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We’ve always said on AFF that any trip report is a welcome trip report! Our members are encouraged to contribute and every shared experience makes the AFF community richer. Our members enjoy reading all trip reports and reviews and sharing your experience might even help out future travellers.
You too can be a writer! If it’s your first time writing a trip report, this post will give you a few pointers.
Why should I write a trip report?
Everyone has their own motivation and reasons for writing a trip report, but a few common reasons include:
Ultimately, it is entirely up to you how you want to present your trip report! There is no set formula and everyone’s writing style is different. But as a general guide, trip reports often include:
Again, everyone is different. It depends on what you want the reader to get out of your trip report. There should be a balance between not providing enough information, and boring your reader with too much information about unimportant details. There is no hard and fast rule here but if you post 10 photos of the same meal, that’s probably a bit too much.
How do I post pictures?
Pictures can be posted by uploading them from your computer or from another URL. If you’re using a computer, you can upload images by clicking on "upload a file" at the bottom of the message compose box. If you're posting from another website, you'll want to find the landscape image in the toolbar above the message compose box.
For most members, there is a limit of 10 images per post. Of course, you can make multiple posts if you wish to post more than ten images. But there is another method of squeezing more photos into a single post, courtesy of our member JohnM:
“Just start a new document in MS Word. Insert picture, hit the spacebar to get a little horizontal separation and resize to about 7.8 cm wide, which gives you two pics side-by-side. Do that three times and you have a block of six pics.
Then open the MS Snipping Tool (it's part of Windows but can be a bit obscure to access - but once you've got it, pin it to the task bar.)
Take a snip of the aggregated pic and, hey presto, you have a single .jpg of the lot. Save it and then post away.”
My pictures are posting sideways – what should I do?
There is a bug that occasionally causes portrait images to post sideways. This most commonly occurs with pictures that are imported from a smart phone. A simple solution is to edit any portrait photos in some way before posting them. This may involve cropping them slightly or even just rotating them, then rotating them again so they’re exactly the same as they were before. This may not always work, but it’s worth a try if your pictures do post sideways.
I’m only flying in economy. Should I bother writing a trip report?
Absolutely! While many of our trip reports feature travel in premium cabins, other members are just as interested in what’s going on behind the curtain. We are proud to have a diverse range of trip reports covering many different styles of travel in many different parts of the world. Our members will be just as interested to read about your experience.
Any other tips?
If you’re still not sure how to start, why not have a read of some of the trip reports written by other members? They are your best port of call for getting ideas. Otherwise, just start writing! You never know what you might come up with.
Finally, remember that any trip report is a welcome addition. So why not give it a go?
You too can be a writer! If it’s your first time writing a trip report, this post will give you a few pointers.
Why should I write a trip report?
Everyone has their own motivation and reasons for writing a trip report, but a few common reasons include:
- To share an interesting or unique experience with the AFF community
- To inform and assist future travellers who are heading to the same destination/s
- Other members may even be able to offer you advice about your trip
- Trip reports make a great record of your favourite memories from your trip, and looking back on your trip report/s in the future can be a fun way to relive some of those memories
Ultimately, it is entirely up to you how you want to present your trip report! There is no set formula and everyone’s writing style is different. But as a general guide, trip reports often include:
- Reviews of any flights (or any other modes of transport) taken, including airport lounges and/or on-board comfort and service.
- Reviews of your hotel/accommodation – what did you like/dislike about the hotel?
- Some tips on things to see and do, and how to get around, at the destination/s
- Interesting/funny stories about things that happened on your trip
- Pictures! They say that a picture says 1000 words, and illustrating your trip report with your best travel snaps is sure to make it more interesting.
Again, everyone is different. It depends on what you want the reader to get out of your trip report. There should be a balance between not providing enough information, and boring your reader with too much information about unimportant details. There is no hard and fast rule here but if you post 10 photos of the same meal, that’s probably a bit too much.
How do I post pictures?
Pictures can be posted by uploading them from your computer or from another URL. If you’re using a computer, you can upload images by clicking on "upload a file" at the bottom of the message compose box. If you're posting from another website, you'll want to find the landscape image in the toolbar above the message compose box.
For most members, there is a limit of 10 images per post. Of course, you can make multiple posts if you wish to post more than ten images. But there is another method of squeezing more photos into a single post, courtesy of our member JohnM:
“Just start a new document in MS Word. Insert picture, hit the spacebar to get a little horizontal separation and resize to about 7.8 cm wide, which gives you two pics side-by-side. Do that three times and you have a block of six pics.
Then open the MS Snipping Tool (it's part of Windows but can be a bit obscure to access - but once you've got it, pin it to the task bar.)
Take a snip of the aggregated pic and, hey presto, you have a single .jpg of the lot. Save it and then post away.”
My pictures are posting sideways – what should I do?
There is a bug that occasionally causes portrait images to post sideways. This most commonly occurs with pictures that are imported from a smart phone. A simple solution is to edit any portrait photos in some way before posting them. This may involve cropping them slightly or even just rotating them, then rotating them again so they’re exactly the same as they were before. This may not always work, but it’s worth a try if your pictures do post sideways.
I’m only flying in economy. Should I bother writing a trip report?
Absolutely! While many of our trip reports feature travel in premium cabins, other members are just as interested in what’s going on behind the curtain. We are proud to have a diverse range of trip reports covering many different styles of travel in many different parts of the world. Our members will be just as interested to read about your experience.
Any other tips?
- All trip reports – with the exception of video reviews (as we do not allow video uploads) – should be posted to AFF in their entirety, and not simply be a link to any other site.
- Try to make it easy to read by using correct grammar and leaving space between paragraphs.
- A catchy title will add to the appeal of your trip report.
- Determine whether the purpose of your report is to inform or entertain – or both. Informative trip reports tend to contain more detail, while entertaining reports contain suspense, drama and the odd joke. Some of the best trip reports contain a mixture of both.
- You may find it easier to write as you go, as things will be fresh in your mind. Although, enjoying your trip does come first so we understand if the report is a little delayed!
- Many trip report writers write an original version in Microsoft Word, then copy and paste the text over to AFF. This is perfectly fine, but be aware that this may cause extra spaces between paragraphs that you might need to remove. Previewing the post is a good way to check for this.
If you’re still not sure how to start, why not have a read of some of the trip reports written by other members? They are your best port of call for getting ideas. Otherwise, just start writing! You never know what you might come up with.
Finally, remember that any trip report is a welcome addition. So why not give it a go?
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