Day 353: The Lonely Planet Whore

I am a whore. A Lonely Planet whore, that is! ;-)

Maybe saying Lonely Planet King, or Lonely Planet Addict would have been a nicer title, but today I feel like being a little dirty. And I think 'whore' is appropriate enough. Basically when it comes to those books, I'll take it wherever I can get it. And I'll never say no. And I just can't get enough. And the more I get, the more I want. I don't care about the colour or shape or size or quality. I just want it. Or 'them', I should say. More more more!

At work today I got a package in the mail today from WhatTheBook - my favourite local bookstore. I had ordered some books, and one of them, of course, included a new Lonely Planet. Today's addition was the massive China book, and that edition now completes my Asian collection. And it brings up my grand total to thirteen! Wow! I have an entire shelf on my bookstore that is all Lonely Planets. It's awesome. And yet I still want more!

They're so helpful and informative! When I went to Hong Kong my LP copy was my bible while there. My trip wouldn't have been the same without it. Now I'm not one of those silly travellers who will *only* go to places that LP reccommends, cause after all it is just one person's opinion (or at the most a few), and half the fun of travelling is just stumbling into places and falling into adventures that you never ever could have planned for. But they're certainly useful in helping oneself to decide what places to visit, eat at, sleep at, etc. With my big trip coming up in just a couple of months I've got a lot of research to do, and working out all those little technicalities (required visa entries, transporation, currency info, health regulations, etc.) can be daunting without a little guidance.

So if anyone needs any information on travel in Southeast Asia, I'm your man. If anyone is looking to get rid of a Lonely Planet book that they don't need anymore, regardless of the place, I'm your man. And if anyone is looking for a travel literature whore who's in love with the books with the navy blue spine, I'm your man. ;-)