Cookie Policy

Updated: July 26, 2026

Most sites open a cookie page with a wall of category names and leave the reader none the wiser. This one takes the opposite route and lists, item by item, what this journal actually writes to your device. The list is short, and it stays short because the site has no advertising and no visitor analytics running today. If that ever changes, this page changes first, and the notice block on every page changes with it.

What this policy covers

This policy covers travelundercost.com, the site published by Travel Under Cost LLC in Charleston, West Virginia. It explains browser storage: cookies, local storage, session storage, and the small identifiers that sites leave behind. It sits beside the Privacy Policy, which covers personal data such as the messages you send to the reader desk. Where the two overlap, read them together, because storage and personal data are related questions with different answers.

What cookies and local storage are

A cookie is a small piece of text that a site asks your browser to keep and to send back on the next request. Cookies carry an expiration date, they travel with every request to the domain that set them, and servers can read them. Local storage is a different container in the same browser, and it holds text on the device without sending it anywhere on its own. Nothing in local storage reaches a server unless a script on the page reads the value and transmits it deliberately.

Session storage works the same way as local storage but empties when you close the tab. First-party storage belongs to the site you are looking at, and third-party storage belongs to some other domain loaded inside the page. That last category is the one that follows people between sites, and it is the category this journal does not use.

What this site stores today

The honest inventory is one key, and here it is in full.

• Name: tuc_notice_2026
• Kind: local storage on your own device, not a cookie
• Values: the word full or the word basics, and nothing else
• Purpose: to remember which button you pressed on the storage notice, so the notice stops asking
• Lifetime: it stays until you clear site data for this domain in your browser
• Sent to a server: no, it is read by the page script and never transmitted

That single entry is the whole list, and the sections below explain why it stays that short. There is no visitor identifier, no session token, no advertising cookie, and no third-party container of any sort. If you never press either button, nothing is written at all, and the notice comes back the next time you visit.

Strictly necessary storage

Strictly necessary storage is the storage a site cannot drop without breaking something a reader asked for. On this journal, the single key described above is the only entry in that category, and even it is modest. It exists so that a reader who has already answered the notice is not asked the same question on every page. Nothing about the value identifies you, and two readers who press the same button write exactly the same word. The site works without it, and the only difference is that the notice keeps appearing at the top of each page.

Optional measurement

The journal runs no visitor measurement at present, which means no counters, no heat maps, and no session recording. Wes reads the server request log that any hosting provider keeps, and that log lives outside your browser entirely. If aggregate measurement is ever added, it would be limited to page counts and referring pages, with addresses truncated. It would load only for readers who pressed "Sounds right" on the notice, and never for anyone who chose the basics. This page would list the new keys, their lifetimes, and their purpose before any script went live on the site.

Optional advertising

The journal carries no advertising today, and no advertising storage is written to your device by any page here. If advertising that runs on consent is ever switched on here, three things would happen before a single request went out. First, this policy would name the categories involved and describe what they store and for how long. Second, the notice block would be updated so the choice is made with the new information in front of you. Third, nothing in that category would load until a reader pressed "Sounds right" on the notice. A reader who chose the basics would keep seeing the site without any of it.

The notice block and your answer

The notice does not float over the page, block the text, or wait behind a shaded overlay. It renders as the first block inside the hero panel on the home page, and as the first block on every other page. It carries the heading "Before you settle in", a short plain description, and two buttons of equal standing. Pressing "Sounds right" writes the value full, which allows optional categories if any are ever introduced. Pressing "Only the basics" writes the value basics, which keeps every optional category switched off. Either way the block disappears, because the site now has your answer and has no reason to ask again.

Changing your mind

Your answer is not locked in, and reversing it takes less than a minute in any browser.

1. Open the browser settings and find the section for cookies and site data.
2. Search for travelundercost.com in the list of stored sites.
3. Clear the data for this domain, which removes the tuc_notice_2026 key.
4. Reload any page on the site, and the notice returns with both buttons ready.

Clearing browser data removes the key on that device and in that browser only. If you read the journal on a phone and a laptop, each one keeps its own answer and needs its own clearing.

Managing storage in your browser

Every current browser can block storage, clear it, or allow it for one site at a time. Menu names move between versions, so treat the paths below as directions rather than exact labels.

Chrome. Open Settings, choose Privacy and security, then Third-party cookies for blocking rules. Use Delete browsing data for clearing, and Site settings, View permissions and data stored across sites for a single domain.

Firefox. Open Settings, choose Privacy and Security, then Cookies and Site Data. Manage Data lets you search for one domain and remove it. Enhanced Tracking Protection on the same screen controls how much cross-site storage is blocked by default.

Safari. On a computer, open Settings for the browser, choose Privacy, then Manage Website Data and search for the domain. On a phone or tablet, open the device Settings app, scroll to the browser, then Advanced, then Website Data.

Edge. Under Settings, the section named Cookies and site permissions leads to Manage and delete cookies and site data. From there, See all cookies and site data will find one domain and clear it on its own.

Private or incognito windows discard storage when the window closes, so the notice appears fresh in every new private session. Blocking all storage for this domain is fine, and the only effect is that the notice cannot remember your answer.

Signals your browser can send

Some browsers and extensions send a preference signal with every request, such as Global Privacy Control or an older do-not-track header. This journal has nothing to switch off in response, since it shares no reader data with anyone for advertising purposes. If optional categories are ever introduced, a recognized opt-out signal will be treated as a request to keep them off.

Industry opt-out programs

Because this site loads no advertising storage, these programs have nothing to remove here, but readers often want them listed anyway. The Digital Advertising Alliance runs a consumer choice page for participating companies in the United States. The Network Advertising Initiative offers a separate opt-out page covering its own member companies. In Europe, the Your Online Choices page is operated by the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance. On phones and tablets, the device settings include a control for limiting ad tracking and for resetting the advertising identifier.

Search for those programs by name in your browser rather than following a link from an email. Each one sets its own opt-out record, which is itself stored in the browser, so clearing everything can undo it.

What this site does not load

The journal keeps no third-party content on the page, which is the main reason the inventory above is one line long. There are no social buttons, no comment widgets, no embedded maps, no video players, and no chat boxes. The heading font is served from this site rather than from an outside font service, so no request leaves the page for that either.

When you send a message through the Contact form, the note passes to a form delivery service that carries it to the reader desk. That exchange writes nothing to your browser storage, and the Privacy Policy explains how the message itself is handled.

Changes to this policy

The date at the top of the page shows when this text was last revised, and the current version is the one that applies. Any new storage key will be listed here before it is used, with its name, purpose, and lifetime spelled out. The Terms of Use covers the wider agreement between the journal and the people who read it.

Contact about this policy

Questions about storage, or about anything on this page, go to [email protected]. You can also write to Travel Under Cost LLC, 707 Virginia Street East, Charleston, WV 25301, United States. The telephone line is +1 (304) 346-2140, answered Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, Eastern Time.