How to Plan (from Washington Post)

Thanks Laurel. I also liked the "ask locals where to eat". People who are dependent on apps and websites to tell them where to eat are missing something, I think.

There are plenty of people who wouldn't read a book of any kind, if not forced to. If you can't find the answer by googling, many will give up.

Remember all of those expensive guidebooks are free at a public library. And copying is cheap these days.

I still use paper guidebooks but much less for "planning" than for the initial learning about places: which places in a country would I want to visit? What would I want to see in each place? Would I want to visit this country or region at all? Like Frank, I use the library too and a scanner - to scan a few pages of certain books so I can read them on my phone or tablet. Sometimes I buy paper guidebooks; sometimes I buy the e-reader version. I try to pack light these days and almost never take a paper guidebook on the actual trip anymore.

For the actual logistics - getting place to place, finding lodging, etc. - I find the internet much more useful than guidebooks. Can't remember the last time I used any guidebook's restaurant or hotel recommendations. Looking at Yelp reviews of restaurants posted by locals can be more useful than a guidebook written for tourists.

Great article! Thanks for posting it Laurel.

I’m another library borrower of Lonely Planet, Frommers, Fodors, and Rick Steves. Last trip I took two day trips by train to smaller cities and ended up photocopying just the pages for those towns rather than packing the entire Great Britain guide. Library book sales are also ways to find guide books on the cheap if you’re looking for general information and don’t need the current year’s admission prices and hours.

Thanks for posting the link, Laurel. It was full of good advice, especially about using more than one guide book as well as other sources for planning. I also hope her experiences will encourage more readers to take their children traveling.

Thanks Laurel. That was a great article and takeaway from a a somewhat experienced traveler planning an extensive family trip. All of her talking points were spot on. If only all of us could glean such knowledge and apply it to future trips.

I buy” last years” edition of travel books from sites like cheap books.com and pay $5 instead of $25. Info is basically the same and I don’t feel bad about marking it up and ripping out pages. I have a thing for paper books vs ebooks. Googling in great, but I always start with the book.

I always buy the book of the country I plan to go. For Europe Rick Steves book, beyond Europe usually Lonely Planet. Many times library has old edition. In the bookstore you get the newest one. The price is negligible comparing to the price of the trip.

I always recommend that people get at least a couple of guidebooks for the area they want to visit, or get a general Europe guidebook to get ideas if they are not sure. And I recommend Europe Through the Back Door to everyone planning a trip to Europe, even if they've been there before. But I'm with Kathi. I buy 1-3 year old guidebooks at library book sales, online at cheap book websites, etc. In fact, I don't think I've ever paid full price for a current edition of a guidebook. I always check online for current rates and hours for sights and attractions. Most of the things I'm going to Europe to see are not going to change in a couple of years so it's not that important for me to have the most current editions. I use the books mostly for researching general information about a country or city I might want to visit.

Remember all of those expensive guidebooks are free at a public library. And copying is cheap these days.

I got a copy of Rick's France book that was a version back from the 'take one-free' rack that the local library system has in the terminals of the Grand Rapids airport. (I do buy current guides from Rick and others for trips in active planning stages but it'll be a few years before we're in France again. I just like to flip through travel books and dream.) You can also sometimes find pretty recent travel guides for a dollar or two from thrift stores and charity shops. I have a Lonely Planet Guide to Cyprus that I got for $2 from a Goodwill in Panama City Beach, Florida that was stamped as a library discard from a small town about 30 miles outside of Glasgow, Scotland. Would love to know how that little book made its way halfway around the world.

I figure the previous version can be a good starting point for mapping out a route as long as you verify current information along the route

Course the current gem of my thrift store travel book collection is a c. 1950 travel guide to Europe issued by the Times of London. Interesting sections on how to prepay your tours and hotels on the continent so you didn't run afoul of the currency export controls and instructions on how to sign up for a ration card for people who were planning an extended stay into the UK.

I agree that a book in hand is sometimes a must.

In Nashville, we have a wonderful used bookstore (McKay's) that often has guide books from previous years at a ridiculously low cost. That works wonders if you want to have something tangible to take with you.

That is a great article, thank you for sharing, Laurel. I have to admit I liked the part where the author said she lost sleep over planning a family trip to Scotland and France --- I can absolutely identify!!!

And yes a million times yes to the important role of good guidebooks in planning, supplemented by internet research for opening dates and times, timetables, ticket prices, and general good insights from Forum members!

I really need a good guidebook (or 2 or 3) to get the overall concept/lay of the land.

Remember all of those expensive guidebooks are free at a public
library.

Absolutely. We always use the library to get the latest editions either in print or ebook.

Sadly, my local library is deficient in terms of travel guidebooks. Plenty to the U.S. and a few to some international destinations but they rarely buy new ones except for every 2-3 years.

What I will sometimes do, occassionally, is go to Barnes & Noble, get a coffee, and take notes while perusiing the guidebooks. This is especially true if I am going to one area or a country just for a few days and it doesn't pay to buy the entire book. It also allows me to preview a guidebook before buying it.

When I do buy, I have turned to electronics. While paper guidebooks can be easier to use, the electronic version allows me to have it both on my tablet and phone and doesn't add an ounce of weight. I do make notes of what I need and throw them out as they are used up. The night before I review what I am going to do the next day--or over coffee in the morning if I procrastinated.

If you do use a one or two year old guidebook, just confirm times and openings online. Things change.

I also print out a monthly calendar from Time and Date and use it to plan my trip. I take it with but also enter the information in my electronic calendar on my devices.

I agree that there is too much information on the internet. I am picky where I get my info. I use official sites and ones that I know rather than others that are just trying to intice me to buy something through them.

With all that said, the best advice I can give anyone is to get your nose out of the guidebook and just explore. Some of the most interesting things I've seen have been during my wanderings. Too many people will pick up a guidebook, like Rick Steves, and follow it to the letter. They stay where "Rick Steve Says." They eat where "Rick Steves Says" It's almost like the game of Simon Says--if Rick does't say it, they don't do it. That goes for Lonely Planet, Fodor, Frommer, etc

Remember all of those expensive guidebooks are free at a public library. And copying is cheap these days.

I checked out the e-book versions of the guide books from my libraries and have them on my tablet when on the road. No more hard copies for me these days.

I'm sad to hear many libraries only have old guidebooks. I work at a public library and we get new ones every year. We generally keep current year and maybe one to two years back on the shelves. Its so exciting when the older ones are withdrawn - I (and a few other travel enthusiasts) grab what interests us to keep. I never use old guidebooks on the road but its nice to have a few around the house for checking on things on a whim.

Great article and I agree with everything!
But, about this packing light stuff.......
I try to pack light and I think for the most part I succeed.

However, I do not want to spend my vacation time doing laundry ( same goes for cooking). I read that in these forums that some people are washing clothes every night in their hotel room sink. No thank you! And for me, I would have to do my kids laundry as well!!!
I don’t want to look like a frump on vacation and this necessitates a curling iron and blow dryer.

So I do make sure we can have our laundry done a couple of times!
I also don’t want to spend my time shopping for toiletries and so I bring enough to last the entire trip!

In recent years I've spent about 1/3 of my time in Europe. I've had just one lodging place where there was no blow-dryer available: a budget-priced apartment in an obscure Bulgarian city. I think hair dryers are just about everywhere these days, aren't they?

As for laundry, as a solo traveler, I find doing my own not that big a deal. I can just imagine what my mother would have said if our family of five traveled light and she was responsible for all that laundry!

I also liked the "ask locals where to eat".

I don't get this.

How do you ascertain who is a local and who isn't? Someone speaking Italian in Rome isn't necessarily a local, they could be a tourist from Milan. Do you walk around asking people if they're local or not? If you find one are you going to take their advice or seek out another five or ten 'locals' to garner their opinions. I can ask ten people in my city where they would recommend eating and I wouldn't be surprised if I received ten different answers with a least half of them being dubious suggestions. There's some strange perception that everyone local to your destination has good taste in food and shares the same taste as you, this is bizarre.

I'm sure I've been to restaurants where I've had some fantastic food yet had I asked some 'locals' they would not have recommended it because they didn't like the food, it was too pretentious, the price was too high and so on. I find a combination of review sites, the restaurant's website and how long it's been in business (most of my favourite eating experiences have been at places that are relatively new and are staffed and managed by young, keen and motivated people) far more helpful in helping me choose where to eat. Far too often I have been left disappointed when I've fallen for the trap of eating in a city's oldest and most famous restaurant only to find that they've become a victim of their own success and have resorted to pushing out the same tired food cooked by the same tired chefs year after year with the quality decreasing and the chef's spark and motivation long sucked out of him/her.

How do you ascertain who is a local and who isn't? Do you walk around asking people if they're local or not?

One could ask the docent at a museum, people sitting by you (or near you) while you're taking a break on a park bench, someone at a bookstore you meet while looking at the same shelves of books (or an employee of that bookstore).

Think about with whom you come in contact when you travel. If all you're meeting are other tourists, get off the tour bus and really spend time visiting.

I can ask ten people in my city where they would recommend eating and
I wouldn't be surprised if I received ten different answers with a
least half of them being dubious suggestions.

Dubious suggestions? Wow, you don't think very much of the people in your city, do you? I think it's GREAT to hear varying answers. What an opportunity that is.

JC of course you could always ask first, "are you a local?" But really, I don't care if they were born and bred in Rome, Albania or wherever - if they're a human being working in a shop, selling fruit, driving a cab, or working at the hotel, I figure they might have a more valuable opinion of what's nearby, than a bunch of anonymous posters on a website or an app that has analyzed your preferences to generate a "you might like" list. I've been steered to some good local places just by asking. But then, I not asking "whats the best _____ in the city?"

Too much advertising and fake reviews driving the internet. By your example, I'm not sure what you're suggesting as a better alternative.

I use the library for deep planning, as a source of ideas and general logistics. I might photocopy a few pages on something obscure.

But for my trip, I always travel with the most recent edition of one or two travel books that I like. Reason: If having the latest information means I am not unpleasantly surprised by a change in hours or other logistics, it is worth the small investment in the latest, versus the vast cost of getting and being there.

"Ask the locals" amused me because often, no matter where we are, we are asked for recommendations of where to eat Last fall we were in a small city we'd not visited before and a young Italian couple asked us for guidance of a place nearby. Why they would trust a foreigner walking down the street? They were strangers in that town too!

My general plan is to buy the ebook edition of two guidebooks and then usually a DK Eyewitness physical book for the pictures, which I don't bring with me. I tend to use guidebooks for sightseeing ideas, and the general idea of what parts of the city to stay in. Restaurants come and go so quickly that I don't really rely on guidebooks for those, I'm not that much of a foodie. They can be helpful in telling me that a particular part of a city is know for their Chinese restaurants or that an area is the central business district and places are likely to be closed on weekends.

Guidebooks can then help me target my internet searches, just to confirm operating hours or such.

It's also fun to borrow guidebooks from the library for places you haven't really considered visiting. Sometimes, you're content with being an armchair traveler. Lonely Planet covers almost everywhere, and it's nice to read about places I'll probably never visit. I just can't deal with massive corruption and paying bribes in some developing countries.

"Remember all of those expensive guidebooks are free at a public library. And copying is cheap these days."

Copying any part of a book is copyright infringement and is illegal!!!

"Copying any part of a book is copyright infringement and is illegal!!!"

That's a pretty strong, and broad, statement. There are exceptions to and conditions under which some copying is allowed without violating copyright. - the amount of the book copied, the intended use of the copies, etc.. I'm certainly not going to worry about copying a few pages out of a guidebook for my personal use in research.

“In recent years I've spent about 1/3 of my time in Europe. I've had just one lodging place where there was no blow-dryer available: a budget-priced apartment in an obscure Bulgarian city. I think hair dryers are just about everywhere these days, aren't they?”

Acraven-when u have hair as thick as mine, those wimpy hair dryers supplied by most places would take about 25 min to dry my hair. My dryer takes 7min!

Oh. I definitely do not have that kind of hair!

But for my trip, I always travel with the most recent edition of one
or two travel books that I like. Reason: If having the latest
information means I am not unpleasantly surprised by a change in hours
or other logistics, it is worth the small investment in the latest,
versus the vast cost of getting and being there.

You can't get the most up-to-date travel books at your library? That's pretty bad.

My MIL works at her local library in a small town on eastern Long Island and they always get the newest travel books. Her department is the travel books so she knows; she has worked there for over 25 years!

I am with Adam on wanting up-to-date books with me. And as much as possible, e-books. I happily download Rick's latest if he covers where we are traveling and I still check online as a back up on hours, days, etc.

My point in posting this has been well served by everyone's comments: even we experienced travelers use guidebooks heavily in planning, not just the advice of a family member or what we can find on the Internet. I always say "You don't know what you don't know" and a good guidebook answers so many questions you didn't know you had.

Dubious suggestions? Wow, you don't think very much of the people in your city, do you? I think it's GREAT to hear varying answers. What an opportunity that is.

Have you been to Portsmouth!

I've read replies from locals to questions about the best places to eat in Portsmouth and some of the replies have included some real dire places and the likes of a Toby Carvery or a Harvester. If someone's idea of a good restaurant is a Toby Carvery then pity the person who acts on that advice. The point I'm making is how do you define whether the person you choose to ask shares your view of what is a good place to eat or not. Quite evidently we all have different tastes, standards and expectations but simply because someone is local to a place doesn't guarantee that they know where good food can be found.

Go where the locals go? Yes, I did that once because the place was full of (presumably) locals. Turned out it was so popular because it was so cheap. The food was crap though. So no, I don't subscribe to that mantra, it's pointless advice in my opinion and if people want to go where the locals go simply because they want to feel less of a tourist then hey, do what you want but I have no shame or guilt about being a tourist, why would anyone?

When I want to know of a place to eat close to the hotel (or relatively), I ask the locals. Of course. That is usually the Rezeption desk clerk(s). Also I look in the Rough Guide. I don't use Trip Advisor.

In the past I've copied some pages I needed from guide books (Let's Go: France) that I had bought. I didn't need to bring the entire book. It is illegal, technically. So?

Will not use a guide book for hotel or restaurant suggestions. These places are NOT checked on a yearly basis and may not have been checked since years or maybe since the first edition of the book. Even if they have, it is still almost a year out of date by the time a book is published.

Let's look at Munich. How many places do you think the editor can try and sleep at or dine in during the couple of days they are there each year doing updates? Or did you think Rick does this all himself for every country and every city in his guidebooks? Now, how many hotels and restaurants are listed? I rest my case.

For Trip Advisor, I look for the reviews that follow my own taste in food and service. I check reviewers too. Have all of their reviews been 2* or 5* and do they have the same complaints about every place they have stayed overnight or had a meal? The overwhelming, vast majority of reviews are authentic, which is why I write them all the time too. Heaven forbid if someone thought mine were fake. Oh yeah, they can write and ask me. Something I have often done. Write the reviewer a message.

Have you been to Portsmouth!

Absolutely! We went into a small store in Market Sq to seek recommendations for a lobster shack for boat-to-table lobster enjoyment. We got great recommendations. Then we crossed the bridge to Maine en route to Acadia. It was the perfect stop.

I'm the local down here that gets asked by the tourists where I go to eat. My personal goal is both well and on the cheap so I can save money for nice meals out when I'm on vacation myself. The frustrating process used to go something like this:

Tourist: so where do you do when you want really good food?

Me: thee's this really awesome That place in a strip mall over by Home Depot. (Strip mall Thai is everywhere I live and with all the competition you have to be good to stay in business)

Tourist: Well I was thinking fish instead.

Me: There's this awesome place a couple miles inland- doesn't look like much and is kind of wedged in between a trailer park and a quick change oil place, but overrun by locals constantly because it really does locally caught fish and seafood well...

Tourist: I was thinking of something with a nice view

Me: Eh, so many places here charge high prices for that view and are kind of mediocre with the food. If we want to eat at the beach, we get a couple of subs combos from Publix and have a picnic at the park.

Tourist- We're not really in the mood for a picnic....

Me- gives up at that point, tells them the least awful tourist trap because most of the time that's what they're really wanting

Which over time, morphs into skipping the small talk and sending them right to Touristville because there are very high odds they already saw the flashy ad for there and just want me to confirm a decision they're already made to go there.

And therein lies the problem. Food tastes are far too subjective for anyone to give a recommendation that will suit all or most people, that's why I don't bother asking.

Think about with whom you come in contact when you travel. If all you're meeting are other tourists, get off the tour bus and really spend time visiting.

I've never been on any tours apart from a one to one guided tour in Bucharest recently. When I travel I research what I want to see, where I want to go prior to my visit and decide what aspects interest me. I make my own way, book my own accommodation, sort out my own meals and arrange my own transportation. Is this really visiting and does being ferried around a tour bus not count?

On asking the locals -- most of them probably eat AT HOME most of the time. When visiting foodie relatives come to town, they know the hot, new places, we know places that are comfortable/ cheap/ close by. Not too many folks interested in the salad bar at UCSF hospital (one of our favorites when going to doctor appointments).

I always bring a guidebook--partial to RS--but since I usually visit 2-3 countries in a trip I do customize them, leaving the chunks at home because you never know, I might need them on a return trip. This year I am visiting Budapest for the 4th time and I'm finally ready to leave that book at home, know where everything is and just need my trusty Streetwise map.

I stopped making a point of going to restaurants mentioned in guide books decades ago when I realized that if your target is a moderately priced place on the other side of town, you'll probably walk past a lot of equally good places on your way, all the while getting hungrier and hungrier. I skim Rick's suggestions, and if I recognize the name of a place as I'm walking down the street at meal time, I'll re-read his review and consider going in. Last year I was pleased with a meal I had in a restaurant listed for Annecy, and Rick took me to a street of interesting options in Nice that I would never have discovered myself, though I made my own choice there.

I mostly trust my ability to draw conclusions from posted menus (I read "menuese" in many countries). That has occasionally failed me, but never in the financial sense. I sometimes ask hotel reception staff or locals encountered elsewhere. If I'm going to be in a not-too-large city for a while, I on rare occasions check TripAdvisor so I have some ideas in mind.

Deja vu? I feel like I already commented on this thread, maybe I forgot to enter at the end?

I start at the library and get any free materials that will help. I also go online and order other library resources that may help. After that I'll buy the current version of the book I like the best. Nowadays, I much prefer to stay light with a kindle version I can use with my smart phone.

I study like crazy to see all my options then start weeding back my itinerary to the things I most want to see.

I definitely don't rely on guidebook eating recommendations. Ask a local is the best advice (always say "nothing fancy" if you don't want them to send you to the most expensive restaurant in the area). Once a place goes in a guide book, it's likely to change a lot to cater to the tourist trade they're getting. The menu that made it a good choice becomes burgers and fries.

We tend to stay for weeks in one area, so maybe what I do won't work for everybody. Plus, it's a little labor intensive. A bit embarrassingly so.

I buy guidebooks or get them from the library, copy and print the pages I need, copy or take screen shots of online information and print that up, CUT OUT (yes, with scissors) the paragraphs I need and then tape paragraphs from all the different sources onto sheets of paper under headings like "Churches in Puglia" or "Things to do in Milan."

Then I photograph each page with my iPhone.

You could just scan or photograph the books' pages in the first place and eliminate the kindergarten aspect of my method, but I like to have our travel information more consolidated.

I guess you'd have to enjoy monkeying around with little pieces of paper as much as I do, but the end product sure is lightweight and I always have my phone with me in Europe anyway.

Sorry I'm coming in late, but that Washington Post article was, at least for me, only available online by subscription. It took me a long time to run down a copy I could read. And it took me over a week to get my own copy of Lonely Planet from the library. So, I can finally comment.

My comments:

“Even though the Internet pulses with constantly updated information, it can overwhelm and delude people like me. “

The Internet does not overwhelm me. I know how to process information (the more the better), and I don't need someone else to tell me where to go. And I'm not deluded (whatever that means).

A guidebook is an excellent read for anyone planning their first trip to somewhere new. Maybe their first, but not beyond that.

What I agree with:

Less is more. I'd much rather rinse out a couple of items each night than carry a 35 lb suitcase.

Don't be afraid to miss "don't miss" destinations – Dachau, for example, is a "don't miss" destination in Munich, but I missed it for years and survived. When I finally went there, having heard so much about it, I was underwhelmed.

Aim for balance – Too many people try to see too many things in too little time. Don't make your vacation a series of one-night-stands. Spend a little time enjoying the current place instead of rushing off to the next.

What I'm neutral about:

Always ask locals where to eat. It can sometimes be advantageous, but it is not necessary. In 125 nights, I've had restaurant advice five times, one volunteered, four on request. They were all good advice. Most of the time though, if I'm in a small town, and I just walk around reading posted menus, and that has worked for me.

What I disagree with:

Rent a car if public transit is spotty I've never found public transit spotty enough to justify the cost of renting a car. Most people just don't understand public transit.

Pay luggage fees in advance on budget airlines. Don't use budget airlines, ever. There is so much to see in any local area in Europe; you don't need to fly around.

Call the local tourism bureau. Find the tourism bureau's website. There is so much information there. Use their email to get answers to your specific quetstions.

Splurge on a nice hotel your first night. Absolutely not. You don't have to splurge, ever, to stay in a “nice” hotel, even for the first night.

Buy the book I absolutely disagree here. Except for “maybe” the first trip, guidebooks are a waste of money. I know this is heresy on this site, but I've found it to be absolutely true.

For my first trip to Germany, I bought a German Rail Pass, from Rick. (I didn't lose money with the pass, but I didn't save, either.) With the railpass Rick sent a copy of ETBD Germany. I had already made all of my reservations, so it didn't really help. I've had the guidebook for almost 20 years and never used it. I find my reservations using the Internet.

I feel completely confident to find accommodations on the internet.

Well, mostly. In 2012 I went to Prague, and, as usual, I found accommodations using the Prague website. However, I was so completely “deluded” by bad reviews of the places I found, so I used Rick's guidebook for Prague. The place I found (Lida) on Rick's guidebook was completely satusfactory, but I can't help but wonder if the other places would have also been good.

I want to go someday to Tuscany, which I know nothing about, so I bought Rick's Italy guidebook.

But for Germany, I don't need a guidebook.

(to be cont'd)

(cont'd)

I just compared my last two (of 12) self-planned trips to Germany with what is shown in Lonely Planet. I spent 41 nights in 13 places (actually 12 places. I counted one place twice because I stayed there on two occasions). Of the first “seven” places, 25 or 61% of my nights, none are shown in Lonely Planet. The last six places, where I spent only 16 nights, are shown on Lonely Planet – St. Goar, Rothenburg obT, Munich, Berchtesgaden, Oberammergau, and Lindau. Other than Lindau, these are all “don't miss” destinations for someone who knows nothing about Germany. My point is, if you use a guidebook, you'll find yourself going to just the places that everyone else who reads the guidebook also goes to.

Of the six towns I stayed in on my last two trip that were listed in Lonely Planet, but only one accommodation where I stayed in those six towns was mentioned in Lonely Planet. That was in Oberammergau. I have compared where I stayed to the Lonely Planet recommendations, and I can't honestly say that (1) I was dissatisfied with the place I found on my own, or (2) any of the places mentioned in Lonely Planet had an advantage over where I stayed. Lonely Planet calls the place where I stayed in Oberammergau, a place that I found on my own 10 years ago using the Oberammergau town website,”the best deal in Oberammergau”. But I didn't need Lonely Planet to find it.

Downside of "ask the locals" is that you may ask people like me who just eat at home ... or go to the same old familiar (cheap) places when we do go out. (Doubt that visitors really want to graze the food vendors at Costco, or get the $1.49 hot dog+soda deal.)

How sad to be underwhelmed by Dachau. Perhaps if you had gone on a tour with a professional guide, it wouldn't be so underwhelming and the horror of the place, like how nice it was being worked to death or standing at attention in the cold snow for 12 hours without shoes and a coat, would sink in. Maybe if one of your family members had died there, you would feel differently? How can a place of death be underwhelming?

Tourist Infos can be good, but I know the one here in Frankfurt is just plain awful. They leave off half the really decent sites in Frankfurt on their tourist maps, which is why Rick's walk through Frankfurt leaves so much to be desired. That brings us back to guidebooks. The first time I read the Germany book in 2007, I was appalled at all of the many mistakes about Frankfurt. I sent them a list and they corrected many of them, but it took me 7 years to get one mistake corrected and taken me 9 years to get another of them corrected. That is just one city, how many other cities have tons of mistakes? If you go to the Fodors forum, they also talk about the many mistakes in the RS books in other countries. Either he needs better guides when he visits cities or to be more open about checking his facts and then correcting them.

Not impressed with Lonely Planets books or forums either.

There was a marked difference as to how US troops reacted to the horror in liberating Dachau as opposed to British troops when they reached a far more horrific place, Bergen-Belsen.

Copying any part of a book is copyright infringement and is illegal!!!

Thank you Bob! I was cringing that no one was pointing out the legality of photocopying segment of books. As a writer, I am abhorred with copyright infringement. JK Rowling, Ludlum, etc. are not the norm as far as income to writers is concerned. If you've bought the book, fine, copy pages for your own use. And it is also OK, even if you paid $2.00 for the book, but don't go to the library and copy pages. It's theft from the person that spent so much time creating the book. If you can't bother to spend a few dollars to buy the book, or at least to sit down and make notes, then you don't deserve the information. It is theft. Period.

Don't be afraid to miss "don't miss" destinations – Dachau, for
example, is a "don't miss" destination in Munich, but I missed it for
years and survived. When I finally went there, having heard so much
about it, I was underwhelmed.

Underwhelmed by a death camp, Lee.

My paternal grandfather often talked about our distant cousins who were sent to Dachau and Auschwitz. They didn't survive. I wonder how many other participants in the RS forums have similar fates of distant family members or have friends who have distant family members who did.

Underwhelmed indeed.

Wray, with due respect, I think that is your personal opinion on theft, not the law. I can't find a reference for this (and if I could, according to you, I couldn't reproduce it here anyway, but I have been told by multiple librarians that the copyright laws allow you to copy pages from a book for your own use, but you can't make commercial use (salesl) of them. According to what you suggest, even hand copying should be illegal. Maybe only the original purchaser should be allowed to read a book. No more libraries. "Want to read it; buy your own copy!"

Maybe the webmaster can tell us the actual laws concerning copying copyrighted literature.

Added:

According to the US Govt webpage on copyrights, section 107,

1. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including
such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section,
for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for
classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.

The section goes on to include qualifying considerations, but. in general, photocopying is not, by itself, a copyright infringement.

I always buy the appropriate Rick Steves book for my trip. However, I see nothing ethically wrong with copying pages from library books. If every library buys Rick's books because people want them, he will still make plenty of money!

When I look at travel books in the public library, I only hand copy, here and there, likewise with history books, obviously for personal use in preparing for a potential trip. I call it amassing info. That's my reason for using the library, I don't have to buy the book.

When I look at travel books in the public library, I only hand copy,
here and there, likewise with history books, obviously for personal
use in preparing for a potential trip. I call it amassing info. That's
my reason for using the library, I don't have to buy the book.

I agree. You also don't violate copyright laws. :-)

About the library as a source for travel books: it used to be that there was a good selection, not so much any more in my area!

My library is mostly buying e-books.

I watch Rick's videos to get an introduction and the general ambience of a place; so far, for all the countries I have visited, he has a made a video about. I hate to say it but I don't get much out of guide books anymore, and it's because there is so much more excellent information online.
I wouldn't stay in a hotel anymore since the advent of Airbnb and the like. I have very happily used them over 20 times in the last 3 years.
The major sites and even odd ball little ones come up in simple online searches and things change so quickly now, paper guide books just can't keep up. For example I have been researching Malta and one of the top sights the "Azure Window" is no more, after a millennia, it crumbled into the sea last March. The sight seeing buses, apparently haven't heard, and are still taking people out there, much to the visitors disappointment.
I am a budget traveler though AND I enjoy all the research, it's a big part of the trip for me. I work at the Pike Place Market in Seattle and the number 2 question (after where's the restroom) is "Where should I eat?" I finally made a little list that included phone numbers and website address.
WHERE TO EAT, is the most aggravating question I HAVE when I travel. I feel like we spend half our time looking for a place to eat. We live in the age of FOODIES, it should be easier! I think there is an opportunity there for an easy to update kindle guide book, like Micheline but better because it wouldn't be fusty Micheline, but I am on the lower socio-economic ladder of travelers. Great thread!

If you're going on a short trip, you can borrow the guidebook from the public library and carry it with you -- I did that for a trip to New Orleans, carefully keeping the book in a ziploc bag to make sure it could be returned unstained and uncrumpled. But remember -- you lose it, you bought it (replacement price plus handling costs, even if it was a prior-year edition.)

Re: - copying pages from a book...so, all those times I photocopied from encyclopedias - at the library, mind you - to do projects for school, I was breaking the law?!! I'm such a scofflaw... ;)

The bridge from JC's Portsmouth to Maine must be some feat of modern engineering.