Giving Travel Advice Cautiously to Friends Coming To Italy

Most People Don't Really Want or Need My Travel Advice

 What makes a good vacation differs for different people. A lot depends on your stage of life, children/no children, how long you have, how much money you want to spend, whether you like museums and monuments or would rather climb the highest peak. Some people want to pack every day to the brim with tours and activities; others like more white space. We tend to be people who like to take it slowly, savor the moments, wander and linger, and we don't like to have the day filled with scheduled activities. So this is the first problem with giving people advice. If they have different ideas about what is a good vacation, well then our advise is not good for them.

So over the past 1 1/2 years I have learned to give advice very cautiously. People will ask you all kinds of questions but few will take your suggestions, and many will do exactly the opposite! In the beginning I went out of my way to send people information. Then it was a bit disappointing and sometimes even hurtful when people totally disregard what you have told them.

They have an Aunt Suzy that came to Italy for 3 weeks in 1968, or a neighbor that took a organized tour "15 cities in 15 days" last year, or they have a niece that took a summer class in Bologna, well, those people all really know more than we do about traveling in Italy!

Another factor is the wonderful internet. People seem to believe if it is written on the internet it must be true! So most people will spend hours researching what Travel websites say and how they rate the sites and hotels and then follow that advice. Sometimes it is good, and sometimes maybe it is not. People have to realize that the comments are generally really good or really bad; it is those experiences on either end of the spectrum that motivate people to write a comment. Otherwise, everything in the middle goes uncommented and they maybe missing really good, value priced accomodations or great sites off the normal tourist junket.

So after many of these experiences, I will not offer much advice to people who ask. I am careful to say "For the period we lived in Italy, this area was ...." since things do change. If they really ask multiple times, I may offer them an example of some sites we have visited, but beyond that, I recommend people work with a really good travel agent who can taper the itinerary to what they want to see and do. There are good organized tours out there, as long as you don't mind the structure of a group tour. If you don't speak the language and are new to foreign travel, that might be the best way to go for the first trip; get the overview of the country and then later go back on your own once you understand how things work.

We have a really good travel agent I will recommend to anyone who asks. They tend to price high-end tours but will work within a budget if your provide that.The good thing about this agency is that the proprietor is native Italian and knows Italy really well. They are also good at the rest of Europe as well. www.IDVLuxuryTravel.com

WAIT! I just had a revelation! I should put my travel advice on the internet and then I don't have to repeat it and, it will implicitly carry more weight than Aunt Suzy or the neighbor, and since it is on the internet, it will be true!

Telling Me What I Have Missed
The other part of these typical conversations I have with people who have vacationed in Italy before, is the quiz "have you been to the statue of Polyopolis in Modena?" "have you eaten dinner at the Le Comissare Modale on the cliffs of Pescara?", etc. I say "No, really we haven't done much traveling beyond Naples, Rome and xxx...." and they respond "Oh too bad! You should have gone there! You missed the best part of Italy. I was there in 20xx and saw this, that, and the other, and it was marvelous...." and after 20 minutes of hearing their travelogue and how unfortunate I am because I haven't been there, I am thinking huh, "What was the point of this conversation?"

The lesson here, it is good to share travel experiences and share suggestions with others about the things you saw and liked, but this is not a competition about how many places you have been or how cool the monuments are that you saw. Let's be kind, and real people. No fake stuff!