A Litttle Light Reading

If you’re going to drop $10k on a trip, you’re not going to just take my word for it all (though you could). You’ll want to do your own reading. There’s a lot of it out there, happily, perhaps a little too much. The good news is that a lot of it can be readily found at your library. Check out all that they have, and then, when the time comes, purchase the book you think is most useful. You’ll want to have at least one book along for the trip. You can try to get by with TripAdvisor on your phone, of course, but then you’re subject to coverage, etc. Paper still works.

The usual books you’ll find:

Fodors: Still the best, if you ask me. They stick to the major sights, and have generally good food and lodging recommendations. Their drawback is that they cover every price range, as opposed to being targeted. And they do better in cities as opposed to countryside – you’ll have a hard time finding a recommendation for a Bed and Breakfast in Tuscany, for example.

Rick Steves: I used to love his stuff, but frankly, the “back door” approach gets on my nerves a little now. We can’t all stay with a local family, and I don’t want to tell the waiter, “just bring me what’s good.” One of the problems with Rick Steves is that it’s hard to separate the books from the show. The show makes Europe look like just so much homey fun, but no matter what, your trip will never be like the show, even if you follow every bit of advice in the books.

Lonely Planet: Seems – seemed -- popular with the hip crowd, but I don’t get it. I find it to be dull reading – it never inspires me to actually go to any of the places they recommend.

Eyewitness Travel: The polar opposite of Lonely Planet. Few words, many pictures. I wouldn’t have thought so, but I go back to these books surprisingly often. If you’re deciding on a place to go, then why not have some idea of what it’ll look like? Plus, the cut-aways of buildings do help you find some interesting details you wouldn’t otherwise see. On the down side, I find their food and lodging recommendations to be completely worthless.

I tend to think the shelf-life of a travel book is 5 years, although when it comes to the basic sights, 10-15 is still useful. The hotel and restaurant recommendations expire quickly, but the basic sights haven’t changes in 100+ years.

I also subscribe to a couple travel publications, Travel & Leisure and Nat Geo Traveler. They’re fun to read, but in 8 years of subscriptions, and 2 trips abroad, I have yet to use a single one of their tips, recommendations, or destinations. And not without trying.

I’m a firm believer in TripAdviser, when it works. It can be a lot to wade through, but in a city, especially, it will give you good restaurant recommendations, and show you where they are. You do have to read the comments – get a sense of what kind of reviewer seems your taste and style, and focus on those reviews. It also loses a good deal of its power when you shift away from city travel and try to view things from a regional perspective. I think they'll solve that problem in a few years, but in a near future post, I'll share my tips for handling that.