Guidebook

There are a couple surefire cues when looking at a guidebook to see if the content is topical and useful. Most importantly, when was it published?  If it’s not current, then move on to other guidebooks to find the latest hotels and restaurants. Who is the author and where does he live? If the guy lives in Texas and writes about South Africa, I’ll put that book down in favor of a local writer in Capetown who knows his country far better than any outsider. Now and then, this last rule doesn’t ring true. One of my favorite guidebook writers is Chris Tree who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and writes about Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire for the Explorer Guide series. She doesn’t live in those exact states, but she’s been writing about these destinations for at least 30 years and it shows in her books. They’re loaded with such detail as where to stop off the highway in Vermont to find a genuine diner. Plus, Massachusetts isn’t too far from Vermont or Maine, so it’s not the same comparison as a Texan writing about Africa.

Next, I open up to any page and try to find an honest opinion. If everything is groovy and life is bliss, which rarely happens in travel (yet sells advertising in glossy magazines), I don’t believe a word the writer is saying. If they tell me that driving around San Jose, Costa Rica, is a freaken nightmare because there are few road signs, then I read onward. Or that the best elephant trek in northern Thailand is the one run by a woman from the indigenous Karan people, than I know the dude did his homework. Tell me the truth about the place, with all the good stuff and bad stuff written in a highly opinionated manner, and I’m hooked.

I’ve written for Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, and DK. Generally speaking, Frommer’s and Fodor’s are good for moderate to upper priced hotels and restaurants, Lonely Planet is perfect for the lower-priced traveler. I like the Real Guides for their opinions, DK for their in-depth write-ups of historic sites in places like Israel and Krakow. Moon shines on one state or country by local writers, like Hilary Nangle’s book on Maine or Christopher Baker’s Handbook on Costa Rica. In upcoming blogs, I’ll be writing reviews of guidebooks for specific destinations.