Sitting here today I was thinking about all the advice about moving and living in Bulgaria that is available on the forums and other places and it got me thinking how much of it is really any use????? as some of you may or may not know what you read on some forums is only fit for the bin, and the same can be said for some of the books ie Tourist books about Bulgaria etc, so what do you all really think about the general information that is publically available about Bulgaria? Have you read anything of use from a book? Do you find the forums of use? do you find other web site of use and the list goes on so come on let’s hear your thoughts

Hi netsniper

I think that you must read what you want to read, listen to what you want to listen to and see what you want to see. Speaking from experience, and in my humble opinion you must let your head guide you as to what is positive and what is negative. On a positive note I would like to mention the various forums. I would have felt pretty lonely without them as it gave me the opportunity to share some of my families heart-ache with genuine people who were supporting us. Some of the advice given to us was taken and used to our advantage and my family and I found it very comforting to go to bed at night knowing that we had plenty of support and to receive over 150 messages of congratulations and good will was fantastic

But of course with the smooth you have to take the rough and we had plenty of that to contend with, death threat emails and crude phone calls coming in through different alias's, obviously they didn't have the guts to say who this person was, or people were [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So netsniper YES, in my opinion forums are useful as long as they can be used to your advantage and learn from it, and finally I have to say it's an excellent meeting place and an ideal location to make friends (positive) foes (negative)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] and I hope this thread will turn out to be a

willowsend

Hi Nets I missed this post completely somehow which is unusual for me as Bryan says its a case of eyes open and listen as for the main question are these places of information useful I think it's safe to say that they are used by all sorts of people for different reasons some good and some not so good, so to quote Bryan "
you must let your head guide you as to what is positive and what is negative"
that's the only way to use wherever information you are looking at as for this forum I do sincerely hope that we can as time goes by offer information in a positive and constructive way and perhaps have a laugh along the way, as for books well for me I think they are very faceless and too black and white so for me books have their place which as I said for me is on the shelf I go along with Bryan and keep you whits about you at all times

It’s interesting to read hear that you are both really saying the same thing? But I wonder if the forums have become more of a social thing rather than what they were started for? Which I believe in the beginning was to for the purpose of providing help and information? I see on some forum that this doesn’t seem to be the case and they have turned into something that was probably never planned by the owner, for me a forum is the first place I would look for any information regarding Bulgaria and for that matter information about my car well let’s see what others have to say thanks for the replies

Well for me it has to be the forum I think word of mouth is fine on a one to one basis but without the forum I wouldn't be able to meet anyone with any real knowledge I've found since coming on here that I've learnt so much more than I would have by reading books and and bits and bobs on the web I did try another forum which was a total waste of time because they were all full of their own self importance so you do have to choose the right places and there are one or two forums out there some good some bad and then the best which is this one for me, I think whenever your looking for information you need to look at the meat on the bones and just take what bit you want and ask yourself does this all add up? in books its always going to be black and white as said above and you don't get any real feel for whatever it is your researching, well thats it for me sorry if I have rambled

I think forums are a good place to get information and help so long as the forum in question is well balanced I mean its no good reading all the negative on any forum unless you also read the positive and then your going to get the poster who will only post negatively anyway because they made a mistake and they then get on their high horse and tell the world what a bad place it is, so I would say yes use the forums to get advice and help but always use your common sense and remember not all forums are a good place for help and advice this forum is the friendliest one I've come across and there seems to be plenty of members on here willing to help who have already experienced it

As a general guide a forum is made up of people that have been there done it and have the tee shirt, and those that would like to be the same.

Advice is always free on a forum you need to consider is it good advice or not. You can take it or leave it.

The forums can also be a place for social networking. I for one have found a useful contact or so.

Tony

when we moved / was looking to move there were no forums....i wish there had of been !!...

lonely planet etc were out of date the moment they were published .when the forums started to appear they were a great source of info .....and some today still are..there is no getting away from that fact

some now are just chit chat and company...and there is nothing wrong with that...they fill a need , whether social or informative...:

Hi everybody

I have just been reading some of the latest postings on this particular topic and one of the words that jumps out at me is NEGATIVE, so I would like to add that a lot of the negatives can and will be turned into positives if you want them to
I, for one have experienced some bitter pills to swallow but hopefully from some of my negative postings and comments other posters have benefitted, not got conned and enjoyed turning my negative attitude into a positive for themselves
So my advice on negative postings is, pick holes in it and say to yourself, now how can I benefit. Speaking from experience

I think forums are the best way to get info,tourist books talk it up,real life is what it is all about peoples experiences,good or bad

Loupylou wrote:

I think forums are the best way to get info,tourist books talk it up,real life is what it is all about peoples experiences,good or bad

I totally agree with you loup Research is the best and forums provide this with every question being answered to the best of that persons ability however, reading or chatting with member on the forum serves several purpose like gaining first hand knowledge of the area, the people and their cultures. making new friends, companionship, in fact a wide source of information on any subject. No matter what you read or hear on the forums you are bound to get a better understanding of life. Forums, in my opinion are a necessity and wonderful support and help to us all.

Oddy