“It’s in the Lonely Planet.”
That shining achievement, glittering recommendation, unquestionable status. It’s the book that tells you what to do and it seems like everyone has one. We did, back in college when we studied abroad in the Netherlands. We had a Netherlands guide and Europe on a Shoestring. I wouldn’t let Caroline tear any of the pages out, so they took up a lot of room in our pack, and I would constantly forget that we had it and should use it to look up information.
We’ve traveled with a friend who carried the Southeast Asia edition, and together we used it to pick a guesthouse in 4,000 islands, Laos. The one we picked was pretty nice compared to our other options, and about the only place that had aircon. For this luxury we dealt with a daytime “worker” who acted like we tore him away from brain surgery—he was always watching TV—for the privilege of paying him for a cup of coffee or a bowl of noodle soup. The guesthouse was listed as 50,000 kip in the guide, but we paid 160,000 kip.
Once a restaurant, guesthouse or tour company gets into the Lonely Planet you can usually expect this:
- Anything listed under ‘Budget’, is likely no longer a cheap place once you arrive.
- Customer service decreases, once they know they are in the guide, they can just sit back and watch the weary backpackers roll in.
Getting in the Lonely Planet is a big rubber stamp that almost always guarantees a company to be “middle of the road.” You aren’t going to find anything spectacular just a lot of safe, mediocre choices.
So, how could we possibly get our information without Lonely Planet?
Seriously, did you guys know about this? There’s a series of tubes that connects everyone’s computers and we can all talk to each other and share information! Wow!
We decided early on in our planning that we would try to go without buying a single guidebook and see how we could do just using free information off the Internet.
In the past there wasn’t as many informative travel sites and access abroad was expensive or difficult to find. But now that everyone and their sister has a travel blog, high speed Internet is nearly ubiquitous and there’s a _ chance that you travel with some type of laptop or smartphone. We’ve gone all-in with this method, and it hasn’t failed us yet.
Lonely Planet Pros
- It’s easy. All the information is organized and laid out for you. You just crack open the book, pick a place and go. They’re already expecting you.
- There’s almost no risk. You might pay a bit more, but you’ll either get a good or mediocre place
- You can carry the book with you and don’t need power (maybe some light) or Internet access to read it
Lonely Planet Cons
- Information is out-of-date as soon as the book is printed
- Book takes up place in your bag
- Many places change once listed in the guide
- Buying multiple guides can get expensive.
Internet Pros
- It’s free!
- Higher chance of being up-to-date (still a lot of old broken websites out there)
- If you find out-of-date information you can change, comment on it, or put up the correct information on your own site
Internet Cons
- You need Internet access
- Can be difficult to find information if you don’t know where to look
Next week I’ll write about the top 5 websites for travel information that you might not be using.
What do you use for travel advice? Let us know in the comments!
I always use travel guides as my starting point when I plan a trip. It gives me a great overview and I can quickly decide on things I must do, see where they are in relation to other things I want to do, and get a little history of the places. Then I start intense internet hunts and find the places that guidebooks miss. Then I put together an itinerary in my head, and print out a few listings of things so I know the hours and directions. But when it comes down to the actual trip, I don’t use a guidebook. I have a notebook full of pages that I pull out and then recycle as the trip progresses. Plus, once I’m at a place, I ask for local information or read comments left by other people that passed through the places I’m staying.
Bottom line – I use lots of resources and do a lot of research before I go on a trip. I love planning them, and probably spend too much time planning them, but never feel like I missed something that I wish I’d known about.
It’s definitely much easier to use a guidebook before the trip than during!
I like to go on trip advisor because it gives you a quick overview of the place and does a good job of listing all of the attractions in the area you are going to.
We like using TripAdvisor too. We always check the reviews before booking.
I’ve heard about those tubes…..
I bought a lonely planet when I arrived in Portugal. I was a little freaked out I guess, knowing I would be there for a month and I didn’t have anywhere to stay or any plans at all really when I arrived. It did help me in some situations when I got lost, especially with the maps and transportation. It also taught me some Portuguese phrases that I had to use many times. But in the end I regretted buying it, though I did pass it off to a friend who could use it after I left. I probably could have just asked people around me for help, and I realized having the guidebook that I didn’t do this as much.
Trading guidebooks is definitely a good way to save money on them, but I do still prefer getting the info for free.