Publishing Principles

Welcome to We Seek Travel, an adventure travel blog by Olly Gaspar, offering authentic, honest, and in-depth travel guides rooted in real travel experiences. My mission is to inspire, inform, and empower your journeys with confidence and responsibility.

My Goal

We Seek Travel was born in 2018 from my passion for sharing my global adventures and travel photography. What began as a personal project has now blossomed into one of the world's leading travel websites authored by a single person.

This growth has offered me a new challenge: the opportunity to expand We Seek Travel to become the most respected and recognized online voice in global adventure travel.

To achieve my vision, I am devoted to relentlessly discovering new experiences around the world and bringing them to you through genuine, trusted travel guides based on my real personal experiences.

Content Guidelines - How I Ensure Quality

As the sole Author of We Seek Travel, every single blog post is written by me and I pride myself in writing honest, factual travel guides.

Here are some of the values I hold when publishing content:

• No AI content: Robots can't share real travel experiences (yet). So, until that day comes, all of the content on We Seek Travel is written by a human, for humans.
• Honest opinions: I combine my travel experiences with rigorous research. My articles are crafted with a deep understanding of the destinations, attractions, and travel logistics I discuss. I make a living by providing travel advice and recommendations, so I take that responsibility seriously.
• I've actually been there: I'll never write about a destination that I haven't traveled to. I've been traveling full-time since 2018 and visited every single travel destination covered on We Seek Travel.
• Research, review, and update: My word is my career. I thoroughly research and regularly update every single blog post every 6 months. My goal is to provide the most accurate and trusted information to help you on your travels.
• Fact-checking: Every single post is edited and fact-checked by my partner Haylea Brown. She is a full-time professional travel editor and we've been traveling together since 2018.
• Trustworthiness: Accuracy is paramount. I meticulously fact-check and update my content to ensure it remains relevant and trustworthy.
• Engagement & community: I encourage reader feedback and incorporate their insights from the comments and social media to enhance the richness and diversity of my content.
• My photography: I take all the photos you see on We Seek Travel, unless otherwise stated. This helps me paint a real narrative with the goal of inspiring you through my lens. The rare exception is when I include accommodation images from recommendations based on reviews, community suggestions, and recommendations from other travelers.

Who I Write For

I write for experienced travelers, adventurers, and those new to travel, aiming to resonate with anyone who shares a passion for discovering new places and embracing real travel experiences.

My focus is on genuine adventure, and even if you are a luxury traveler, I hope to convince you to leave the cocktails by the pool and dive deep into every destination.

What I Write About

The core of We Seek Travel's mission is to inspire, inform, and empower your travels. I believe in travel as a transformative experience and aim to share my first-hand knowledge and real-world insights that I've developed through my trips to help you explore confidently and responsibly.

My travel guides are driven by a passion for adventure travel and the desire to share the beauty and diversity of the world with others. On We Seek Travel, you'll find:

• Detailed travel guides, itineraries, and comprehensive lists of things to do in a specific destination that go beyond the usual list to help you plan a unique trip.
• Accommodation guides and detailed roundups and reviews to help you plan where to stay in each destination.
• Recommended tours & unique experiences in each destination.
• Travel Gear & Trusted Reviews to help you plan what to pack, and find great photography gear so you can take better photos on your trips.
• Useful Travel resources to help you find great travel deals, and booking sites so you can ditch your travel agent.
• Detailed adventure guides: I write comprehensive guides to each hike, island, mountain, viewpoint, beach, cave, lake, and waterfall detailing my experience to help you plan independent travel.

Corrections & Feedback

Community feedback is essential in ensuring that my content is factual and trustworthy.

The comment section below every single blog post is open for any readers to provide feedback, comments, suggestions, or updates. In fact, I rely on my community of readers who provide me with new information in the comments from the places that I've written about so that I can update my guides or correct any mistakes.

Anyone is welcome to contact me personally at any time at olly@weseektravel.com in case I've made a mistake or you want to provide feedback or updated information for my blog. I will personally get back to you within a few days. In the case that I'm off on a longer adventure, I always set up an OOO to let you know if I'll take longer to respond.

Community

As travelers, we are all in this together. I run a dedicated Facebook Community where hundreds of travelers share their own experiences and help shape this blog.

For example, we run a weekly travel stories thread where we share stories from times on the road. Many of these insights and unique perspectives have been added to my guides.

This community is private but open to anyone who is a real, human traveler (no bots and spam).

Ethics Policy for We Seek Travel

1. Commitment to Integrity: At We Seek Travel, I am dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and quality in my written travel guides and advice. Anyone is welcome to read my guides and engage in community discussions and I will never discriminate against any reader.
2. Transparency in Partnerships: My recommendations are influenced by my experiences and expertise, not commercial relationships. I openly disclose any partnerships, sponsorships, or affiliations in any post with these kinds of placements. For information on how I make a living from my website, you can read my Affiliate Disclosure.
3. Accuracy and Fact-Checking: I strive for accuracy in my content. All information provided is thoroughly researched and fact-checked to ensure reliability. As the lead editor, Haylea proofreads every single article to ensure my guides are factually correct and user-friendly. If errors are found, we are committed to correcting them promptly and welcome any feedback.
4. Respect for Privacy: I respect the privacy of my readers and community members. Personal information is handled with care and never disclosed or sold to third parties without consent. Read more in my Privacy Policy.
5. Cultural Sensitivity: In my travel narratives and guides, I aim to be mindful of cultural differences and aim to portray all destinations and communities with respect and sensitivity.
6. Environmental Responsibility: As advocates of real, adventure travel, I also champion responsible and sustainable travel practices. I encourage all of my readers to respect the environment and local cultures.
7. Feedback and Engagement: I value the input of my readers and encourage constructive feedback to help me improve my content and practices.

My Commitment to Transparency

I am committed to transparency in all aspects of my content creation.

I openly disclose the sources of my information, any partnerships or sponsorships, and my editorial processes. You will find affiliate disclaimers on every single post that contains such links. Read more about my Affiliate Disclosure.

How I Review & Select Hotels & Accommodations

I often publish detailed accommodation guides and hotel roundups for many of the destinations that I visit. These guides are intended to help travelers find the best places to stay for their trip.

While I can't stay at every single hotel, hostel, guest house, or resort, I have established a set of guidelines that I follow during my selection process. Haylea helps me a lot with this process, which enables me to get different perspectives and insights into my recommendations.

1. Personal Experience First: I personally visit and thoroughly explore and document each location that I visit. This firsthand experience allows me to provide authentic insights into the best areas and neighborhoods. While it's not feasible to stay at every hotel, I make it a point to stay at several in each location. This variety in my personal experiences allows me to select and recommend only the best options. I focus on aspects like location, facilities, level of customer service, and the overall cleanliness and ambiance of the hotel or hostel.
2. Location Analysis: Haylea and I thoroughly research the hotels' location for their convenience, safety, and proximity to major attractions that I document on my blog. I consider transportation options, dining, and overall ambiance. My aim is to recommend accommodations that enhance your overall travel experience.
3. Amenities and Services: I thoroughly evaluate the amenities and services offered at each hotel, such as reliable Wi-Fi, fitness centers, and dining options.
4. Value for Money: I consider the balance between cost and value. This involves comparing room rates across different booking platforms including any hidden fees. I always recommend the lowest price I can find across booking platforms like Booking, Agoda, Expedia, Hotels, and more.
5. Traveler Reviews & Feedback: Besides my own experiences, I factor in the feedback from other guests by thoroughly combing through reviews through a useful system that I've developed over the past few years of finding accommodation for myself. I analyze recent reviews to check consistent trends and provide up-to-date information. I also make sure to mention both positive and negative reviews from travelers for a well-rounded recommendation.
6. Local Insights: As a professional travel photographer and blogger, I'm constantly working with local tour guides, tourism boards, and hotel providers at most destinations I visit. This gives me a unique opportunity to get insider, local recommendations on the best places to stay. I'll take these suggestions and consider them in my overall roundups.
7. Safety & sustainability: We all want to be ethical and environmentally conscious travelers. When selecting and combing through my drafts of top accommodations, I take into account their sustainability efforts, community involvement, and safety standards. I won't recommend any hotels or accommodation providers with a bad track record.
8. Reader feedback: I welcome feedback and updates in every single blog post from my readers. This allows me to get up-to-date information on closed hotels or update articles when I find out that the experience has declined.

How I Review & Select Tours & Experiences

I often write about independent and off-the-beaten-path travel experiences and help you plan them yourself. However, when creating content around bookable tours and experiences, I apply a rigorous and detailed approach to ensure only the best recommendations make it to my readers. As Haylea travels with me full-time, she also contributes a lot to the research and selection process for trip planning and tour selection.

Here's what i look for:

1. Personal Experience: I've been on over 300 bookable tours over the past few years, ranging from street food tours to multi-day expeditions in the Himalayas. This direct involvement allows me to assess the quality, authenticity, and overall enjoyment factor of each experience. I prefer to recommend unique experiences that are well organized and offer guides with the most expertise.
2. Comprehensive Research: Before recommending any tours, I conduct thorough research into the tour company and the inclusions they offer. Haylea will also get her draft list and then we compare. I prefer to recommend local guides as opposed to huge multinational corporations but features like the itinerary, and the relevance of the experience to the must-see places in that destination is paramount.
3. Comparing Options: I compare different tours based on their itinerary, duration, group size, and exclusivity. This helps me understand the variety of experiences available and how they would suit my diverse reader base. I strive to recommend the tours that offer the most immersive and authentic experience for travelers.
4. Price Analysis: I evaluate the cost-effectiveness of each tour. This isn't just about finding the cheapest option, but about ensuring that the experience offers real value for the price paid. I consider factors like the duration of the tour, the depth of information provided, the number of places visited, and any additional perks or unique experiences featured. I always scan online for the best price across booking platforms like Google, GetYourGuide, Viator, BackPackerDeals, BookMe, and more.
5. Feedback from Other Travelers: I consider reviews and feedback from other travelers extensively during the research phase. I have developed a system to sift through feedback effectively and know exactly what to look for. This involves more than just looking at star ratings, and I have a keen eye for identifying "Karens" who leave bad reviews for no reason.
6. Local Connections: Similarly to how I find hotel recommendations, I contact my friends and colleagues that I work with in each destination, and other travelers I meet to get a draft list of the best tours, experiences, and recommendations. This helps me identify unique and lesser-known tours or local providers that might not be widely advertised but offer amazing experiences.
7. Ethical and Sustainable Practices: In line with modern travel trends, I assess the sustainability and ethical practices of the tour operators. I've been on many "boat trips" where a captain will throw cigarettes in the sea. These kinds of operators won't be recommended on We Seek Travel.
8. Safety Standards: The safety of my readers is paramount. I thoroughly check the safety protocols of the tour operators, including their track record and adherence to local regulations. If the tour or experience involves gear, like for instance snorkeling tours, I'll ensure they do proper maintenance of their equipment.
9. Reader Feedback: Again, I welcome feedback and updates in every blog post from all readers. This allows me to get up-to-date information on tours that are no longer running and provide updates if their are new operators or options available.

How I Review & Select Travel & Photography Products & Services

In my role as a travel blogger and professional photographer, selecting the right travel and photography gear is crucial. There's also a sea of travel services, booking resources, and travel companies out there. My goal is to find the best ones to use myself and recommend to readers on We Seek Travel.

Here’s my approach to reviewing and choosing the best products & services for my readers:

1. Hands-On Experience: I personally use and test nearly all products and engage with each service recommended on my blog. This firsthand experience is crucial in assessing their practicality, performance, and suitability for travel and/or adventure photography. From testing camera gear in various light conditions to finding the best locater beacons for mountaineering, I ensure every product meets your standards, or I won't mention them. On the rare occasions that I mention a product that I don't use, I'll let you know about it. This usually comes from close recommendations.
2. In-Depth Analysis of Features and Quality: For products, I examine technical specifications, durability, and user-friendliness. For services, I evaluate how useful it is by comparing the level of customer service, efficiency, and overall satisfaction from my experience or those of other travelers.
3. Comparative Evaluation: In my gift guides and gear roundups, I compare products and services with their competitor's offerings and consider aspects like price, features, customer reviews, and unique selling points that make it attractive to me.
4. Cost-Effectiveness and Value: The balance between quality and price is a big factor in what I look for. I assess whether the product or service offers good value when considering its price point relative to other options on the market and the value it provides to travelers and/or photographers. I always find the best price across platforms, which includes buying the product directly from the company, or on marketplaces like Amazon.
5. User Reviews and Community Insights: Gathering feedback from a wide range of users on marketplaces and by reading other reviews helps me decide which products I recommend.
6. Keeping my Recommendations Current: I update all my gear guides often to keep you informed about the latest developments in travel and photography technology and services. I consider how each individual product or service fits into current trends and whether it incorporates innovative features that set it apart, and will replace my recommendations if something supersedes it.
7. Ethical Considerations and Sustainability: I'm a big believer in investing in quality and multi-use products. The environmental impact of the consumer culture is devastating. I want to provide recommendations for products that won't end up in landfills. I also assess the sustainability practices of the manufacturers and service providers and favor companies with good sustainability policies and active contributors to good causes.
8. 9. Personal and Professional Network: Leveraging my connections in the industry, I seek insights and recommendations from fellow professional travel photographers I work alongside, and just great gear or products I see in dorm rooms from other travelers around the world. This helps in discovering hidden gems in both products and services that I can recommend to you.
9. Reader Feedback: My comment section and inbox is wide open for all my readers to provide feedback on my recommendations. I often update gear guides and recommendations based on what readers have told me.

Ownership Information

I started this blog as a passion project. However, growth meant that I needed to make We Seek Travel more official.

That's why I registered We Seek Travel as a legal Private Company in Australia. This website and my company are completely run and owned by me, Olly Gaspar.

• Entity Name: WS TRAVEL PTY LTD
• ABN: 15 665 797 213 - active since 16 Feb 2023
• Entity Type: Australian Private Company
• GST Registration: Registered from 16 Feb 2023
• Main Business Location: QLD 4879, Australia
• Business Name: WE SEEK TRAVEL
• Principal Owners: Olly Gaspar: 100% ownership
• Governance Structure: Run by Olly Gaspar, Director.

Have any questions about We Seek Travel's Publishing Principles? Visit my Contact Page to get in contact with me today.