Forget Instagram. Smart travelers head to Reddit for the best tips.
Instagram’s 2010 launch flooded the zone with a whole genre of #travel photos. You know the look: oversaturated images with crowds cropped out that have made places from Patagonia to Iceland yawn-inducingly familiar. And with 39% of us now using social media for trip inspiration, according to the 2024 American Express Global Travel Trends Report, our feeds have become vacation-themed echo chambers.
When it comes to trip research, Molly Gagnon, a travel agent and self-described digital nomad, prefers a far less shiny platform: Reddit, the user-moderated forum with all the visual appeal of a hotel business center. What Reddit lacks in chic, it makes up for in candor, Gagnon says. “I notice people are more authentic about their experiences." Since users can “upvote" posts they like, those offering real expertise often rise to prominence.
By emphasizing text, Reddit encourages incisive conversations, not superficial travel brags. Here’s how to get the most from the site. Trip planning starts with finding the right “subreddits," forums searchable on the site with an “r/" lead-in, for everything from politics to pizza delivery.
“The broader they get, the less useful they are," said Jesse Smith of North Kansas City, Mo., who moderates r/onebag, a subreddit devoted to packing light. “In niche [subreddits], you get people who are really passionate about a topic." Eschewing r/travel as overly generic, Smith turns to forums dedicated to maximizing points, like r/awardtravel, while other popular subreddits include r/solotravel, r/TravelHacks and r/FATTravel, which is all about spending big on vacation. Like travel destinations themselves, each subreddit has its own habitués and norms, so settle in and observe before posting.
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