This week I’ve been doing a bit of thinking about why I blog, inspired by some discussions I had with Point Princess during a trip to St. Maarten. (Some fun videos and pictures coming soon from that trip, by the way.)

Just like everyone else, I have bad experiences with travel.

If you read the blog, or follow me on Facebook or twitter, you might think that I always have amazing luck when traveling… and I do, but I’ve also had my share of bad experiences with travel. Here’s a sampling, but I assure you, this list could be pages long.

• Downgraded from business class to a middle seat in coach…on one of the longest flights in the world
• Schedule changes on screwy itineraries that ended up costing me hundreds of dollars
• RyanAir…thinking I was going to fly from Frankfurt when they I booked a ticket from Frankfurt Hahn
• Bedbugs
• Many involuntary visits to Chicago during the winter
• Getting a flight canceled after six hours of delays due to weather and being told that I’m on my own for hotels
• Visa processing mishaps requiring my parents to overnight a passport to courier in South Africa who bought it to me at the airport. This was expensive.

Heck, right now, I’m 13 hours in to a triple-connect rebookathon, trying to get to work in Calgary for work…and it looks like I’ve got another six hours to go. As I’ve told a friend (and she’s reminded me several times, including tonight), “It’s all part of the game.”

This blog is about sharing information and making the travel experience better for my readers

One of the privileges of being a blogger is that when I talk, hotels and airlines listen. I know there are at least two hotel chains that have people following my blog…there are probably more. If I were to write a post about a bad experience at a Starwood hotel, I am sure that I would have my Starwood Ambassador emailing me asking what she could do to correct the experience. On one hand, it’s tempting to use this power, but this blog began as a forum for sharing information with my friends and colleagues and that will remain its primary purpose.

Readers don’t want to hear it

So, why don’t I post about my bad experiences more often? Simple. Readers don’t want to hear it.

I follow a number of travel blogs to keep track of what’s going on in the travel industry. Some of the bloggers I follow occasionally use their blogs to try to gain concessions from hotels and airlines. Those bloggers may provide great information, but honestly, as a reader, it’s not worth my time to listen to someone else rant so s/he can get a few thousand hotel points. I’ve unfollowed a number of blogs recently because of too many ranty posts. These bloggers are great people, often provide good information, and many are friends of mine, but it’s not worth anyone’s time to hear them whine.

So, what do you want to hear over the next year?

Over the holidays, I’ll be putting together my plan about what to include in my blog over the next year. A few posts will get refreshed and reposted, but I’m looking for ideas for new content or new directions. What do you want to hear? What has been most useful this year? Leave your thoughts in the comments.