Who is behind the scores
Rory Trotter LLC exists because one traveler got tired of pretty photos that never answered
the only useful question. Is this place actually worth the time, the money and the energy it takes to get there.
I used to come home from places that looked perfect online and felt flat in real life. The food was fine, the sights were crowded, the value disappeared the moment I left the hotel. After enough of those I began writing down simple notes for myself. What worked, what wasted a day, what I would skip next time. Those notes slowly turned into a scoring system. The system turned into this site. Nothing more dramatic than that.
Every destination still gets the same treatment. I stay long enough to walk the streets at different hours, eat where locals actually queue, and notice whether the quiet corners survive the tourist flow. The categories never change so the numbers stay comparable. The verdict is written the same day the final score is set, while the feeling is still fresh. Tips come last and only include things I would tell a friend who is packing next week.
A single afternoon is never enough. The real character of a place shows up on the second or third day.
No paid placements, no free stays that need soft reviews. If a place scores low, the low score stays.
I write the way I speak when someone asks for advice at a shared table. Clear beats clever.
Scores can drop or rise when I return. The record is living, not frozen.
Long poetic descriptions that never help you decide. Rankings that ignore the cost of a simple meal. Advice copied from other guides. The goal has always been smaller than that. Give people enough honest information to choose well and then get out of the way.
If a street feels exhausting at 11 in the morning, that belongs in the score.
Some of the best days happen in places that never make the top lists.
Where people eat after work tells you more than any viewpoint.
A place only earns a high permanent score when it still feels good the second time.
Why the name is personal
New trips continue. Old scores get checked again when the chance appears. The site will keep growing at the same pace as the travel itself, no faster. If you are looking for honest numbers and usable notes, you are in the right place.
Leave your email and I will send new scores, updated tips and the occasional side note from the road. No daily noise, just the pieces worth reading.
© 2026 Rory Trotter LLC. All rights reserved.
