Rules of the Road
Dear God, I cannot read this lot. All on loan. Mostly unopened. Mostly out of date.
I need a Doctor Who style brainhole for immediate upload. No, not THAT sort of upload.
Would it be SO bad if I didn't read a single guidebook?
I need a Doctor Who style brainhole for immediate upload. No, not THAT sort of upload.
Would it be SO bad if I didn't read a single guidebook?
posted by Lectrice at lunes, mayo 23, 2005
6 Advice:
Everything I've read says to take a current one with you but that it's not necessary to read it beforehand.
It seems the most recommended are the Rough Guides and the Traveler's Companions for where I'm going (Ecuador, Costa Rica, Aus, NZ, Indonesia).
Moon travel handbooks for more emphasis on politics and culture for SE Asia etc. than the Lonely Planet ones. Trade & Travel Handbooks for large regions in one book and different budgets but updated most frequently.
I only want cheap accommodation listings, and perhaps some warning if the place I want to go to is overrun and drenched in deadly rip off.
Having said that, some of my favourite hotels in Cairo were from out of date 1960s travel guides...
Ah, they're all rubbish anyway; my Rough Guide strongly recommended the Official Youth Hostel in Athens, which was filthy, smelly, had no kitchen and was in the middle of the Russian-crack-prostitute district. An Aussie also staying there had a Lonely Planet which strongly discouraged staying there.
I didn't find out why he was really there.
Why not ditch the guidebooks, and just go by chance and instinct? Leap and see what you find!
I'm finding so far that as long as I have an idea of a substandard hostel I can use for the first three days, I'm not bothered about the rest. There's nothing like a FIVE THINGS YOU MUST SEE IN ... list to make me feel slightly mutinous, and when I look on the web, lines like "there's NOTHING on this island, literally bloody NOTHING" are the ones that appeal.
Of course, having said that, there's nothing on the top floor of a multi storey car park in Peckham, either.
Balance.
And jatb: I shall be in S America in about October next year, so have plenty of time to read your guidebook. I am ever so slightly aware that I may have sounded a tad ungrateful there.... :)
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