The Most travel holiday ideas: Reader Survey Results: What We’re Changing This Year!

a laptop notebook and smartphone
Posted: 02/06/2020 | February 6th, 2020

At the end of 2019, the team and I ran a reader survey. We wanted to see what you liked, didn’t like, and wanted from us in the future. There were some interesting and helpful suggestions in there.

I read through over a thousand responses, as I wanted to see what you wanted from us. You can’t get better without feedback, and we always want to make sure we’re serving your needs.

So, as we make our way through this year, I wanted to share with you some changes you can expect to see on the website:

First, we’re continuing to bring on new voices to write for us. You might have noticed that we’re having more guest posts to more destinations! We’re currently looking for articles about:

LGBT content: stories by transgender people, queer couples, and solo gay, lesbian, or bi travelers
Africa-related content (bonus points if it’s East or Central Africa)
Middle East–related content
Central Asia–related content
India-related content
China-related content
Technology- or gear-related content
Senior/Older travel
Family travel

If you want to write for us, check out our guidelines page.

Second, I plan to write more travel stories this year. We do a lot of brass-tacks, hard-numbers stuff here. The nuts and bolts of travel. Practical information.

But last year, writing my book inspired me to get into more storytelling. So this year, as I make my way around the world, I’m making an effort to create more stories about the places I visit — their history, people, and culture. So you’ll see such content popping up with more frequency.

And you’ll see more history and culture in our how-to posts too. I want to start painting a more holistic view of each destination we write about.

Third, we’re going to be hosting a lot more events this year. We’ve started The Nomadic Network so we can do more in-person events this year. We really want to take this online community offline, so we’re building a great website for that and hosting lots of events.

For more information and ways you can get involved, check this post out.

Fourth, a lot of you suggested topics you wanted to see, so we’re busy making that happen! Some of the topics you’ll start to see more of over the course of the year are:

Eco-travel
Traveling with pets
Family/kid-friendly travel
Traveling when you’re older
How to make friends when you travel
How to make the most of your time
How to save more money BEFORE you go
Off-beat destinations
“Thematic” ways to see a city
Reader stories
Ways to volunteer
Itinerary posts
And a bunch more!

Obviously, I can’t write all the time (or expertly on all these topics), which is why we’re going to be bringing in a few more regular contributors and writers now. So not only will you be seeing more content, you’ll be seeing a lot more diverse voices on the website too.

And, as a sidebar to that: since we have so much content now, we’re going to be doing a new redesign in the middle of the year so the site will be easier to navigate.

That’s it! Those are our big plans! We’re super excited about what’s in store for this year.

– Matt

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewher eother than a hotel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and I think will help you too!

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