We're going to start encouraging more Guide-style trip reports. Although we have a good number of guides (over 80 submitted) with most major destinations covered and the basics do not change much, it would still be nice to have current and updated guides.

We may be contacting some of you to see if you'll be willing to look over your old guides and submitting a revised edition.

I will also be posting guide-writing suggestions here. Feel free to add commentary and further suggestions.

In addition, we can assist with map creation, visual layout and formatting, and proof-reading before posting.

Also, don't let your relative lack of experience in a location (ie only one visit) stop you from attempting a guide. The collection of information in a guide format from just a single visit can be incredibly useful for others that are planning a trip to the same location, especially if a guide does not currently exist. Furthermore, any additions or corrections can be made in the comments section and later incorporated into a revised edition.

Guide Writing Suggestions

The following represents what I think is the best way to approach writing your first guide or improving your next guide. Since the guide will reflect your own personal style and viewpoint, feel free to choose which aspects to incorporate as well as which to leave out. Also, don't be overly concerned about making mistakes or posting information that might change in the future. You can always post updates to your guide based on your own experience or comments from others, and/or post a revised edition to your guide.

The following is not in a strict order, but the more important aspects in my opinion are closer to the top. To reiterate: Your guide does NOT need to include everything below, except the first

Review the venues: Include as much relevant information as you can such as location, days/hours, pricing, and quantity/quality of selection (optional: specify what day(s) of the week you visited). If you describe quality of sessions, you might want to emphasize YMMV (Your mileage may vary). (optional: identify your recommendations and/or list them in order based on recommendation)

Describe transportation: Comment on how to get around the city and to the places you mentioned. (optional: describe how to get to and from the airport with expected cost)

Mention accomodations: If you know of places that are guest-friendly, MENTION THEM. Additional details such as location and contact info are helpful, but not always necessary since contact information for accomodations is generally easier to find.

Summarize costs: Try to give people an idea of what to budget so they can plan accordingly.

I think those are the most important things, although the venue mentions and reviews are the only thing I would say are absolutely essential.

Here are other things you can add if you choose to:

Immigration/Customs/Visa Information
Security/Scams/Safety Issues
Tourist Attraction/Activity Recommendations
Restaurant/Food Recommendations
Weather/Best & Worst Time to Visit
Currency conversions/Exchange rate
Comparisons to other Destinations

If you want to email your guide to us for proof-reading, formatting/layout/image integration assistance, map creation, or some or all of the above, you can email the guide to support@clubhombre.com, and don't forget to mention your username.

Good luck with your guide!

I forgot to mention an important optional tip. A nice touch you can add to the guide (or any report for that matter) is to have links from the guide to areas of the site where the specific topics are discussed. This is most often done for hobbying venues, but you can also link to hotel topics, transportation topics, or anything else. This is a fairly advanced thing to do properly on your own, but we can very quickly and easily add them so we recommend you have us add them.