Where each number comes from, and why we tell you every time
If you are comparing destinations on a budget, the number you trust decides the trip. So we made one rule non-negotiable: every figure we publish names where it came from and when it was measured. This page explains how that rule works and what it means for the advice you read here.
- Number categories
- Measured, sourced, or search statisticAnything outside these three is left off the page
- Prices
- Dated ranges onlyNever stated as a current fixed rate
- Time-sensitive claims
- Footnoted with access dateCovers visas, baggage, driving, and climate figures
The decision this rule is built around
You are choosing between places you have not seen, on a budget that does not forgive a bad booking. The single point of failure is a number that looks solid but is not: a transfer time someone guessed, a price copied from an old page, a beach described by someone who never checked the seabed.
Our rule exists to remove that failure. When we state a figure, we attach its origin. That is slower to write and less quotable, and it is the whole point.
What 'where each number came from' actually means
Every number on our pages falls into one of three buckets. Some we measured or computed ourselves, and those are labeled as our own analysis with the method shown. Some come from a source that can go out of date, and those carry a footnote with the source and the date we accessed it. Some are search statistics, such as price ranges, and those are always labeled as ranges with the date they were pulled.
If a figure fits none of those buckets, it does not go on the page. There is no fourth category called "probably about right."
Why we refuse to estimate
Estimates read like facts once the qualifier is gone. A phrase like "a short drive" hardens into "20 minutes" in a reader's memory, and then a plan is built on it. So we do not soften a gap with a guess. You will not read invented room counts or approximate drive times here.
When we do not have a number, we say so in the data gaps rather than fill the hole. An honest blank is more useful than a confident invention, because you can go and check a blank.
How our own measurements are labeled
The figures we value most are the ones that exist nowhere else: a water-entry gradient, shade at noon, a routed transfer time. These are computed by the editorial team, and each one is presented with its method attached so you can judge it for yourself.
That labeling is deliberate. "Our analysis puts the drive at a given time" is a claim you can weigh. "Everyone says it is close" is not. We would rather show our work and be argued with than be trusted blindly.
How prices are handled differently
Prices move faster than almost anything else we publish, so they never appear as a flat rate stated as fact. We show them as ranges drawn from search statistics, and we stamp them with the date they were collected.
The reason is simple: a price with no date is a trap. It tells you what something cost at a moment you cannot identify, which is the same as telling you nothing. A dated range tells you the shape of the market and lets you judge whether it has moved since.
Why footnotes carry a date, not just a link
Anything that can change over time gets a footnote with the date we accessed it: visa rules, baggage allowances, driving requirements, seasonal climate figures. A link alone is not enough, because the page behind it can be rewritten without warning.
The access date tells you how fresh our reading was. If you are traveling months after we published, that date is your cue to confirm the rule still holds before you rely on it.
Who this approach is not for
If you want a single glowing verdict and no caveats, this is not the style that will suit you. We name drawbacks, we flag uncertainty, and we point you to the alternative when a place is wrong for you. That is more text to read and more decisions left in your hands.
Readers who want the short version can use the interactive tool and the key facts blocks, which compress the same sourced figures into a quick scan without stripping out where they came from.
What this costs us, and why we pay it
Sourcing every number is slower to produce and less punchy to read. We lose the easy superlative and the round figure that feels authoritative. In exchange, you get advice you can audit, which matters most exactly when the budget is tight and the booking is final.
That is the trade we have chosen. When we cannot stand behind a number, we leave it out and tell you it is missing, every time.
What works
- Every figure names its origin, so you can verify it yourself
- Prices are shown as dated ranges, not as fixed rates
- Our own measurements are published with their method attached
- Missing data is disclosed rather than filled with a guess
- Time-sensitive claims carry an access date for rechecking
What does not
- More caveats and labels to read than a straight recommendation
- We often leave a blank where a competitor would state a guess
- Sourced figures can lag if you read the page long after publication
Who should go somewhere else
readers who want one glowing verdict — we name drawbacks and uncertainty rather than smooth them over
Instead: use the key facts blocks and the interactive tool for a faster scan
Questions people actually ask
why does every number have a source on your travel pages
Because the number you trust decides the trip. When we attach an origin to each figure, you can check it rather than take it on faith, which matters most when the budget is tight and the booking cannot be undone. It also forces us to leave out anything we cannot stand behind.
are the prices on your pages current rates
No. Prices appear as ranges drawn from search statistics, each stamped with the date we collected it. A rate with no date tells you what something cost at an unknown moment, which is close to useless. The dated range shows the shape of the market and lets you judge whether it has shifted since.
what happens when you do not have a number
We disclose the gap instead of filling it with a guess. An honest blank is more useful than a confident invention, because you can go and confirm it yourself. You will not find invented room counts or approximate drive times used to paper over missing data on our pages.
why do your footnotes include a date you accessed the page
Rules change and source pages get rewritten without notice. The access date tells you how fresh our reading was, so if you are traveling months later you know to reconfirm visa, baggage, or driving requirements before relying on them. A bare link cannot tell you that.