Lonely Planet Across Asia on the Cheap

Lonely Planet Across Asia on the Cheap

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They're still finding destinations, she says, 'but if Lonely Planet comes along and does it, well, it doesn't matter that we have the better book, people just look at the brand. I think they've done terrifically well, it's just hard as a small publisher not to resent it. Everybody has a tale to tell about Lonely Planet's quasi-mythical power. There's the apocryphal story, for example, about the Rainbow Lodge. Recommended by Lonely Planet, it boomed.

The other guesthouse owners grew jealous. So one hotelier changed his name to Rainbow Lodge.

Lonely Planet: across Asia on the Cheap

Until there was a whole street of Rainbow Lodges and busloads of confused backpackers not knowing which way to turn. All over the place. They're always at it. There was one place in Hanoi where we recommended the Globetrekker agency, and then a Globaltrekker agency appeared, and a Globe Treks agency, and Globetrekker 2.

He's not an it-was-so-much-better-back-then sort, Tony. Part of this, of course, is that Lonely Planet must be seen to be striding boldly into an age of digital guides but more it seems that he still loves travelling, is a self-described 'obsessive' about it, and still gets a kick out of going somewhere new he's on countries now 'although Maureen tells me it's absurd to count'.

Hilary Bradt, on the other hand, says she misses the 'serendipity' of the old days and, now in her 60s, she thinks 'us older ones' are more adventurous than young people who all use the same guidebook and go to same places 'they follow the pack because they don't feel secure enough although of course when I was 20 I was exactly the same'.

Of course, it's not just that guidebooks have changed in the last three and a half decades, it's that everything has: James Daunt tells me that the latest hot potato to fly off the shelves are the 'Luxe' guides. The only real link between now and the ideology of Across Asia on the Cheap is in the Sixties' notions of freedom and self-fulfilment that are still the vital ingredient of all travel narratives - both literary and personal - and that these guides were the first to harness, repackage and sell right back to us.

And if a book remains a book or becomes a pdf, that's unlikely to change. It's time, though, perhaps, for the counterculture to move on.

Lonely Planet-meets-the-BBC is now the establishment. It's a nationalised industry. It's practically the Queen! Where are the Sex Pistols when you need them? What everyone complains about up to and including Tony Wheeler, is how bland, formulaic, PC, corporate, the books have become. The very first Lonely Planet guide I used was the one to India.

What I remember most about it, though, is 'Geoff', or Geoff Crowther, one of the original authors not just of the India guide but the Africa and South American one too, whose author bio showed to have a full beard and a vegetable garden in Australia devoted to exotic herbs. Whole evenings passed doing Geoff impressions it was a variation, basically, of Neil, the hippy off the Young Ones: His opinions were forever butting into the text. Yet, somehow, so memorable.

A broken man living in Goa, Tony Wheeler tells me, and it's hard not to feel a pang.

See a Problem?

Is it a parable, I wonder? Although in the end, I decide it's probably not. The latest edition of Lonely Planet India is a monumental 1, pages, produced by 12 writers, and it's, without a doubt, a terrifically useful book if you need to navigate your way from Calcutta to Bangalore; probably even more so when it's a couple of megabytes rather than several kilos of dense matter weighing like a stone at the bottom of your bag.

But, well, there's a certain something that's been lost; a Geoffness, I think I'll call it, that joins the scrapheap of travellers' hand-me-downs waiting to be collected at a dusty poste restante, in a land far, far away. The original Seventies backpacker guides used to revel in their countercultural status, sneering at smart hotels and posh restaurants wherever possible. Now, however, 'style guides' are the fastest growing sector of the market.

Started the trend of style-focused travel guides; now has more than 15 titles.

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The choice is influenced by psychedelic music and drugs. Novelist Paul Theroux hasn't yet turned his hand to travel writing. Laker Airways pioneers a 'no-frills' airline model, asking passengers to bring their own food, but it folds in From hippies to hip hotels The original Seventies backpacker guides used to revel in their countercultural status, sneering at smart hotels and posh restaurants wherever possible.

These are the front-runners: Pocket-sized and written with acerbic wit. Sleek but comprehensive, photo-heavy, quirky destinations. Smart, snobby and full of travel porn. On the screen Travel shows don't exist. Best-sellers The Joy of Sex is published.

Annual leave Most of the working population have 15 days off a year, but almost 10 million have 10 days' leave or less. Amazon Media EU S. Deel je gedachten met andere klanten. Nuttigste klantenrecensies op Amazon. I don't think that this is why this has been made available in Kindle.

This is hippie trail travel guru Tony Wheeler's opening shot which birthed the now-ubiquitous Lonely Planet guides, including some cute and funny illustrations. It's a fascinating trip back, and well-worth the read, both for younger folks who would be interested in what innovative travel was like pre-Internet, and for their elders who may or may not remember this when it was new or new-ish, as was my case. Thanks to the publishers for making it available in this format Reading this book brought tears to my eyes.

Somehow I got a copy of this book- the front page was torn off I think.

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As I reread this book I realized that this was probably the first guide to travel across Asia and the Middle East. Over the years I had forgotten so much and wondered- how on earth did I ever know how to get across? This book brought it all back.

Capabilities

It also made me realize how much things have changed in the world. There were so many questions that were not clear. The Pakistan-India border for example.

Due to a recent war and all the politics it really wasn't clear if one could cross by land or not. I remember reading the crossing passage over and over , parsing each phrase before I finally just took the plunge and headed for that border. I made it across into Pakistan and was actually welcomed! It was wonderful to find this book and relive my adventures. Well worth perusing to see what it was like to travel in the 70's on the cheap! Read in a few sittings. Really enjoyed some of the historical information and a look back at how the middle east has changed to remain the same.

Overland is a better way of seeing things than through the airport. Lack of money can also be a great agent to try something new. Wish I could return to sell my stereo and see the world as only youth allows.

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