I went to Barnes & Noble today to look at travel guides. There is a sense of anticipation when you read about some far off place and know you’ll soon be there.

I’ve used every major budget travel guide in existence at one time or another. I favor Let’s Go because it is written by Americans and they rank their picks from best to worst. It is a judgmental travel guide, and that is useful most of the time since you often have no basis for your own judgement when you’re in a new place.

The problem with Let’s Go is that it doesn’t have the permanent staff that Lonely Planet does. Let’s Go is published by Harvard University Press…only Harvard degree seeking students are allowed to be contributors (I know this because I contacted them once about a job); they simply don’t have the manpower to cover every country.

Lonely Planet is a worldwide network of grizzled veterans who have managed to make their living in and around the travel industry. They are often expats, writers, and photographers that settled in a country or were raised there. Lonely Planet guides are not opinionated and are more like reference guides, meant to facilitate, not really recommend.

Because Lonely Planet is written largely by adult expats who no longer live in the US and probably haven’t for years, it has a very different feel than Let’s Go, penned by a bunch of over-achieving Harvard undergrads on an extended Spring Break. Travel veterans enjoy discovering, they do not like to be told where to stay or what to do. They want to stumble on great places, not be herded to them. Lonely Planet is terse and full of facts…not really a great read. Let’s Go is full of interesting stories and dinner table trivia. Let’s Go spoon feeds you. Lonely Planet treats you like an adult.

I still like Let’s Go, but even though they had a Let’s Go Peru (didn’t have one for Bolivia), I still chose the Lonely Planet. I have come to expect its dry delivery and extreme attention to detail (although on occasion I have found it to be wrong). Also, I know that the Let’s Go crowd is not even likely to GO to Peru. I wonder how successful that title is.

In this case, choosing Lonely Planet ensures a greater chance of running into other travelers. I figure mostly Australians and some S. Africans will travel to Peru and Bolivia. It is too far for Europeans and all the Americans will be at Panama City for Spring Break. Everyone outside the US uses Lonely Planet, and it is an Australian company.

Any American that happens to be down there will likely follow the same logic as me, so they’ll have Lonely Planet too. If I remember, I think I’ll keep track of how many Let’s Go guidebooks I see.

There is also the possibility of traveling without a guidebook at all, which I did one time. It still works out, but it is nice to know where the Internet Cafes are without having to search all over the city/town/village.

Slightly related to all this is that I found out my cell phone would work in both Bolivia and Peru wherever coverage is available. I thought for about half a second to bring it; maybe get a picture phone or something. Then I realized people might actually call. That isn’t really a vacation if you’re available 24/7. As always though, I will be available by mental telepathy.

Also, I think I will put together a very simple weblog for my trip separate from this one. I will base the interface on one of two pictures.

Which do you like the best??

 

3 Responses to “The difference between Lonely Planet and Let’s Go”
  1. Dad says:

    I like the one with the Bolivia sign. Interesting analysis about Lonely Planet vs. Let’s Go.

  2. Josh says:

    I’m confused. Are you going to Peru or Bolivia or both?

    As far as the pictures go, the 2nd picture, a man and his horizon,is by far the better of the two pictures. It shows as a man stands on his own, he’s always perpendicular with his horizon. Too bad they can’t run parallel. Just my two cents.

  3. Jeff says:

    Well… speaking of travelling… I sent my deposit to the Caledonian School. So it looks as if I’ll be spending the next year teaching English in the Czech Republic. I probably need to drive to Atlanta in a few weeks to chat with you and talk about travelling. Anyway, I think since you’ve spent so much time talking about Lonely Planet, you should go with the picture with the lone person standing. Just a thought.

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