Why travel advice is broken

When you go to Rome, do as the Romans do.

This timeless advice stays in my mind everywhere I travel. As much as I want to, it is often hard unless I have friends who are from Rome. Most of the advice I read online are written by other travelers like me, and are sure to provide me a generic tourist experience.

Why most travel advice sucks.

Following travel advice from someone who visited a country once, is analogous to the blind leading the blind. It’s like getting wine tips from someone who just started drinking wine.

While advice from fellow tourists can be useful, it doesn’t give us enough nuance or context to truly appreciate a place. As with anything, details matter. You could visit the best restaurant in Korea, but if you don’t know what to order you’ll have a subpar experience.

This causes many downstream problems as well:

• Tourists appear annoying or ignorant.
• You never get an authentic experience.

How might we improve this?

Let’s flip the traditional model on its head.

We are actually all Romans where we live. There are probably some spots you know better than most. Maybe you are Italian, and know where to enjoy authentic Italian food. Maybe you are an Art History professor, and can tell us how to visit a gallery. Maybe you love EDM, and know the best way to enjoy a night out.

Many of us already do this for our friends. When they visit, they often ask you for a list of things to do. You might even keep a list on your phone.

Recommendation vs Review

Let’s compare a TripAdvisor review with a good recommendation for a famous New York deli.

Notice how the review tells you what they did, a rating, and nothing much else. They also include some useless information, like how long they waited for the sandwich.

Here’s my idea of a good recommendation for the same place.

Much better right? A good recommendation is concise, but rich with specific details to guide you. There is no rating to confuse you, or angry reviews to distract you. It describes an experience, and then gives you the blueprint to recreate it. Wish we had more recommendations like this.