Really Important Stuff
Look, we know this is probably the single most boring page on any website, but we have three big policies that we take really seriously around here, so please take a minute to understand them:
1. Making Money From You
Our blog’s primary goal is to help people with good, free information. We don’t sell courses. We don’t hold expensive seminars. We don’t paywall any pages on this site. It’s all free. And yet, this blog still manages to make some money!
One way we generate revenue is by recommending products and services, usually through affiliate links that pay us a commission when you buy stuff through them, or through social media endorsements. But we’re really picky about this. In fact, we will never recommend anything on Trip Of A Lifestyle that we wouldn’t also personally recommend to our friends and family — regardless of whether we’re being paid. When our friends ask us for financial advice or travel tips, we literally tell them, “just read our website.”
To make that policy even more transparent, we publicly dedicate 100% of our affiliate profits to charity, so there is absolutely no incentive for us to give slanted recommendations for money.
Another way we make money on this site is through advertising. You’ll see display ad units across the site (for example, immediately below this paragraph). Most of this ad space is automatically auctioned off to advertisers by a computer algorithm. Paid ads of this kind are not recommendations from us, and they will not feature us in them.
So how do you tell the difference between the stuff we actually recommend and an ad like the one above? The easiest way is just to look for the AdChoices logo (
) or the word “Advertisement.” One of those two things will appear on all ads, indicating that you’re not looking at something that’s being personally recommended by us.
Some of the other ways we make money from this site include artwork sales, merch sales, direct payments from social media platforms where we post our content, and direct support from readers (thanks!).
2. Using Your Information
At the bottom of this page and every page on this website, you can sign up for our email newsletter. If you do, you’ll be alerted every time we post a new article, which is typically no more than once a week. Your email address will not be sold to any advertisers or used for any purpose that would annoy you. If you want to unsubscribe from the newsletter, there’s a link that makes it really easy at the bottom of each one. There’s no need to use a “spam” address or anything like that.
3. Telling You The Truth
The stories you read on this website are real. We don’t write fiction. With that said, we also can’t guarantee that we’ll never make a mistake. If you think you’ve caught a factual error on the site, please email us about it so we can get it fixed.
Also, realize that some of what we say on this site is also our opinion, and we have plenty of unusual ones — like when we claim that you don’t need to spend more than four figures on a reliable car, or that Death Valley is the best National Park in the United States. Feel free to disagree with us on social media. We enjoy a little friendly debate.
Legal Stuff
Who We Are And Who We Are Not
The main authors of this site are Lauren and Steven, two people who hold no formal credentials in the field of finance or accounting, and no licenses to act as travel agents. We are not professional advisors of any kind. While we share our own personal experiences and opinions on these topics, you should not make life-altering decisions based solely on the information you find on this site. As with anything in life, you should base your decisions on information from a variety of sources, including professionals. The information we provide comes with no warranty or guarantee of accuracy. Nothing on this website should be considered professional financial advice.
Our website address is: https://www.tripofalifestyle.com. If you’re reading this content on another domain, it may be an illegitimate copy.
Affiliate Relationships and Charitable Giving
We consider revenue from the following programs to be “affiliate revenue,” also known as “influencer revenue”: Chase Refer-A-Friend, Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network, Credit Karma (via FlexOffers or Impact Radius), Personal Capital (via Impact Radius), Way.com (via CJ Affiliate or Impact Radius), Hotels.com (via CJ Affiliate), Walmart Affiliate Program (via Impact Radius), social media brand partnerships (indirectly via Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube), and anything that involves us personally recommending or reviewing a product or service in exchange for a cash payment.
All cash profits from affiliate revenues are dedicated to charity. We publicly disclose our affiliate revenues and profit calculations on our Charity page. We reserve the right to calculate affiliate profits using our own accounting methods and to deploy charitable funds however we see fit.
Revenues from the following sources are not considered to be “affiliate revenue,” and may not be dedicated to charity: Google AdSense, Media.net, and other clearly-labeled advertisements that don’t feature personal recommendations from us, YouTube Partner Program, TikTok Creator Fund, Facebook/Instagram Bonuses, merch sales, our own artwork sales (via Fine Art America), and and anything that does NOT involve us personally recommending or reviewing a product or service in exchange for cash payment.
What Personal Data We Collect and Why
Cookies
We may use cookies in order to customize this site for return visitors and to employ affiliate marketing and advertising. These cookies are not required for site functionality.
If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers’ respective websites.
Forms
We collect the personal information you voluntarily provide when you submit a contact form or opt in to new post alerts via email.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics to collect information such as how often users visit this site, what pages they visit when they do so, and what other sites they used prior to coming to this site. We use the information we get from Google Analytics only to improve this site.
Google Analytics collects only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit this site, rather than your name or other identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information.
Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy.
Who We Share Your Data With
We do not share personal information with third parties, nor do we store information we collect about your visit to this blog for use other than to analyze content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off at any time by modifying your web browser’s settings.
How Long We Retain Your Data
For users who provide an email address for opt-in post alerts, we also store the personal information they provide. Website administrators can also see and edit that information. We store this data indefinitely.
How We Protect Your Data
Our site uses TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption technology, which is the standard for establishing a secure link between a web server and a browser. TLS encryption ensures that all data shared between the web server and your browser remains private.
What Rights You Have Over Your Data
If you have submitted a contact form or provided your email address for post alerts, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Children
We encourage parents and guardians to spend time online with their children to observe, participate in, and help guide their online activity. Our site does not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13, nor is our site written for or geared toward children.
Advertising Disclosures
We may receive compensation for the offers listed on this site, but we will only include links to programs and products we feel confident sharing with our readers. Opinions expressed on the site are strictly our own. We’re just individuals sharing what has worked for us, so please consult a licensed advisor before making any decisions that could impact your financial well-being.
Amazon affiliate disclosure: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Advertising and Affiliate Partners’ Data Collection
Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site.
These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology in their respective advertisements and links that appear on this site and are sent directly to your browser. They may automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or web beacons) may also be used by our site’s third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see on the site. Our site has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices and for instructions on how to opt out of certain practices. Our privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, other such advertisers or web sites.
Credit Card Referrals
The opinions we express on the site have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any credit card issuer. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information, however all credit card information is presented without warranty. Please note that you will be directed to the credit card issuer’s web site when you click an offer, and we suggest that you carefully review the terms and conditions of the current offer there.
Consent
By using our site, you hereby consent to our privacy policy and agree to its terms.
Contact Information
If you have any additional questions, comments, or concerns, please email [email protected].
Other
These policies are subject to change without notice.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.