How We Create Our Content
At gotravelyourself.com, every guide, tip, and destination article is written for one specific reader: someone planning to travel alone who wants honest, practical advice from people who have actually done it.
This page explains how we research, write, and maintain the content on this site — and how we decide what’s worth publishing.
Who writes our content
Our content is written by a small team of named travel writers, each with a specific geographic expertise and years of independent travel experience. You can read about each author on their individual profile pages.
Our core team includes:
Jennifer Ann Porter — solo travel specialist based in the UK, covering Europe, Southeast Asia and Central America. 9 years of solo travel, 60+ trips. Read Jenny’s full profile →
Luciana Murillo — Colombian travel writer covering Latin America, the US and expat life. Writes in English and Spanish. Also contributes to allaboutcolombia.com. Read Luciana’s full profile →
Vamika Sharma — solo travel writer from Jaipur, India, specialising in Southeast Asia, India and Oceania. Read Vamika’s full profile →
Lily Evans — Wales-based writer focused on Europe slow travel, interrailing and solo dining. Read Lily’s full profile →
Andrea Novak — based between Vienna and Croatia, covering Central Europe and the Adriatic. Also contributes to allaboutvienna.com. Read Andrea’s full profile →
Our writers and pen names
Some of the writers on this site publish under pen names. We want to be straightforward about what that means and why we do it.
Our contributors are real people with real, first-hand knowledge of the places they cover. Several of them cannot write under their legal names: some hold jobs that conflict with publishing in the travel industry, and some, particularly women writing about traveling alone, prefer not to attach their identity and location history to a public byline for personal safety reasons. We think those are good reasons, and we would rather have honest writing under a pen name than no writing at all, or writing stripped of the experience that makes it useful.
Here is what we guarantee about every pen-named byline on this site:
- There is one real person behind each pen name, writing consistently under that name.
- Every biographical and experience claim in an author bio is true of the actual person behind the name. We do not invent trips, years of residence, languages, or credentials. Where protecting identity requires it, we make a true claim less specific; we never make a false claim more impressive.
- Pen-named writers author articles and guides. They do not write testimonials, reviews presented as independent opinion, or endorsements under any identity.
- Author images on this site are illustrations by choice. We do not use AI-generated photographs of people who do not exist.
The publisher stands behind every word published under a pen name. This site is operated by [publishing entity], [address], and editorial responsibility for all content, whoever signs it, rests with us. If you believe anything we have published is wrong, our corrections policy applies in full regardless of the byline: contact us, and substantiated corrections are made and credited.
When a writer’s circumstances change and they choose to claim their work under their own name, we will say so on this page. Until then, we ask readers to judge the work the way we do: by whether it is accurate, current, and useful on the ground.
This policy works together with our AI usage disclaimer: pen names protect who our writers are; the disclaimer explains how our content is produced and reviewed. Neither is ever used to hide what we publish or how we make money.
How we research our articles
We prioritise first-hand knowledge. When a writer covers a destination, city or route, it is because they have been there — not because a database said it was popular.
Our research process for every article includes:
Primary sources first. We draw on direct travel experience, local contacts, and official sources (tourism boards, government travel advisories, transport operators) before consulting secondary sources.
Verification. Practical details — prices, opening hours, transport options, visa requirements — are verified against current official sources at time of publication. We include a “Last Updated” date on all articles so you can judge how current the information is.
Real recommendations over sponsored placement. When we recommend a hotel, tour, activity or booking platform, it is because it is genuinely useful for solo travellers. We earn affiliate commissions from some of the links on this site (see our disclosure policy), but these commissions never influence which products we recommend or how we describe them. We do not accept payment to feature specific products or services.
Our use of AI tools
We are transparent about the role AI plays in our workflow. You can read our full AI Technology Usage Disclaimer for the detail, but in summary:
AI writing tools are used in our content process as a research and drafting aid, not as a replacement for human expertise and editorial judgment. Every article published on gotravelyourself.com is:
- Initiated, directed and reviewed by a named human author with relevant travel experience
- Verified for factual accuracy before publication
- Edited for voice, tone and accuracy to reflect the author’s genuine perspective and knowledge
- Updated when circumstances change — prices, visa rules, safety situations and travel logistics change, and we revise content accordingly
We never publish AI-generated content that has not been reviewed, personalised and verified by a human author. The writer credited on an article is responsible for its accuracy and has the knowledge to stand behind it.
How we handle safety information
Safety is a core topic for solo travellers, and we take our responsibility seriously. Our safety content is:
- Based on current government travel advisories (UK FCDO, US State Department, EU travel notices) as well as on-the-ground knowledge from our writers
- Updated when official advice changes
- Written to be honest rather than reassuring — if a destination has genuine risks for solo travellers, we say so
We never overstate safety to encourage bookings, and we never understate risk to avoid controversy.
Corrections and updates
If you find an error in our content — outdated information, a factual mistake, or a link that no longer works — please contact us and we will review and correct it promptly. We believe accurate information matters more than protecting our own content.
Editorial independence
gotravelyourself.com is independently owned and operated. We are not affiliated with any tourism board, airline, hotel chain or booking platform in a way that influences our editorial content. Our writers are free to give negative assessments when warranted. We have declined partnerships and sponsorships where we felt they would compromise the honesty of our recommendations.
Last reviewed: August 2026