Fabulous Journeys

Lonely Planet’s Beginnings

Lonely Planet

Nearly everyone who goes to the bookshops looking for a guidebook would know or have seen Lonely Planet. This company has started from humble beginnings, by Tony and Maureen Wheeler. They started Lonely Planet from a small book on how to travel around Southeast Asia on a shoestring budget in the 1970s. At that time, it was a pioneering work, as there was hardly any travel guidebooks available about Southeast Asia, and Tony and Maureen had to learn the hard way to travel around the then-difficult countries of Southeast Asia.

Lonely Planet Today

Lonely Planet Guidebooks

Today, however, Lonely Planet is a multi-million dollar business, publishing a huge range of guidebooks per country, region, city and even phrasebooks. They have a huge following across the globe, and is widely considered to be the traveller’s bible. Lonely Planet has been huge for backpackers and intrepid travellers, but they also cater to a wider audience, with those wanting a great reliable and comprehensive source of information on fabulous destinations around the globe. Apart from the usual information on places to see and things to do, Lonely Planet also offers information from customs to visa requirements, to health warnings and dangers and annoyances, to how to get there and get around a particular place. It’s very concise and the information is kept as up-to-date as possible.

Lonely Planet has also gone into creating and expanding its business from just the usual guidebooks. They have compiled the best of the best destinations, and have started out with the Lonely Planet Blue List series, which has evolved into other products. They have also compiled the best travel photos of each continent and released a series of it. Their website also has a forum for travellers to discuss and share ideas on the latest and most interesting destinations around the world, and some travel advisory on what’s happening in certain parts of the world.

Lonely Planet Rocks!

Lonely Planet Promotions

I’m a great fan of Lonely Planet, and in fact, I buy a copy of the guidebook for each destination I go to. I have started a collection of these Lonely Planet guidebooks through the years, some dating to more than 10 years ago. I consider it one of my greatest resource as a traveller, and a great starting point to gaining an idea and understanding of a particular place, culture and people. It also provides me with accurate information on how I can get there, what to look out for, and what I need to prepare before I even start my trip. I always use it as a starting point of my trip. When I’m on the ground, I mix it up with local knowledge and information, as sometimes things change too quickly with certain countries that the information on the guidebook may not have covered (pretty understandable from a logistical point of view of publishing). I cannot say anymore how much I love this company and the quality of the materials that they produce. I cannot even think of going to a new country without picking up and reading a Lonely Planet guideboook first!

If you want to check out what Lonely Planet has to offer, visit their site here. I seriously recommend them. If you have no idea on which guidebook to go for, I wouldn’t look anywhere else, Lonely Planet offers you the best range with the best, most comprehensive information.

I hope you have learned a great tip about what I use to enable me to do my Fabulous Journeys.