Trip planning sites are dime a dozen at the moment, but some good ones include:

PlanetEye
Triporati
NileGuide
TravelMuse
Yapta

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On the blog page for Minimus.biz, we are always available to help travelers with questions regarding travel sizes, TSA, packing light, etc. We also try to offer posts related to these topics in addition to our product posts and plan in the future to expand upon this both on the blog and in our newsletters. On the blog page, you can also find my email address to send any questions to directly.

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The forum at http://www.fodors.com is my favorite place to get real person advice on travel. They have long threads on NYC and Toronto. Guidebook authors sometimes check in to threads and help out, too.

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I find forums a great place to get good insider information about places. Fodors, Slow Talk, Bootsnall, Virtual Travelers are all faves of mine.

I have also gotten great info and even invites from people I have met on social media sites like Twitter and StumbleUpon. I asked a question about what to do on Halloween in NYC before our trip there this fall and @wendyperrin from Conde Nast Traveler invited us to do Halloween at her home ( which was a highlight for us)!

I met two people on Stumble Upon that sent me tons of information about South Africa and Botswana and invited me to meet them and one even gave me her brother’s phone number there!

The internet is a great resource. A family from the UK who has been traveling Europe as a family via RV since 2000, were a great help to us in planning our world tour phase in Europe based on their experiences. We felt like we knew each other well by the time we connected in person!

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I would suspect that if they are North American sites then they are probably perfect for your trip to NYC…

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Twitter can be good, but only if you have lots of followers. Contrast that to a forum where anyone can sign up and post a question and expect an answer. Thinking from an average consumers perspective, twitter/stumbleupon etc. are not ways to go at present. Alex’s post recently on Twitter was interesting though and would be a good way to go. The downside being the tracking of keywords by businesses who then promptly respond with answers that all lead back to their businesses.

Although not as fast, I think forums/yahoo answers are one of the best ways to go if you want something personal. Mahalo answers also seems to be an option if you want good replies, but it costs you money of course. Check out this question/answer thread for example: http://www.mahalo.com/answers/japan/what-is-a-realistic-budget-for-this-48-week-itinerary-in-japan-and-will-it-differ-much-between-cities

And of course if you want something personal, we started the travel help system on Travellerspoint for exactly that reason back in 02 Bootsnall has something similar called Insiders and I think I’ve seen some tripadvisor companies launching similar ideas lately.

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I agree with Sam about Twitter. The pool of answers that you can receive is limited to the number of followers you have so for a power user, it’s great. If you only have a few followers then the power is somewhat limited. It requires upkeep.

The same goes for getting feedback from your blog. If you have a mighty and powerful blog then it can, and should, work for you. I think that a site such as yahoo answers works pretty good though there are a lot of crap answers up there.

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I’ve used three different methods for asking questions about a particular destination or activity that I was considering: 1. LP Forum: mixed results. It definately takes a day or three to get responses, but I’ve had good suggestions on some thread. Others were unhelpful and a waist of time. Go with a specific question. Don’t ask a broad one such as: what are the best things to do in France?

2. Travel blogs: if there is a good travel blog on a specific location or activity: use the search feature of the blog to see if there has been a post on your needed information. If not, e-mail the blog writer. Most are very helpful. They are also busy so give them ample time to respond.

3. Friends: if you love to travel get involved in the network of travelers. With all the blogs, forums, and travelzines it’s easy to become part of the community. If you don’t have your own blog then read other blogs and comment. One day they’ll help you with the info you need.

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I am looking forward to Darren’s report on what avenues he found most useful for his trip to NYC and Toronto. BTW, Fodors has active forums on countries around the world–not just U.S. And there are frequently users from outside the U.S., too. French people who answer questions on France, etc.

I am a travel writer and before I went to Greece last year, I met an Englishwoman on Fodors.com who frequently spends time on the island of Siphnos. When my husband and I went to the island, she met us and served as my translator for some interviews and “Cultural guide” while I was there.

Hope you get as lucky, Darren.

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I’ve always been partial to Lonely Planet’s Thorntree Forum myself. If you “couchsurf,” your hosts are generally helpful people who have their own opinions on their area.

I hate to seem old-school here, but I think reading a comprehensive guidebook from a series you trust and forming your own opinions of what you’d like to do/see (to balance those of the cyberworld) is still valuable. Ultimately, it is still *your* time and money on the line, right?

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Twitter’s def a good place to start. Don’t just limit yourself to asking on one place; use one or two at least *and* do a google search.

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