In a Previous Life I was a Lonely Planet Guidebook
I remember the first time I really used a Lonely Planet Guidebook. I was in a bus to Quepos, Costa Rica and had borrowed the book from some backpackers sitting behind me. I needed to find a hotel. Previous experiences in Costa Rica told me there would be about 40 hoteliers waiting for me at the bus stop recommending their “rooms with hot water” for $15 and such. I was tired and I needed a plan. I flipped to the hotel section for Quepos and started reading hotel names. As we went into town, hotels along the side of the street were in the same order in the guidebook! It’s genius. Every hotel! Not just the decent ones, but the extremely budget hotels were there, too. And with each hotel — an honest description.
Now the publishers at Lonely Planet have surprised me again. This guidebook, the only one that really understands a travelers soul, has made the problem of hauling around a bulky book obsolete. They offer chapter specific downloads for only $2! They call it Pick and Mix, I call it the best travel innovation since shoes. Right now they only offer Central & South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Phrasebooks for those areas and walking tours of those areas, but what a great place to start. Buy them all up and give them to your friends for Labor Day. If they need a travel companion, have them call me, I’d love to go.
hi travel turtle! i am wondering if you have any suggestions for guide books for the UK? my brother, who is an incredibly nervous traveler, is looking for recommendations. he would probably be interested in the big stuff but also in the unique, quirky and crafty kinds of things as well. do you think lonely plant is a good choice for someone who might not actually go off the beaten path but likes to think about it?
Hi Ren! What a great question. While Lonely Planet started as a guidebook for those on a shoestring budget, it has morphed to a one stop guide for all destination information. The drawback is that limits the amount of space it has to create interest in some of the places. It’s almost as if you have to already kind of know what you want to do before you jump into Lonely Planet. But, if you do know… they definitely give you the most specific information. With that in mind, I think it is the perfect guidebook for the nervous traveler because they do details better than anyone else.
I can literally go on for hours about choosing a good guidebook. Instead of doing that, I’ll tell you what I usually do. I go to the library and/or bookstore and check out all of the books there. I get one that I’m really comfortable with (size, pictures, writing style), and buy that one. I’m not brand loyal when it comes to guidebooks because different places have a different comfort level with me. I do have a lot of Lonely Planet, DK, Fodors and Let’s Go. Sometimes I buy two books, a picture heavy book (DK, Fodors) and an information heavy one (LP, Lets Go). The only thing you want to make sure of is that you get the most recent edition possible.I once spent three out of my four day vacation looking for a restaurant my 3 year old guidebook recommended, only to discover it went out of business a year ago.
If you or your brother want to email me (abelle at travelturtle dot net) more specifics about his trip (amount of time he’ll be gone, some top things he wants to see, questions) I can do a post of different things he can consider. Complete with links for more information and maybe even pictures! It seems like it would be an interesting challenge for me. I love unique and quirky UK.
I just went to the bookstore today and I want to add “Rough Guides” to the mix. They’re doing a lot of interesting things that seem to be focused on doing memorable things instead of just making sure you get on the right ferry.