1 expensive place listed for a city, and most places shouldn't have expensive places listed.

Alternative ways of staying in a place (working somewhere that provides board, long term stays etc.) are useful information and may be included, as long as they're cheap.

Just the facts please. Hostel information should contain factual information. You should try to add some color, as long as it consists of facts. In other words: "There's a cat in the hostel that says hi to the guests." is colorful, factual information. That's good. "Perhaps the best hostel in Y" is not factual information, it's opinion, and shouldn't be in a hostel description.

Careful with your own hostel. If you have a conflict of interest in writing about a hostel (it's your own hostel, you work there, ...), be careful about not promoting the hostel too much. And definitely never edit hostel information of competing hostels.

Not just the tourist traps.

You can add places to the travel guides.

A place can be a town, a city, or even an area that's interesting for travelers but that's not directly connected to a specific town.

Not just tourist traps. The "top 5" tourist sights aren't the only interesting things, and often not even the most interesting things to see. We want to add places that are out of the way, that have things to see that are perhaps less popular. Rio de Janero has a great beach, sure, but the favelas are also interesting to visit, and I'm sure there's lots of other interesting aspects to it. In a city, we want to point out neighbourhoods that are interesting but that tourists don't typically go to, for example.

Travelguides.

1 topic. Travelguides should explain 1 particular topic. If a travelguide expands into too many topics, we'll turn it into separate guides.

Duplicate topics. Check if the topic you want to add already exists. New travelguides of topics that already exist will be merged into the existing travelguide.

Practical topics. These travelguides are practical, and give travelers ideas for things they can do. For example, how to get from Colombia to Panama. How to get around by train. How to find a cheap plane ticket.

Cultural and background topics. These travelguides give insight in the country you're traveling. They should contain interesting, objective information about the culture.

Enough detail to investigate. Travelers don't need you to hold their hands and explain every little tiny detail. Just enough to get an idea of the place, to see how expensive it will be, and to help plan it.

Grammar and writing style.

Short and clear. In general, writing style should be simple and to the point. No long, complicated sentences. No complicated words. The clearer the writing style, the easier it can be understood even by people who don't speak English as a native language, and the easier it is to translate things too (we plan to make translations available later on).

No personal stories. Don't include personal stories in the travel information. Things like "I stayed there and X", or "When we were there Y" should go in the comments, or in the forums. The travel guides should have factual information.

Don't worry, we'll help you. Just write something, and you'll get feedback on it from others. Go for it!

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