Travel books are heavy, lighten your load by going to Kinko's, or a similar place, and have the bound edge cut-off. Remove the portions of the book that don't pertain to your impending trip, put a binder clip on them, and set them aside for another day. With the remaining pages pertinent to your trip, including the front and back cover, and even possibly some blank pages you insert yourself for notes, have them rebound with a plastic coil. Now you have concisely what you need, and a book that easily falls in 1/2 and doesn't close unexpectantly. I also buy colored tabs and label them for the different areas I am visiting so I can quickly turn to the appropriate section. This is easy, inexpensive and well worth the effort.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Good idea, but I'd never do it. I intend to use my guidebook for more than one trip, so I don't want to destroy it. If it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, though, it would be different.
Posted by
San Jose, CA, USA
424 posts
Susan, yes Rick recommends taking only the sections of the guide book you will need. I pulled my book apart - clipped each city section separately. I only carried the current city in my purse. When I was headed for the next city, I would deep store the previous section and pull out the next city which I would re-read on the train. This worked out well.
I also went to the library and got a book on cd for recreational reading which I copied on to my iPod. Saved a lot of room.
Posted by
Newport Beach, CA, USA
769 posts
Ive done the same - but used an exacto knife to slice off the sections. Ricks book are easier to do that than some of the rough or LP guides. Just remeber to keep the covers - as some of ricks recommendations give discounts when you show the book! ...whats left of it that is! :)
Posted by
Houston
14 posts
Just got back from 6 countries in Europe. I xeroxed and reduced the pages I needed -printing 2 sided. I trash them when finished and lightens up the load.
Posted by
Nederland, CO
108 posts
I usually have to take a laptop on my trips (always a "working" vacation, sigh....), so I finally got a small portable printer that weighs no more than just one big glossy travel guide and is about the same size. Then, I get e-book versions of the guides I want. Print out only the page(s) you need for each day's sightseeing. Buy small 10-20 sheet packs of paper as needed.
Posted by
charlottesville, va, USA
19 posts
That's a great idea! I absolutely abhor the idea of ripping books apart (complete bibliophile) BUT I'm definitely agreeable to making a neat edge on the pages and rebinding them. If you save all the pages, you can always reorganize for the next trip!
And an ipod note - I bought one specifically for this trip - I always have a copy of my favorite book with me and I actually found it on iTunes! What a relief, I was not lugging it around with me...
Great suggestions, all.
Posted by
Monterey, CA, USA
24 posts
I like the E-book idea. When I traveled to Europe, I laboriously photocopied the sections of the travel books that I needed and stapled them closed to make lighter and mini books.
Posted by
Perth, Australia
16 posts
WE (husband and me) have always looked on several travel sites to find what we want to see in any particular city then "Copy/Paste" into a word doc and print it @ 50% double sided to take with us it takes VERY little room even when combined with travel plans(flights, hotel reservations,car rentals etc) - it's has worked for us on at least 10 round the world trips -- early ones were "doing our own things" and travelling lite -- later ones I admit were cruises + other cities with a bit more luggage so more car hire and less train travel :)
I guess that what has worked - keep on doing it -- if not look at these helplines to get better :)
Posted by
Newport Beach, CA, USA
769 posts
In addition to RS books of course... LonelyPlanet started making individual chapters available to purchase and download. Now you can put it on your Ipod or just print out the chapter you want. Saves money, saves trees, and saves weight! So far it seemed they were testing the concept with SouthAmerica books - but Europe will probably come shortly! check it out!