Please fill out your Profile

Lee, I agree. I've often wondered why people don't at least put a minimum of information in their profile, what's the aversion to letting people know a little about you. You don't have to list anything too personal, just the basics. It really helps others give you appropriate answers, especially when you post a question without giving any specifics about yourself. And I like reading other people's profiles but there are so few of them on here.

<<< Something like this?

I agree whole heartedly! Also include details in your questions - it really helps to be able to give proper answers.

I most definitely agree! There have been numerous occasions in the past that I couldn't answer questions as completely as I wanted, as I didn't know where the OP was located.

I just updated mine with a little bit more information - you see "Paris" every time I post, but who would know I am from Oklahoma if I don't put that in my profile! And a bit of my interests, and where my more in-depth Euro traveling experience is.

Maybe I'll get more inspired and edit it to be something more creative later.

Edit to add: I like the idea from Nancy's profile where she lists what trip(s) she's currently planning. Going to add that!

Now looking at Lee's, I see how much more thoughtful and textured his is than mine. . . love getting to "know" people here a little better!

Inspiration for the future.

Well crap - now I know what I'll be doing tonight!

Lee, consider it done.

Lee,

Great idea!
I enjoyed reading your profile & look forward to reading others' profiles.

I just updated my profile.

Thanks Kim! I was also inspired by your updated profile.

Okay Lee, I am now properly updated. Any questions just let me know ;-)

I agree! It would also help if people would mention it if they are not US citizens, particularly when they ask about the need for a visa, etc., but just a general location would be very helpful.

I think when people first come to this site they may not realize it feels more intimate than, say, Trip Advisor or some other travel sites. The need to be cautious and more anonymous is important in those bigger communities.

That being said, I like Nancy's list of her upcoming trips too so I'll update as well!

Hmm, never knew anyone really would care to read " about me" lol. Done!

I, too, didn't think anyone would be interested. Done.

I love reading all these profiles. How fun! I just completed mine.

Thanks for posting this Lee. I hope we see a lot more people sharing a little more information about themselves. I've enjoyed reading the profiles of those who have responded to this post. After reading some of them I felt compelled to look at mine again and had to do a bit of editing.

Thanks for the kind prod, Lee. Just added to mine to share a few details. Great idea.

Alright...done!

I completed mine and hope it isn't too long. When I started writing and reading other profiles, I realized we, my husband and I, just like many of you, have had a very varied and exciting life. Hope the rest is as wonderful.

Thanks for bringing this up. I never thought about adding details, but now I have.

Lee,

Thanks for the reminder.

I decided to update my profile a bit. Haven't moved just providing a more accurate location. Hope it isn't too confusing. :-)

Thanks for the reminder, Lee; I'll do mine tomorrow.

I totally agree,It is something that annoys me on many travel forums.all you need is the basics but age , location and some basic info about your travel style all helps others give appropriate information.

Since few have any idea where my hometown of Fremont, CA is, in spite of being the home of Tesla and the now defunct Solyndra, I decided to change my location with the name of the Core Statistical Area as defined by the US Office of Mgmt and Budget. So from now on, I'm from San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose. Work requires me to spend more time in those cities than my own town where I basically just sleep anyhow.

Thanks very much for a valuable thread, Lee.

This may also prompt others to read each other's profiles.

Thanks.

whilst we are on about profiles not being filled it something that also really annoys me is when I do ask a question to get more info from the poster they seldom answer.

Must I? ;-)

And does it have to be in English? And be believable? ;-)

It may be some time before I fill out my profile because I am trying to make it interesting. Not an easy task.

I just had a look at your profile, MC-Glasgow, and despite it having been written in Scottish, I can read and understand it just fine....

Great idea, Lee! I'm enjoying reading each of the updates and I just filled mine in.

Don't be shy Norma.
The Scottish profiles were easier to read than imagined.
Filled my profile out years ago (updating it regularly) and have always enjoyed reading the profiles of forum posters.

Good idea Lee! Just filled out my profile.

MC Glasgow, I can read your profile just fine. At least we ( North Americans and Scots) can understand one another in writing. Glasgow is one of our favorite cities, and Glaswegians are the best! One of my fondest memories from our trip to Scotland is being kissed by a Glaswegian ( on the cheek, of course, but we only just met).

But how can you say you are older than you want to be? Would you prefer the alternative???. Age is just a number. Make of it what you can.

Lola, my years are in kilometres, my age is in miles ;-)

How about this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flD-aRMwcjs

Kim - Paris -

where in Oklahoma are you from?

Kim in BA, OK

@Bruce - that took me a minute to figure out:)

OK, I'm in too.

Wow, who knew that Nigel worked for the railways?
;-)

Kim in BA - I'm from Cleveland, the other side of Tulsa (on Keystone lake) . . .take the BA Expwy and stay on 64 all the way and you'll arrive!

KC---there you go, confusing me further on how things are measured in the UK. Still can't figure it out!

I guess it might be just me, but I get a lot of info from the posts, so yes, I knew Nigel is a railroad person.

I prefer to remain a woman of mystery. Until the peer pressure gets to me.

press press press

And he's still a man of mystery...so come on Zoe, do tell? Press press press.

Kim - Paris .... Yup....know where that is. I have a church friend who is from there. He went to OU and is a pharmacist here in BA.

Done. No autographs please!

Kims. Isn't Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where the Klingons are scheduled to crash?

Nigel, I apologise for this, but when I read you work on the railways I have a terrifying cross in my head of the Fat Controller meets Dr Beeching.

Please reassure me you are neither!

Who knew?

I filled in my location when I joined back in 2007 but never realized there was space for my autobiography. I always just gleaned hints about people from their posts. I'm not sure if I should read the details now - it might take away all the mystery, like when you see a photo of a radio host who looks nothing like you imagined from their voice.

certainly not Beeching

Thank heavens.

Done and done.

BTW, I've never read Lee's "About" section before but it was exactly how I imagined it based on his posts!

DJ

Isn't Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where the Klingons are scheduled to crash?

Close, the are scheduled to crash in Broken Bow, not Broken Arrow ;)

DJ

Maybe next week. I am too busy having fun in the UK right now. In the Lake District, here for hiking. Fortunately the weather appears favorable.

Hey, this list broke the 50 barrier in just over 24 hours. Must have hit a nerve, Lee.

And, and here's the cool part, there hasn't been a whiff of anything nasty or unpleasant either.

Thanks Lee.....

Nigel,

I've been thinking about this for some time. People post a question, and I wonder where they are coming from (figuratively, not literally). I click on their user name and there is nothing helpful in their profile. What really brought this to a head, though, was someone asking about getting euro before going to Europe. Depending on where they live in the country, if they are near a Wells Fargo bank, they can get euro for not much more than from an ATM over there. So I looked at there profile, and there is not a hint about where they live.

A lot of people have now added to their profiles, but they are mostly regulars. Often it's first time posters that ask questions for which a location would be helpful. I really wish Andrew would require a location when registering for this website.

But back to those who have filled out their profiles - I think those of us who post regularly are kind of a unique fraternity (or sorority, sorry). It's nice to know who we are talking to.

Thanks, guys.

Ok...I officially have a profile.

Thanks, Lee, for this thread. As very recent newcomer to this excellent forum, it's great to learn more about the people behind the knowledge and advice!

Done. Took me a while to find out how to access the profile though.

Linda

Thanks for posting this, Lee. Is the little autobiography a new addition? I don't remember seeing it the last time I looked at my profile.

Okay Lee, you shamed me into updating also

Lee,

I was thinking the same thing as Nigel, that the replies on this thread have added up very quickly in a short period of time. It seems that many of us agreed with you. Thanks for the reminder.

OK, done.

oh good some others have played.

The Klingons may be going to Broken Bow, but my mom is from . . . ROSWELL!!

Now you are luring the aliens to Paris? lol!

We've got the Falkirk Triangle near here. Though a colleague who has to commute through it every day has yet to see a single sighting despite being the UFO hotspot.

Thanks, Lee. I'm always disappointed when I click on someone's name, and there's no profile. It's fun learning about folks, especially the ones who post regularly. I guess I should update mine... as soon as I get my laundry done.

I've enjoyed reading others' updates and updated my own!

How fun to read everyone's profiles! It was an excellent reminder to update mine.

Zoe, international woman-of-mystery, your secrets are safe as long as you wish them to be.

It would also be nice if posters used an actual name, instead of an Avatar, although that's less important than a location.

I am one of those people who checks this forum regularly but is more of a "lurker" than a contributor. It's funny how I feel very familiar with many of the regulars such as Lee, Nigel, Pamela, Anita and too many others to name them all. Thanks Lee for this thread. I've enjoyed reading everyone's profile and indeed I have added my own.

Grand idea Lee. Mine is done now too.

I share the sentiments of Dean, above. I receive way more than I give, and really appreciate the regular posters who have become familiar to me.

Peter

One of the pluses about updating your profile is that you can put links to your YouTube videos or other websites of interest. I have posted two 10 minute videos of my 17 Day Best of Italy Tour. I think they will be of benefit to anyone going on that tour.

There are various opinions regarding use of one's real legal name in forums. It's best to research the issues from a security standpoint before making that decision. Some applications will only allow real legal names. My first name is "Silas" but I will not use my real last name unless it's required. So, I have adopted a surname from one of the dreaded, more colorful literary characters from high school. I suspect that will stay unique due to the unpopularity of that miser. I'm not sure I understand the avatar comment since that functionality is not provided to participants.

Thanks for the reminder - mine was out of date! All fixed up!

silas,

"I'm not sure I understand the avatar comment since that functionality is not provided to participants."

Perhaps I should have specified the term "user name" instead of Avatar. I'm certainly not advocating that people use their full legal name on a travel forum, but even a first name would be nice instead of a goofy combination of letters and numbers. It seems more "friendly" to address people by name, but that's not possible unless a name is provided.

I agree that using a real first name is a good idea, and I think if your name is gender neutral it would be nice to identify yourself as male or female in your profile. Sometimes the questions could be answered in very different ways depending on whether you are a man or woman. But, aside from the name issue, I think the most important for giving appropriate answers is some kind of location. Nobody needs to know your full address but a town, or at the very least a State/Country would help.

I have enjoyed reading all the new (and updated) profiles that have been added. Great idea for a post Lee.

Alright already, I'm doing it now.

It is also a good idea to make your name a tiny bit distinctive if it is a common name. Maybe add a last initial or number, or make it descriptive. We had the problem with too many Franks a while back. There were a few Ed's, some Steve's, some James. There were a couple of women named Jo, thus I changed mine to Ms. Jo to ease confusion.

If you do change your name, it will change it automatically on all of your posts all the way back to your very first post. You will always be able to find your posts. They won't get lost.

Thanks Lee, for giving us this kick in the pants to come out of the woodwork and say something more about our travel experience. Sorry mine is so long but I've been around a long time...

Oops! None of you will see it until I get it under 2000 characters.

It's been so long since I signed on to this site, I didn't remember it asked for a profile. So thanks for the reminder, Lee.

poor Zoe, and you had such an atmosphere of European Woman of Mystery...... nice to see you

It's all your fault, Nigel.

Mine's done too. Fun! I can't wait to go back and read everyone's 😄

Sorry, Zoe

I've updated mine. But next month I'll have to remember to change my location to Monterey County as I'm starting a new job and we are moving there after we return from Europe.

Great post Lee!

Okay, done.

It's been fun to read the profiles. Thanks for the suggestion.

I have updated mine, for what it's worth. I love being on the forum to learn about travel and live vicariously through other people's plans and trip reports while I am waiting for my next trip to come around.

I've never given any info on our account, but I do love reading others. So, now it is done. Maybe TMI?

@Susan and Monte, I enjoyed reading your profile. I can empathize with your sense of urgency about doing as much traveling to Europe as possible! It is so important to me...

Happy Travels!
Judy B

Susan and Monte - glad you filled out your profile, it's inspirational, thanks for sharing. Enjoy your travels as long as they last.

^^^ Yes, thanks. What Nancy said.

I'm so glad to hear your story, Susan and Monte...

Susan and Monte--thank you for the update, you have inspired me so much! Keep on traveling and I hope you get to enjoy the experience for many more years to come. What a great thread, Lee - thank you!

Yes, great thread -- and I'm encouraging all my friends who post here to do their profiles too!

I mostly read the forums, but my goal is to post more often. My profile is newly updated!

Fiiiiine :)

Thanks Lee for bringing this up. I was thinking about this for a long time and was wandering why many people on this Forum were not filling out their profile. Not noticing? Paranoia? I am glad that when you brought it up a lot of people did their profile. And thank you Ms.Jo for pointing out to mention one's gender if your name is used for both genders. In my case my name is clearly male name despite that it seems to me that some contributors on this Forum think that I am a female. Ilja in English sometimes spelled Ilya is relatively rare name in Czech Republic where I am originally from. It's more frequent in Russia. Remember Ilya Kuriakin? Have you heard about Ilya (Ilja) Muromec? If not, google it. Definitely not a female.

Ilja

I am so glad you updated yours. I'd always wondered (and must admit that since my first foreign language was Latin I had always assumed female - sorry).

Ilja,

Your post made me laugh at your "Remember Ilya Kuriakin?". My 12 year old self had a huge crush on that Ilja! ...until Joe Lahoud started playing for the Red Sox. :) (Yes, I know. Joe who?)

Wray

My 12 year old self had a huge crush on that Ilja!

Of course you know that David McCallum, who played Ilya Kuriakin on Man from Uncle, now plays Dr. "Ducky" Mallard on NCIS.

I really started this thread because when newbies write in with a question, sometime the answer depends on where they live, so you have to ask them where they live and then wait for a response before answering their original question. It would be nice if the webmaster required, or at least encouraged, new posters to give some usefull information.

On the other hand, I've really enjoyed reading the profiles. It's nice to but some personality behind the names we see all the time.

Absolutely agree, Lee.

I really really wish that part of the registration process was to complete a profile, rudimentary or not. Simple way, register as now, then after "Continue" or "Next" or whatever it is, a screen where the next act is to give a country at least, with room for plenty more, and maybe a little radio button down the page to opt out.

At least it would give us a fighting chance.

Congratulations on the Century of posts to this thread....

I never took Ilja for a male name, but then again I'm Russian. Actually, I have the same "problem" with my cat, whom I've named Seva (short for Vsevolod) -- everyone says they assumed it's a girl because of the "a" at the end.

And speaking of Ilya Kuryakin, while I haven't seen the original show, the Ilya in the recent Man from U.N.C.L.E. remake is definitely too handsome to be Russian ;)