BBC Worldwide Buys Lonely Planet

by Matthew Firestone on

My name is Matthew Firestone, and I am a freelance writer for Lonely Planet.

Or should I say BBC Worldwide?

Today, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, who founded Lonely Planet in 1972, sold majority control of the company to BBC Worldwide.

“We felt that BBC Worldwide would provide a platform true to our vision and values, while allowing us to take the business to the next level,” they said.

The BBC said that the deal would strengthen Lonely Planet’s visibility and growth potential, and would allow the guidebook company to access BBC online content.

Currently, Lonely Planet has offices in Melbourne, Oakland and London, with more than 500 office employees and 300 plus on-the-road authors (including me).

Lonely Planet Introduces Handy Pick & Mix Guides

by Martha Edwards on

The Lonely Planet has been my faithful companion on almost every trip I’ve taken. Southeast Asia on a Shoestring and Europe on a Shoestring are two particularly battered versions … they’ve been bent, dog-earred, used as makeshift pillows in desperation and clumsily highlighted while on bumpy bus rides.

And while I wouldn’t leave home without my trusty guide, I wish there were a way to make it more compact. Yeah, I know it’s just a book but for a backpacker with a shopping habit, a book that size takes up a lot of precious space and weight. On my southeast Asia trip, for instance, I could’ve done without the chapters on Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma and the Philippines — they just weren’t on the agenda for that trip.

But wait … there is a way to lighten up your Lonely Planet load. It’s called Pick & Mix and it allows you to download, save and print individual chapters. The chapters are identical to those in the guidebooks, and each will cost you between $2 and $4. And, you’ll get a discount if you buy multiple chapters at once. They’re currently trying out the Pick & Mix program so you can only get select guide books right now, but look for more soon.

Old Guidebooks? Keep ’em or Ditch ’em?

by Brett Atkinson on

It’s a lazy Sunday in Auckland and I’m relocating my workspace from an external office back to the spare room in our apartment (it’s a long story involving a rapacious landlord who doesn’t appreciate the finer points of the freelance life).

Here’s my dilemma.

What should I do with loads of old guidebooks, including some that date back 20 years? In my office I’d had the luxury of space to keep them all, but maybe now’s the time to move on.

What does everyone else do with guidebooks once they’ve returned from a trip?

  1. Do you leave them in your bookcase as a souvenir of your travels?
  2. Keep them as a badge of honour to prove to visitors you went to Vietnam before Bill Clinton lifted the embargo, and have got a faded early 90s copy of Lonely Planet Vietnam to prove it?
  3. An independent traveller like you doesn’t use guidebooks.

Thanks to TeddyBoy on Flickr for the pic of his well-travelled bookcase.

10 Places to Absorb Slavery’s Past

by Catherine Bodry on

Visiting places with dark pasts isn’t as odd as it sounds — in fact, it ‘s quite common. Lonely Planet picks up on this travel trend in their 2007 Bluelist, which examines the general popularity of tombs, graves, and memorials as destinations. Furthermore, the authors point out that Ground Zero and Auschwitz have become modern-day pilgrimage sites. “Dark Travel,” as it’s been coined, is incredibly popular.

USA Today recommends a few more non-cheery holiday stops in its article 10 Great Places to Absorb the Reality of Slavery. The article suggests that we should “celebrate freedom by remembering slavery,” which is not bad advice. Without understanding slavery, how can we truly understand what it means to be “free”?

Sights include the Harriet Tubman Home and the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum, as well as the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site.

Travel Writer Found Dead in China

by Iva Skoch on

Bad news from the travel world today.

Clem Lindenmayer, 47, a seasoned Lonely Planet writer, was reported missing three months ago, after he had set out to climb Mount Gongga, in a remote area of south-west China. Last Thursday, villagers had found his dead body on a mountainside 4,600m (some 13,000ft) above sea level, The Independent reports.

Mr Lindenmayer was from Melbourne and spoke Mandarin, German and Spanish. He had helped to update guides to China, Malaysia, Germany and Sweden. Lonely Planet said he had “developed a special affection for the Swiss Alps”. He was an experienced hiker, author of Trekking in the Patagonian Andes, published in 2003, and Walking in Switzerland.