Before setting off on my big trip in the late 90s I was asking lots of people advice about different things to do and look out for. One chap who'd spent a lot of time travelling said 3 things are important.
1.Planning
2.Doing
3.Telling people about it when you're done.

Many never get past 1, or let others do it for them i.e. go on an organised tour. Some do 2. Of those that do 2, some do 3 (well or badly, depending on your tastes/interests/style). Each to their own. I do all of them, but run a website, rather than creating RRs on a forum like ADV or HU (although I do put a link from these to my site). I have the skills to make and maintain a website. People who haven't the webskills/or don't have the time create RRs.

RRs are good because there is the instant gratification of being able to post comments and you can see all your friends' comments too.

Having RRs here on the HUBB wouldn't be a bad thing. Just another way of telling your story along with websites and blogs. Hosting the pictures elsewhere and pasting in the IMG codes saves HU memory/bandwidth.

I really like the great photography on ADV RRs (their BB runs the same software as the HUBB). I don't bother much with the words though. The words on the HUBB are generally good, but a separate RR section primarily for pictures (e.g. embedded from smugmug/photobucket etc)/videos (e.g. embedded from YouTube) would be great.

That's it, my 0.5 pence worth.
cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

Chris,
I just went to Riders Tales where I found your thread about Riding in Romania.All good up to that point!
What do I find? a link to your web page!
Now what does this mean to a Ride Report section? it means that I instantly move on! Why you ask? Because it means there,s no instant looking at photos and worst of all I,m going to have to navigate my way through some other guys version of a web site with all the imaginative ways they,ve used to try and make theirs different from the rest.E,g a pain in the arse!!!
Anyone using this tactic should at least put about 15-20 teaser pics to lure people into the link they,ve posted,then we can chose to look if we find the teasers interesting and not if they,re not.Better than being obliged too!!!
The other problem is that the links to others website seems to kill off all interaction.I,m guessing that to navigate back and forth between the link and the Ride Report is also a pain,so people just don,t bother.By having the photos right there with the Ride Report you can just pop on a comment however dumb it may be and it all adds to the fun and that in turn starts to create the banter in general.
Thats the point of Pics on a Ride Report!!!
Al theturtleshead

If clicking a link isn't instantaneous enough for you...


I think it looks pretty samey to many other sites. As with all publishing it's about content and presentation. If you don't like one or the other, or both, then if you look carefully at the top right corner of your browser window, there's an x-symbol. Click on that. Does the trick for me. Also remember for the future the folowing mantra "Home The Bright Stuff dot Com = Shite", and tying in with the "arse" comment below, don't go there.


If it's a pain in your arse to click on a link, then don't bother. Only do what's pleasurable to your arse. Myself, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow morning after tonight's curry.


What tactic? 4-4-2? Long/short balls?


Who says (apart from you?)?

Cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

Spot frickin' on Albert.

I like the interactivity also but I also like the rule they have on ADV where
they don't allow someone to take the report off track or "Hi-Jack" the thread. The report should be the primary domain of the poster but it's always nice to see related comments, info and inspiration.

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Well I have to swim against the stream here and say I love the different smells, textures and feel of an individual website. It feels much more like you are having a one to one conversation, rather than a bar room shout of a bulletin board. After all how often does someone come onto your website and accuse you of being lazy? Never, but on here seems that a perfect stranger will say that because they can't be bothered to follow a link to your site? The madness of the modern world .........!!

I think I like the idiosyncrasies of an individual’s website (I also prefer a homemade website, no matter how 'crap' to one from a template). Just like if I am in a pub and there are twenty loud women, all dressed the same, and one quiet one in the corner, looking a little quirky, she’s the one for me!

But saying that, of course having ride (or drive!!) reports is a good idea. But I don't think as Mollydog has said that personal websites are dead. Not for me, and I read enough each day to keep them going

Anyone with a personal website - please keep them going, they are so much more a personal thing for us voyeurs!

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Ollie

www.jollyfollies.com

Land's End to Sydney 2009

Personal Websites are by no means dead.A fine example of this was Sgt Martys thread and website.
Marty put enough stuff on his thread to keep it interesting and tempted me to click his link,from then on his writing and photos kept my interest going! I
would keep going back to his thread to find out when his next installment would appear on his website.
Marty,s work is a rare and exellent example of getting both things right.
SgtMarty wandering around Earth,is the thread on ADV and the link is on his thread.
Well Done Marty!
Al theturtleshead

Hope this is OK, but I was PM'd by someone who didn't really understand how to link images from photobucket to the forums so I will elaborate on that (can't reply via PM, not enough posts yet ).

Anyway, assuming that you have uploaded your images to photobucket your first step to getting the images onto the forum is to log on to photobucket, once logged on select albums and upload from the my albums menu.


From the list of albums on the left, select the album that contains the images you want to link to, you should see the images in that album being displayed on the web page.


Lets assume that I want to display the second image (my transalp with Ben Nevis in the background) within the forums.


I simply move my mouse so that it is pointing to the image and you should see a menu drop down below it like this.


The section I need is the IMG code (highlighted in red),

All I do is click on the highlighted text with the left mouse button, right click in it and select copy (depending on the browser you are using you may not need to do that). That copies the following text into my clipboard
In the forum all I need do is paste that text (right click and select paste) and by the power of modern technology everyone can then look at the image and ask, why did he not park further to the right so as not to get the wall in the shot?

Helge's book, though short on words is rich on pictures, remember, "A picture is worth a thousand words"

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

Glen....good comments....I think that you are correct in saying that there is always a 'genesis' point people can refer to as they start along their various travel or life paths....and that most people require a development process to 'get going'.

Your comments about travel building humanity are also bang on.

Your comment ....

I would bet that for most travelers on this site, if thinking about it, they could point to particular photos or stories that inspired them in some way to act....

offers an interesting opportunity.

You noted that Helga's photo served as a key inspiration .... I wonder what photo or story inspired Marco Polo, Robert Fulton, Mallory, Smeeton, Guzwell, Chichester, Grant and Susan or anyone else here on the HUBB.

What about it? What photo played the biggest role in starting YOU, HUBB reader, off on a travelling life?

Stephen

A black and white poster from Easy Rider: Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper on their chopped Harleys.
cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

Chris....from Easy Rider to theBrightStuff and the cover of the AMH! ...now that's a long and winding road...

Do you think a new thread asking peeps for their 'starting' inspiration photo would be in order?

Stephen

Good idea. There was a thread a while ago on people's fav/inspirational biking books, so why not one on pictures?
cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

yep! I can remember mine, but doubt I could find the exact photo ....

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Ollie

www.jollyfollies.com

Land's End to Sydney 2009

Post your inspirational photo on the new thread....

Inspirational Photo

Damn amigo, you got that one right. After seeing that movie in high school, I was ablaze to ride into the sunset. A fever that never ends.

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EARTH RIDE!
Understanding the world through adventure travel.
www.strikingviking.net