Here in South America, I had one of the best times and the best travel experiences, but that's not always the case
Yes, I mean exactly what the title says, but in a professional manner as most non objectively as you can. Unbiased, unfiltered, and unsponsored reviews are very important in todays world. From all the jobs that include product reviews, travel deals and packages, and even down to the runnings of a restaurant - we need to keep each other accountable.
Now this isn't to say that you should go hate spam something (or someone, shame on you) just for kicks and giggles. I'm not advocating for any kind of that activity whatsoever. Hate comments and attacks on brands/people/products that are unnecessary will hopefully not stand a chance to all the positive comments and joy, but lets face it it's a difficult task. What I'm stressing is the honest and open review about something (particularly travel related) that truly was not up to standards. This doesn't have to mean the highest standards and luxury of all time, but there is a happy medium and an expected kind of etiquette for travel experiences. There are expectations that should be upheld and I'm here to talk about why we need to write those "bad" reviews.
Bad reviews can be seen all over travel apps, restaurant adds, Facebook, etc. The thing that gets overlooked, however, is the word of mouth to your immediate friends. I felt so passionately about a bad experience recently and I noticed that I quickly spoke about it with my closest friends first. Throughout the years as a travel writer this has been a pattern. If I had a bad run in with a company, with a location, or any kind of travel related service I would almost immediately tell my friends before making it more public or publishing something. As if almost a warning to those who might be affected most immediately I wanted to let people know just in case they were about to make my similar mistake. On a larger scale, I do the same here with my company. This is for many and I advise you to take a situation into your own hands and deal with it as professionally as you can. Emphasizing again on professional because truth be told no one likes a Facebook rant about something irrelevant.
I fully intend to come back and talk about specific and recent situations I find myself in, but for now I wanted to preface the fact that travel experiences and situations can swiftly get better upon honest customer review. You may not be a “seasoned world traveler” and that has merit too. As humans, it's pretty obvious when your time isn't valued, you're overcharged, or you're underwhelmed. We need forthright reviews. Not a sponsored post thats not genuine, not a paid ad with an actor, and certainly not a random hate comment on an app.
We have the power to better everyones travel experience so lets do so as often as we see fit.
-CS
