Book Review: Lonely Planet’s Best Ever Travel Tips

Available in bookshops nationwide. 

For such a small volume, there’s an abundance of useful information packed in here!

Whatever your particular question about travelling well, safely, economically and with minimal fuss, you’ll most likely find the answers in this pocket sized travel companion. From how to survive a small-group tour, to which plug is for which country, to considering ‘old-school’ technology to help you through small crises – there are a lot of ‘oh, of course, why didn’t I think of that before?’ moments.

It will be very helpful, I think, for less experienced, and also solo, travellers.

There are suggestions for eco-travelling (up to a point, of course) and how to give back to local communities through supporting local initiatives while you are visiting. This includes eating local! It’s one of the simplest ways both to support and learn about the place you are in.

Hate the cramped feeling you get on long flights? There is a list of exercises you can do pretty well anywhere to help with that.

Love your food, but have an allergy or intolerance to particular things? Take diet cards (if you are coeliac, for example) and snacks for emergencies. It’s worth it.

Always take more clothes than you need? Remember there are shops where you are going – this is not a Lonely Planet tip, but my own advice – and if you spend a bit of time planning to take things which mix and match, your problems are halved.

Got scammed on your last trip? Relax, it happens to everyone but you do need to be alert, and there are tips for what to watch out for. The mantra ‘If it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true’ definitely holds when travelling.

Highly recommended, and only one proofreading error that I picked up – one of the headings is STAY SAVE AND HEALTHY – doesn’t work, however you parse it!

But regardless of how often, or where, you travel, I think you’ll find this a very handy little book.

Reviewed by Sue Esterman

Lonely Planet’s Best Ever Travel Tips
Published by Lonely Planet Global
9781787017641

Book Review: Everyday Adventures, by Lonely Planet

Available in bookshops nationwide.

Lonely Planet, that loved and trusted bible for backpackers and travellers, has added to their pantheon of guidebooks with a book close to everyone’s home. The cover promises ‘50 new ways to experience your hometown’ and it certainly delivers on this promise. Set out in five sections of adventure themes: Follow Your Senses, Social Adventures, Challenge Yourself, Cultural Odysseys and for the more adventurous adventurer, Roll the Dice, the book offers unique and fun ways to re-discover the place you live in. In each section you can pick and choose the challenges that best suit your level of budget, and adventurous spirit. This is a fantastic ‘how-to’ book that will get you out and about, looking around you and appreciating (hopefully) the world you walk through each and every day.

The adventures are outlined briefly and a list is provided of what you will require to complete each mission, along with instructions and colourful photos from around the globe. Diving into the challenges could see you for instance: camping in your own backyard and stargazing; spending 24 hours at the airport; travelling to the end of the train/bus line; playing life size monopoly around the city; letting your dog take you where they want to go, or volunteering a charity or organisation that operates in your city. The options are varied from easy to complex, and range from an hour or two to a few days – they have the suggestions, you decide on what and how and where.

To offer you more inspiration to get out there, or to clarify just what the adventure may entail, a case-study for each suggested adventure is provided. Written by Lonely Planet authors, they are lyrical pieces of travel writing filled with personal insights and imagery describing the sights and smells discovered by the adventurer as they test drive the adventures. These vignettes make for charming reading in themselves, and are accompanied by interesting facts relating to the adventure.

It has been *ahem* quite a few years since I had a few backpacking adventures on my Big OE; travels now look very different, and are a whole lot more comfortable might I add. However, like most travellers the love of discovering new places and experiences remains and with this book the Backpacker spirit can live on, opening up the possibilities of adventure close by. This is definitely a book for those who like to try new things and for those who love sharing fun experiences with family and friends.

Reviewed by Vanessa Hatley-Owen

Everyday Adventures
Lonely Planet Global Ltd, 2018
ISBN: 9781787013582

Book Review: Epic Drives of the World, by Lonely Planet

Available in bookshops nationwide.

I’ve long been a fan of Lonely Planet publications, especially since they have included New Zealand in their reviews of great places to see and visit.  This book is no exception.  Epic Drives of the World contains three drives in New Zealand, in both the North and South Islands, and the very first two page illustration is of a VW campervan parked overlooking a portion of the East Coast somewhere in our beautiful country.

Fifty drives are described in detail with photographs of the terrain traversed, covering all parts of the globe from Africa and the Middle East, through the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. The drives are graded from Easy through to Epic.  And an added bonus is a feature which gives information about similar drives to the initial one being described.  For instance, even though only three major drives are featured here in New Zealand, the index in the back of the book has the information that there are eleven routes covered somewhere in the book describing drives in Central Otago, the Kaikoura coast, Southern scenic route, thermal hot spots and Waiheke Island to name a few.

An indication of the extensive research which has gone into the book is the description for the Pacific Coast Highway.  To quote: ‘New Zealand’s indigenous Māori culture, coastal scenery and Art Deco design combine in this off-the-beaten track journey around the country’s Pacific Ocean coastline. Start at Whakatane, one of New Zealand’s sunniest cities, and the departure point for boat trips to Whakaari (White Island), a sulfurous active volcano off the coast.  Nearby Ohope is close to the protected wildlife refuge of Moutuhora (Whale Island). The remote region beyond Opotiki around NZ’s easternmost point is steeped in the traditional ways of the Ngāti Porou iwi (tribe), with local Marae (Māori meeting houses) displaying beautiful wooden carvings.’

Alongside this description (reproduced in part) is a full page colour photograph of Napier with some of the Art Deco buildings and its white sand beach.  This drive was in the ‘More Like This’ section which follows many of the harder, epic drives throughout the book.

The book is a visual feast, being A4 size with a hard cover, and containing many photos and colour illustrations.  Little maps are at the beginning of each main drive showing where they are in the country represented, and each drive has the starting location, the end point, the distance covered, how to get there and, in some cases, what to take, when to go, where to eat, and websites to connect to for further info.  It’s packed full of information about the countries visited, the wildlife to watch out for and some history or relevant information about the country.

Epic Drives of the World is a real cracker of a book which would delight all sorts of readers, from the die hard adventurer through to the stay at home imagineers.

Reviewed by Lesley Vlietstra

Epic Drives of the World
by Lonely Planet
Published by Lonely Planet Global
ISBN 9781786578648