Lonely Planet Guides

Travel books have been around for a long time but there was a gap in the market for a more informal guide, aimed at young people traveling on a budget. The Lonely Planet Guides filled that gap and the early editions appealed particularly to backpackers. Today, there are hundreds of titles and they are a familiar sight all over the world. The first book was titled Across Asia on the Cheap and was an essential item to pack for a lot of British and Australian travelers. Tourism to countries, such as Thailand, was just beginning to open up and going there on a low cost trek was the fashionable thing to do.

The guides fostered a community spirit and readers would give feedback, giving details on anything that needed updating. The maps looked as if they had been hand drawn and some of the opinions stated were irreverent and witty. Today, the Lonely Planet Guides are produced in a more conventional manner and the title range has extended to attract different kinds of tourist, whilst still catering to the independent traveler intent on finding a cheap hostel. There is also a Lonely Planet Television company that produces travel series. Information from the guides can be found on the company web site and users can swap travel stories and tips on a forum, upload videos and write hotel reviews.

The owners and founders of the guides are Tony and Maureen Wheeler and Tony has a blog on the website. They also wrote a book called Once While Travelling: The Lonely Planet Story, which relates how they got married and started the guides. The couple's own passion for traveling and gaining new experiences infused the guides with an enthusiasm for the subject.

The company has continued to grow and Lonely Planet Guides has different series. The Country Guides divide into editions for Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, India, Australia and the Pacific. There are also City Guides and Encounters (Cities). Authors who live in the destination and have expert local knowledge write the Encounters series of books. The Shoestring Guides continue the tradition of guiding young, budget travelers around. The City Maps are extremely useful and show the main attractions and landmarks. There are also Activity Guides, including Walking and Hiking, Watching Wildlife, Diving and Snorkeling and National Park Guides. The Lonely Planet Guides have covered just about every corner of the globe and thousands of people rely on them every day.

More on the internet