Travel Tip 21
How to choose the right travel guide?
Getting a travel guide will save you endless searching through travel blogs, magazines and websites that could be too biased. (More on biased travel blogs next week!)
If you’re still in the planning stages: get the most general travel guide you can.
Want to go to Asia and can’t decide between Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam? Get a travel guide for all of Asia and see how each country compares. I wouldn’t recommend getting a full book about each country to help you decide – unless you have tons of time on your hands.
Check your local library for travel guides but make sure they’re recent. Historical places like Angkor Wat might not have changed, but the way people travel has changed significantly in the past three years.
Look at everything, then narrow down what exactly you have time for. Want to go to Peru (YAY!) and have only two weeks? Get a guide for the whole country and see which regions spark your fancy. Reality check: With just two weeks you can’t do more than Cusco & Machu Picchu and one other region, if you want to spend time being somewhere, rather than constantly in transit..
The activities available can both help you choose where to go and what to do when you get there.
After you decide where you’re going: get the most specific travel guide you can.
There are hundreds of travel guides out there, so you should be able to find one that’s niche enough. I suggest getting a travel guide that’s only for the country or region you’re visiting. If you’re going to France and decided on seeing the French Alps, look for a travel guide that’s just for that region. There are hundreds of travel guides for France, so with a little time you can find just the right one.
Look for a travel guide that’s geared for the way you travel.
There are guides out there now for solo travel, luxury travel, women travelers, family travel, low budget backpacking, gluten free travelers and just about everything else. It’s worth some time searching bookstores (real or online) to see if the perfect travel guide for exists for your destination and travel style.
Read the author bio before you buy the book. If they’re experienced in the way you want to travel, they’ll probably have a lot of tips that will work for you.
Travel apps are new on the travel guide scene – and my new favorite!
My travel app Peru’s Best is a general guide for the whole country, so it’s perfect for the beginning stages of your trip planning and dreaming. It’s also a great resource after you’ve decided what to do in Peru because it’s an app, so you’ll already have it with you.
Peru doesn’t have the same volume of thousands of travel guides that you’ll find for countries in Europe or states in the US. Unfortunately, you won’t (yet) find a Peru travel guide that is geared specifically towards vegetarian female solo backpackers or luxury family vacations with toddlers.
Travel apps are updated frequently, just like every app on your phone.
I’m working on adding specific travel styles to my app – which is another reason apps will be better than books as they become more common. I can update my app whenever I want. In January this year Machu Picchu closed during the protests, and I updated the app immediately. When it opened four weeks later, I updated again. Travel guides published as books are lucky if they get updated every five years. I can update my app five times a year. My latest big update was released last Wednesday!
Article
This week Rooted Storytelling published my article about visiting non-profits and NGOs when traveling. The publication is geared towards travel companies, so it’s more likely to be read by travel agents than travelers. Hopefully, travel agents will start sending their clients to some of my favorite non-profits here in Peru, which I gush about in the article.
Blog
Yes, I went to Chan Chan and Huaca de la Luna a month ago, but I finally published this blog yesterday. I have been so many amazing places and done so many amazing things in Peru that it’s hard to keep up! Click on the title above to read why, if you can only choose one, you should go to Huaca de la Luna.