Bohemian Traveler Survey Results [uncensored!]

The results from the first-ever Bohemian Traveler reader survey are in! Thanks for your participation!

Reader’s Favorite colomns:

1)     Photos from the Road

Travel Stories

3)     Travel Advice or Recommendations

4)     Articles about Location Independence

5)     Philosophy of Travel

6)     Food articles

Keep in mind this may not be the true representation of Bohemian Traveler’s readership. It just represents the readers who were cool enough (or had enough free time) to take the survey. Thanks for your participation!

Below I address some specific questions and comments that readers had.

What do you most want to see from Bohemian Traveler in the future?

Reader: About elder travelers he has met & their insights & tricks

There are quite a decent number of elder travelers, but I don’t get into extensive enough conversations with them to learn their insights & tricks. I have made one very good friendship with a 73-year-old Swiss woman while walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Here is my interview with her: http://gomadnomad.com/2010/01/18/interview-with-a-retired-traveler/

Additionally check out My Itchy Travel Feet: A Guide to Travel for Baby Boomers

Reader: About how he assists those he meets & stays with

If I ever stay with anyone, I try to be as courteous a guest as possible. I try to cook something for them if given the opportunity and leave the place cleaner than I found it. And of course, I’m always willing to offer any travel advice.

Reader: About any regrets of location independence & nomad lifestyle

I understand there isn’t any permanent lifestyle choice. We always have to remain open-minded for change. Eventually I will have different priorities in my life. Not having regrets is a conscious decision I made long ago. I make thoughtful decisions for myself and understand there are consequences to every choice I make. Every one of us wakes up in the morning and makes decisions based on what we think will make us the most happy.

Reader: Creative aspects of money flow-earning, spending little, saving, barter, trade

I make enough money now from blogging and freelance writing to keep traveling (at least in cheap countries). Occasional I trade media exposure on my blog for accommodation stays.

Reader: Misunderstandings & misinterpretations when there is no common oral language

Believe it or not, there are very seldom any issues with miscommunications due to language. If a person doesn’t know at least a little bit of English, someone nearby will know some. Many things are easily communicable without oral language.

Reader: Advice from single women that he’s met, since solo women are not culturally understood in the world

There are a lot of solo-women travelers out there and I respect them a lot. Some of them are bloggers. Check out Solo Traveler, OttsWorld, Travel Reportage, SoloFriendly and Twenty-SomethingTravel

Reader: Include other independent traveler’s blogs & websites, as that’s how I uncovered this one.

My favorite travel blogs at the moment are Wandering Earl, Migrationology, Time Travel Turtle, and GoSeeWrite.

Reader: Contests

I can try to run some contests in the future maybe for accommodation or some travel products. I’ll put it on the list.

Reader: Bohemian Traveler should be a television show.

A nice idea! But I’ve done a few videos (see my YouTube channel) and trust me I’m much better behind the pen and camera than in front of the video recorder. I just think I lack the charisma of a TV personality.

Reader: Photo illustrated stories about life and interesting destinations off the tourist sites. Also comments about the tourist attractions.

I’m trying my best to do this right now!

Reader: Some stories from the South Pacific.

Believe me, I’d love to go to the South Pacific. It is just remote and I haven’t been to that part of the world, yet. Also it’s a bit expensive. It’s on my list, though!

Reader: I like seeing pictures of Stephen on his travels! Because I am a friend I like it’s always a personal update and like to see what he’s doing personally!

You make a good point. I should try to incorporate more pictures of myself into the blogs. I haven’t done this to any extent except for the time I learned to surf.

Reader: Once in a while throw in some info directed for the older individual.

Great idea. But the forum for that would be in my travel magazine GoMad Nomad. But I’m kind of dependent on older freelance writers to write that potential article for me.

Reader: Something like short videos of people answering questions that are of common interest globally, such as “what is peace for you?” (silly question, just to show an example)

That is not a silly question and your idea is a fantastic one. I should do this.

Reader: Prices, safety issues (I’m older).

On GoMad Nomad I publish a column dedicated to prices and budgets in countries around the world.

Reader: More of how you decide where to go, and why. Also how do you make advance arrangements to satisfy your being able to support your nomadic journeys? Why not write a quick course on the subject for those who are interested?

I guess I could write a whole post on this. To simplify, I go to countries that are most interesting to me. But there’s more to it than that.

Reader: More European travel.

Noted! I love Europe. I was there for 3 1/2 months last autumn. Read some posts from Europe: https://bohemiantraveler.com/category/destinations/europe/ and http://gomadnomad.com/category/destinations/europe/

Reader: More writers (including me if I can get my act together and get some blogs finished!!!)

I generally only accept submission to GoMad Nomad. Here are the writer’s guidelines: http://gomadnomad.com/submissions/

Bohemian Traveler is my personal Blog, so I like to keep it mostly my own writing.

Reader: More photographs

I try to publish a “Photos from the Road” post every week. You can visit the archive here: https://bohemiantraveler.com/category/experience-more/photos-experience-more/

I also have a photo archives on my Flickr pages: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52442953@N05/collections/

Reader: I would like if possible to see more photos. Also, most months I only rely on the monthly newsletter and its links, so if you can pack it as much as you can.

I do my best with the monthly newsletter. Thanks for reading it!

Reader: Tips on how to make $ while writing and traveling!

I’ll try to cover that in a future post. Good idea.

Reader: Surprise me

You’re right. I should do more unexpected and unorthodox posts. I’ll be thinking of new ideas.

Reader: What essential resources/information hubs do you tap into while traveling?

If I’m not carrying a Moon Handbook, Rough Guide, or Lonely Planet, I’m relying very much on WikiTravel. It’s very much accurate and up-to-date for nearly every location I go. I also use travel blogs. GoBackpacking.com is a good resource for around the world travel.

Reader: Keep going, no requirements, maybe write just a bit longer texts

In theory that is a good idea and occasionally I do write longer text. But I am informed that internet-era attention spans are about 2 ½ minutes.

Reader: I like hearing about off the beaten path things to do

I like to write about off the beaten path things to do!

Reader: Nudie pictures of Stephen’s shank. More mustache pics (see question 4) More travel to dangerous locales like North Korea, Pakistan, Iraq (go big or go home).

BT: Definitely inappropriate! (At least the first one.) Can’t believe I’m even acknowledging your comment!

Reader:  It might be cool to interview people on the road. I’ve seen you get a shave or haircut in town, what’s the life of a barber like where you’re traveling. i.e. a day in the life of. It might also be neat to add some sort of charitable component to your travels. i.e. traveling, but making the world a better place as you do it.

Excellent observation. I appreciate that suggestion—both great ideas.

A good friend of mine has a column like that. He calls it “Chat with a local” Chek it out. There are some good ones there.

As for the charitable component, I’ll make that a challenge to myself. For the rest of the year, I’ll dedicate five days to volunteering or helping anyone. It may be part of an organized event; or it may be something impromptu I do on my own. It’s your job to hold me accountable. I will write my charitable days in the comments and number them. If I don’t have five days (four or more hours each day) of charity by December 31, 2013 I will write a check for $100 to the charity of your choice. I promise.

Reader: More more and more travel.

Got it! But I’m already on the road for about 11 months a year. I actually need to plan more down time!

Reader: Girls of Ibiza pictures.

BT: Again, not appropriate for my blog. But that might increase page views.

Reader: Keep up the good posts!

BT: I will try!

Reader: More intriguing travel experiences.

Always trying to do that.

Reader: I enjoy it the way it is now.

Thanks!

Reader: The specific information about the place you travel. (information that we can’t usually get from a normal guide book)

This is one of my ultimate goals—to be providing readers with insightful practical information. I want to be a resource for you to get information like this. If you wouldn’t mind leaving a more in-depth explanation about what exactly you are looking for, please let me know in the comment section below and I will try to incorporate that into future posts.

Please give me any other feedback. I have no other way of knowing what you think, so please let me know. Don’t worry about being too nice or too mean.

Reader: I like how the language used is very simple English so that someone whose second (or third) language is English may read it…but sometimes it lacks poetry…that’s where good photos help.

Thanks for the feedback.

Reader: Fine as it is.

Thanks.

Reader: Short stories work out well. Longer ones don’t get the critical reading that short ones do. Sometimes two short stories about one topic is better than one long one.

I’ll keep trying to mix up long and short stories.

Reader: I enjoy your travel comments and photos and usually find interesting links for further exploration.

Thanks

Reader: I like the monthly newsletter and the stories. I really enjoy the style of writing.

Thanks. I’ll be continuing the monthly newsletter.

Reader: Enjoy reading about your travels. Unfortunately, I never seem to have the time to do each email justice- hence don’t feel I can fairly make judgments.

You made time to do the survey. Thanks!

Reader: Your texts could be a bit shorter and more comprehensive. I like your pictures a lot but when it’s about to read the texts, I am getting a bit bored.

Thanks for your honest feedback. It’s always my goal to be interesting. Effective writing should captivate the reader.

Reader: opportunities for English speakers to earn a little pin money (free lodging, meals drinks for barter).

You mean like what can you do as an English speaker while traveling? Many hostels offer free lodging if you work for them part time. I suppose I could write a whole post on this.

Reader: While I like your photos in general, some are less than appealing and not of the highest quality you have usually done. Please be more selective.

I’ve been working on improving my photography for the last couple years. Some photos I use to illustrate a point or use to explain something about a culture or place and may not be the most appealing. But all the photos should add something to the article.

Reader: I don’t know how to explain this, but I’ll try…When you arrive to the homepage, it can be hard to understand exactly what you’re trying to do or be. (That is what friends or readers of my blogs have said to me). Independent Online Travel Magazine…so is the focus on well-written articles, being a reference for people looking to travel, or what. I think the “about” section explains it quite well. I don’t really have a suggestion as to what would help that, so I guess its just a criticism that I’ve heard from other people. Otherwise, the site is great. I like it a lot. One day I will finish the articles I’ve got half written and try to get them on.

Thanks for pointing this out. I think what you might be suggesting is for me to add a “Start Here” which woold explain the things you mention.

Reader: As friend of the Stephen and his family it is a wonderful tool to keep in touch with Stephen and also enjoy his wonderful stories and magnificent pictures. Reading Stephen’s blogs is like being on the trip with him. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

Thank you! I’ll try my best

Reader: Keep up the good work. U’r living my dream:)

Thanks for that! But, really, I encourage you to live your own dream. Right? Let me know what I can do to help you follow your dreams. I’m serious. Write me an email.

Reader: Keep doing what you’re doing.

BT: Thanks

Reader: You are an honest person and writer, I am interested in your insights.

Thanks. I’m always trying to keep it real.

Reader: I think we need to team up on a travel experience

Write me an email. I’m open to traveling with new people.

Reader: Continue with the down and dirty, the pain and glory, the peoples and cultures. Expand and capture as much as possible. I very much enjoy the intimacy of some of the articles. What could be said to the negative? I’ll allow yourself to divine this.

Thanks for your comments. I guess I am always interested in the real and common life experiences and just plain and simple how people live in different places.

Reader: It would be cool to do a “where’s waldo” or “where in the world is Matt Lauer”. It’s neat when you share something about a location and we have to guess the whereabouts. Also, do you track your mileage? I think your US cross country statistics were neat. i.e. how many states you were in, miles traveled, etc.

Good ideas…I should keep these things in mind in the future.

Reader: Keep Going !!!

Will do! Thanks for the encouragement!

Reader: Continue doing what you are doing. You are headed in the right direction. Whichever direction that is.

I’ll try!

Reader: I don’t think that Bugno visits Connecticut enough, particularly Hamden, CT.

What’s in Hamden? Ha! Just kidding. I’d love to come visit.

Reader: I think you can find something that sets you more apart from other travel bloggers.

I hope you’re right. I’d like to find something that sets me apart. I hope it can be in the way I share insights into a culture or place with my readers.

Reader: Your blog was one of the first I started following and I enjoy it ever since so I guess you do a right job 😉 keep it going!

Thanks!

Reader:  I think a regular update scheduling would help for your readers. Your writing skill is the biggest asset, in my opinion, would love to see more of your writing on other publications also.

You’re right. I’m been trying to publish on a regular schedule.

Hope you’re enjoyed the reader’s comments and my responses. Please feel free to leave additional comments below: