Let us make one thing clear: I am first and foremost a journalist. My primary goal is, and always shall be, to provide the best travel information and advice possible.

However, journalists have bills to pay, too.

How this site makes money

Yes, this site makes money. There are excellent websites out there that are run by hobbiests and don’t make any money, but I do this for a living, and have been a full-time travel writer for 15 years. I am a professional—and that means at this site you will get professional-grade advice, reviews, and trip-planning information.

Although TheIntrepidTraveler.net is a travel information site, not a travel agency, I understand that most people combing the Web for this kind of detailed travel information to help them plan a trip are at some point probably going to want to actually, you know, take the trip.

They want to book airfares, search for tours, maybe buy a couple of good guidebooks. And, of course, everybody has to pack at some point, so luggage and travel gear like quick-dry pants and electical plug converters are a given.

That’s why I have carefully selected several partner sites where you can get the bulk of your travel shopping done at once.

Again, I put journalistic integrity first. I recommend these services only because they are genuinely superior—they represent the best consoldiators, discounters, and specialists in the business—not because I get paid to do so.

Yes, I do get a small commission if you end up buying your tour or backpack after clicking over to a partner from my site (that, along with the Google ads, is how thus site earns its keep).

However:

  1. This doesn’t cost you one penny extra, since any commission comes out of their profits, not the amount they charge you, and
  2. I have only partnered with sites that best serve the travelers needs in the first place—ones that, in fact, I actually use myself.

How I pick my partners

For example, you’ll notice I have two major partners for gear, REI and Magellan’spartner—but that’s mainly because about 90% of what I pack for my own trips comes from those two suppliers. (Moving within a mile of an REI store was a glorious day for me—and a terrible one for my bank account.)

Ditto for Booking.com, a hotel booking site that not only actually beats the rack rates at most hotels, but also represents far more of the kind of smaller, inexpensive, mom-and-pop hotels that I prefer than any of the other major booking engines. I have used Booking.com to find and reserve lodging for both personal and professional in destinations from Florida to Washington, DC to Sardegna, Italy.

I work for you, not my partners

I am a bit of an old school journalist, and still feel like my first and most important duty is to my readers. I work for you, the traveler.

partnerTo make things crystal clear, whenever this site features a compendium review of multiple companies, outfitters, or tour operators, I will put a little button— like to one to the right—denoting those with which this site is partnered and from which I will earn an affiliate commission should you choose to click over and buy something from them.

You will, however, notice that I also recommend many, many other sites with whom I do not have a partner relationship—often ones that are direct competitors to my partners.  Sometimes, I even recommend those sites above my own partners.

Other web publishers have sometimes called me foolish for this, but to me, offering solid, trustworthy travel advice some first; monetizing it comes last.

Thank you for your support.

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