For years... decades, really... I've been collecting travel guides. Most of the time I would buy the old editions on sale when the new editions were released. The only thing that seemed to change were the hotel and restaurant listings, so it didn't make sense to pay full price for information I wasn't going to use. Because back then, actually getting to go to all these places was nothing more than a dream. I bought the books so I could pretend that I was planning a trip to exotic locations around the globe.
Then I stopped pretending and started actually going. Which is when my travel library came in handy.
But then the internet started taking over and I was referring to guidebooks less and less. And once the iPhone was unleashed, I had the entire internet in my pocket and stopped using physical travel guides altogether.
So why keep them?
Sentimental reasons, I guess. I look up at the bookshelf and it's a reminder of my travel dreams and all the places I want to go. But then this morning I actually started looking at them. Out of seventy-two books, only three of them were places I haven't yet been: Peru, India, and Cambodia...
There are plenty of other places I want to visit, but these are the three that are left staring down at me from the shelf. So I'm keeping them... for sentimental reasons, I guess... and throwing out the rest.
Hopefully one day I can visit Peru, India, and Cambodia so I can toss those books in the trash bin as well.
At which point I'll have to buy new books that I can aspire to throw out.
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Seriously. You should write your OWN travel guides!
I’m a bit shocked you haven’t yet been to Peru or India. Wasn’t there an HRC in Lima for a while? Yes, it closed, but another is scheduled to open this year. Also India has the Hyderabad HRC.
I do a lot of vicarious traveling thru you, so here’s hoping you get serious about Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal.
Throwing out the rest or donating them? Just curious for the other travel dreamers without the internet in their pocket.
Out of 72, you have 3 left? That is freaking incredible.
Sometimes, these types of books are better than what you’d find online. Or, their medium is more fun. I remember getting on a 10-hr flight to Oahu with Deb in ’08 after I’d returned from a deployment, and we had the “revealed” guidebook for the island with us. We spent at least half the flight going through the book and highlighting activities and restaurants together, and then we planned when we’d visit each location on a sheet of paper that was broken down by day. Since our plane had no wifi, this was the only way to accomplish such planning. Also, since the book was written by residents of the island we were visiting, it had a lot of “hidden gems” we otherwise would have never learned about. Go guidebook!
Hi Dave, You should definitely visit India. I am a GM of a luxury tree house resort in Jaipur and I am sure that you will definitely visit Jaipur in your trip. So its a pleasure to invite a travel blogger in my resort. Plus I really likes your point of old travel guides. Destinations don’t change easily. This is my site lohagarhfortresort.in
Plz come to Cambodia to see the wonderful heritage you never seen before. Thx
I’ve been to Cambodia! Beautiful country!
Nice. If you want to stay and spend the best time with your family at Heritage Hotel in Kanota then reach Kothilohagarh now!