track 27
Tim Cole: I’m Tim Cole, and as an experienced travel writer, I'm here to tell you not to believe everything you read in guidebooks because following some of the recommendations they give can result in the most bizarre situations. I’ll never forget the night I arrived in
Sydney, for example. I'd turned up at the address of what I thought
was a budget hotel given in the guidebook at i am, exhausted and looking forward to a few hours’ rest, but instead
found myself at a comedy club, which at the time I didn’t find
at all funny.
The problem is that too many travellers are too trusting
of their guidebooks and don't bother to research even the most basic facts before they set off. Some guidebooks are only updated every couple of years, so it’s no wonder
many things have moved on by the time you get there. The most important thing when choosing a guidebook is to check the publication date; if it’s not within the last 12
months, don’t buy it.
Then the other thing to think about is who the guidebook is aimed at. if you’re into the history and culture of a
place, don’t buy a guidebook full of information on the
alternative nightlife scene. But my pet hate, and something I'm
always extremely wary of, are the restaurant suggestions. So
often We turned up somewhere and the menu, price and décor bear no relation to the place I've been reading about -
if they haven't already gone out of business and shut down, that is.
Other things to look out for in a guidebook are the maps, these need to be detailed but not so small you can't read them. You don't want to have to carry a magnifying glass around with you. Books that include unnecessary information are another thing I find annoying - like
photos of famous places, for example. We already know what the Eiffel Tower looks like! Why not include more background information instead?
Of course, most guidebooks are also now available in a digital format and many travellers prefer using these because they’re obviously not heavy to carry, so you can download as many as you like. But I don’t find them easy
to use at all because navigation is much harder than flicking through the index at the back of a book. Life’s just too
short and you can never guarantee you’ll have wifi access
anyway. Until I can get a digital travel guide which is
tailor-made for my individual trip, I’m happy to stick with the
traditional form of guidebook.
However, on my trip to Hawaii last summer I experimented with a new way of getting good travel advice: Twitter tourism. Instead of using a guidebook, I decided to rely
on the advice of locals and visitors alike - and let them
choose what I should visit, where I should stay and what I
should eat. I didn't mind as long as their advice was based on a recent experience. it actually worked out really well and
it felt like a real adventure. Without the Twitter travel
tips, I'd never have visited the Ukulele Festival or eaten spam
sushi. One thing I'd never imagined doing 7 and I’m so grateful
for the advice - was a ten-kilometre kayak expedition along
the coast for a night-time swim with manta rays in a huge
cave. A truly magnificent sight. And my top tip for anyone
visiting Hawaii!
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