Voice of Travel

One of the first things I do when I am getting ready to book a vacation is buy a book on the destination.

You may wonder why I do that, when there is so much great information online available for free, but I have multiple reasons.

First of all, and this may sound a bit silly…but buying the book makes me realize that the trip is happening, and I get all excited! Plus, I know that the book will have all of the basics I need, so I won’t have to go rushing around to a million different websites looking for information.

Don’t get me wrong, I will still do a lot of research, but it’s great being able to spend a few hours, read a guide book, and then know the basics about the destination I’m going to. After I’ve at least skimmed it, I can then go online knowing something about the location, and will be able to do more research based on what I learned in the book and was interested in.

Plus, I almost always bring the guidebook with me. You never know when you’ll be walking around a town you don’t know and wish you had it! You could be really hungry, wishing you knew which restaurant was recommended. Or, you’ll find something that you did no research on at all, and wonder if it’s worth visiting. Plus, these guidebooks often have many maps in them, so even if the map I usually print out doesn’t have what I was looking for, usually one of the maps in the guidebook will be of great help.

What do I like more than guidebooks? Getting them for less. So I was excited when I saw that Lonely Planet was having their buy 2 get 1 free book event. The Lonely Planet Store has all types of guidebooks, so no matter where you’re going, you’ll be able to find a book that will help you.

What I also love is their collection of general “travel” books…so if you just want to flip through a book that could help you pick your next travel destination, they have plenty of those as well.

I’m not going to list the regular guidebooks, but here are some that I thought were really interesting and different:

• The Travel Book
• Great Journeys
• Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Photography
• Southeast Asia on a Shoestring Travel Guide
• The World’s Best Street Food
• Lonely Planet’s 1,000 Ultimate Experiences

Oh, and before I forget…most likely you’ll also get free shipping! Right now if you live in the US or Canada, when you spend at least $40 you’ll get free shipping. So odds are you’re 2 books will come out a little more than that, meaning you’ll get all 3 books for the cost of 2 – and it will all ship free!

Shop Lonely Planet’s Buy 2 Get 1 Free Book Sale!