Facts From Upstairs (FFU) is a travel intelligence project. We build deep, sourced country and city guides — the kind a curious friend would write you the night before you booked the ticket. We launched in March 2026 with one rule: every place we cover gets the same magazine-quality treatment, whether it’s Paris or Pristina, Tokyo or Tashkent.
How we make guides
Every FFU guide is researched, drafted, and shipped through a hybrid editorial system. An in-house AI research engine we call Alex handles the heavy lifting on structure, regional depth, and cross-referencing — and then a human editor fact-checks every claim against:
- Official tourism boards (national, regional, municipal)
- UNESCO World Heritage entries for any site referenced
- Operators we’ve personally contacted or used (hotels, tour companies, transit authorities)
- Government travel advisories for safety and entry requirements
- Public domain academic and museum sources for history and cultural claims
We are publicly transparent that AI is part of our editorial pipeline. Most travel sites that sound like ours are quietly doing the same thing without saying so. We think honesty is a feature.
What we don’t do
- We don’t publish content we haven’t fact-checked.
- We don’t recycle press releases or destination marketing copy.
- We don’t take payment for coverage. Every recommendation is editorially independent.
- We don’t pretend a guide is from someone who’s been there if they haven’t been. Where a contributor has visited in person, we mark it with a “Boots on the ground” badge.
Affiliate disclosure
FFU is reader-supported. Some links in our guides are affiliate links — when you book through them, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only link to services we’d recommend without the commission. See our partner brands at Plan a Trip.
Editorial
Alex (FFU AI Editor) — Alex is FFU’s in-house AI research and drafting system. Alex handles initial research, structure, and cross-referencing for every guide. All output is reviewed and fact-checked by a human editor before publication.
Shaheed Z. Rana — Human editor. Shaheed founded Facts From Upstairs in March 2026 to build the travel publication he wanted to read: deep, sourced, opinionated, and honest about its methods. He oversees fact-checking, partner relationships, and final editorial sign-off on every guide. Travel writing focus areas: independent travel, cultural geography, Asia and Europe regional depth. Reach him at editor@factsfromupstairs.com.
Contact
- Editorial: editor@factsfromupstairs.com
- Press & partnerships: press@factsfromupstairs.com
- Corrections: we update guides within 48 hours of a verified correction.
Sources we trust
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- OECD Tourism Statistics
- National tourism boards — linked in each individual guide
- National rail and transit operator timetables — for fares and times
- Government travel advisories — US, UK, AU, CA, NZ, EU
- Operator booking platforms — for current pricing