RS guide books, etc. - Paper vs. e-reader

I purchased the RS Italy, France and Spain books earlier this year. When we went to France and Spain in July, I took the books with me. I carried them in my day pack while we were out and about. Since then, I have downloaded the Kindle app to my iPad and bought the RS Venice, Florence and Rome ebooks. I will be going to Italy next month and plan to take the book and my iPad. I will likely leave the iPad in thet hotel safe while we are out and about and carry the book with us. The ebooks look good on the iPad, but I still haven't got used to the interface, so it will take me some more time to determine how well I like it. I have also downloaded the RS Audio Eurpoe app for my iPhone. I downloaded and used the walking tours on my phone in July and will do so again in Italy next month.

I'm still a little too old school to consider taking an e-reader. They just add to the weight that you have to carry around. Instead, I make two-sided photocopies of just those pages out of guidebooks that I'm going to need during the trip. Each time we leave our lodging, I just grab those pages which can be folded up and put in a pocket. That said, we do take along a netbook that we use to check emails, download photos from our camera and update our blog. And I did buy the e-book version of the RS Italy book to keep on it in case I needed to look up something unexpected. But we don't carry the netbook with us during the day.

Are e-books a good idea for travel? It was for me. Before my trip to Italy in 2011 I did some research, and here is what I considered: Would I want to lug around a thick book? Would the e-book version of the RS Guide be accepted for discounts at hotels? Could I put documents generated by me on it, and could I up-load them myself, or would I have to process them through Amazon? Thoughts on Kindle vs. Nook vs. others? Sorry – I only considered Kindle. Thoughts on monochrome vs. color? Color would have been nice for maps, but unnecessary otherwise. Do you end up buying both paper and e-book versions? I had the paper version first. That's one reason I went for the more portable Kindle. Do you carry your e-reader with you through the day or do you leave it in your hotel room? It was in my pack all day. (see below) How do you use your e-reader other than just for reading books? It was a bit involved (best when converted to PDFs), but I put all sorts of things on the Kindle: My complete transportation schedule: air, train, bus, etc. Complete contact information for my hotels Daily schedules with museum reservation info Sectional maps of Venice, Florence and Rome Other relevant books on art and architecture And, of course, RS Guide to Italy Other thoughts The new Paper-White with an LED front-lit screen would have been very nice. The older, greyish background made my scanned maps murky.

I have pondered this question as well...seeing that I have a Kindle, an Ipad, an Iphone & the printed RS books. I plan to leave my Kindle home, take my Ipad for entertainment purposes, to send e-mails home, FaceTime relatives back home, etc. I also plan to take the printed books because referencing something really fast on my Kindle isn't as easy as it is with the printed books. But, I break down the book & extract the chapters or sections that I want & have them individually spiral bound at Office Depot so that I don't have to carry the entire book with me during the day. For instance, the section about Lake Como in the 'Italy' book is very small & there's no need to carry the entire book when I'm in Lake Como, so I had the Lake Como section spiral bound. For me, this is the best of all options, because I can highlight things on the printed pages, place sticky notes where I need to & quickly look at maps, etc. All of this is more cumbersome on the Kindle. Perhaps if I were more savvy in using the Kindle, I might prefer it over the books but it just doesn't work for me right now. You asked about using an e-reader app on a smartphone instead of carrying a dedicated e-reader. I have the Kindle app on my Iphone & it's a bit hard to read on such a tiny screen; I am constantly turning the pages. But, it does work...it's just not as convenient as using a larger screen if you're doing some serious reading. I think for the purposes of sightseeing it would be too hard to use the Kindle version of books on a smartphone because of the size of the screen. Another thought is that RS has some 'Snapshot' guides for some cities & also a 'Pocket' guide for Rome. These reduce bulk if you are going to take the printed books as you can just grab the guide that you need for the day without having to take the larger books. Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

I was on a My Trip to Italy and had my RS Italy book "stolen"....so I had to download a copy onto my Kindle. I found it frustrating to try to find info in the ebook. (yes, I used lots of "bookmarks" - but could not re-find info I had located..... Granted all data is there, but I prefer paging thru a book. I didn't want to carry my Kindle with me everywhere - so tried to plan activities while at the hotel, or on the bus. ----------- For me - I prefer the printed book. You can always rip out the pages or sections you need and just carry those. Question: Years ago Rick used to offer to send you another copy of his book, if you turned in all the torn out pages - does anyone know if that offer still
exists?

I use a nook/ipad but I have heard good things about kindle. I plan on carrying my ipad with me. I really won't ever go back to a book. The ipad has other advantages, Rick's audio tours, larger maps for older eyes, other books I can read if I am waiting.... If you are leaving soon, I would stick to the book. Give yourself time to get used to the electronics. If you don't, you will probably get frustrated and not use it. Have a good trip.

We have used a couple of his ebooks on a nook. The only downside seems to be the maps leave a little to be desired in that format.
TC

Kindle - My husband has this version. However - I am planning the hotels, logistics, etc. I was frustrated in the planning stage with the kindle. I found the Italy book easier to use. So, we have both versions now. I find the book faster and easier to navigate. My husband treated me to a Rome pocket-guide. I think we will use this as we visit spots in Rome for maps, restaurants, and commentary. Rome is huge - so the pocket guide will be handy when we hike around rather than the full Italy book.
I think we will end-up taking all three guides. My husband likes his kindle. Plus, I have a RS phrase book that I may take unless I find a more concise version in just Italian. The phrase book I have includes three languages. Learning gelato flavors in Italian should be a top priority for travelers to Italy unless they are diabetic.

On our last trip the RS books weren't available as eBooks just yet. Knowing I would always get the newer books for the next trip anyway, we would leave our older ones for other to use when leaving a city/country. We use iPhones and iPads now and have all three main eBooks readers installed so will do eBooks next trip, kindle, nook or ibooks, just depend on which format is easiest to read when we get ready to download them. I like the eBooks for being able to highlight and bookmark things so I can find them quickly when I want to, and much lighter too. The advantage to the books was that as I left them for others, I cleared up space for small purchases. I wouldn't necessarily buy an eBooks reader just for a trip, but if you have one, download a free book and if its easy for you to read, then it might work for you.

I love my ereader (a Kobo) but use it only for "reading books" (i.e. the books for long flights, reading for pleasure etc. Guidebooks I use the paper version. I am one of those people who consider it a sacrilege to tear a book apart, so usually end up lugging my RS or whatever guide book around with me. It's just easier to use a book for a quick look-up, to bookmark the neccessary pages etc. Love my e-reader for pleasure reading, but only use it when traveling - I used to pack half a dozen or so books, now just download lots so always have something to read.

E-readers are fantastic. Books will be a thing of the past. Having said that...buy the paper backs for your trip. Use a razor and separate the sections for each area you will be in and carry just that section with you while out and about. Finding restaurants, touring places, guided walks, there are many instances you'll want the book with you but not an e-reader which is better off in the hotel room. The maps on the e-readers are not as easy to see and the books are bulky in you day bag. Buy the paper back and tear it apart.

I am not technologically challenged; however, I would be a little paranoid about having all of my travel info in one electronic device because: (1) they can crash (electronically speaking), (2) get lost or stolen, or (3) get physically broken (i.e., dropped or crushed). Although when/if I upgrade to an iPhone, I will plan to download RS audio tours, etc. for Eurotrips, but will also continue to bring along hard copies of travel info, ripping out the relevant pages of guidebooks for the locations that I need. They don't really take up much space and I don't need wifi to access them; just pull 'em out of the front pocket of my Civita daypack.

We just returned from our yearly month in Europe, this time spending almost all of our time in Italy. We took a RS tour (14 day Village Italy Tour - our 10 RS tour) while we were there. We have always taken the whole RS guide book(s) for whatever country(s) we will be visiting and enjoy making corrections to turn in when we return to the US. We will not be changing this method in the near future.
aloha charlie

I take out lots of travel guides pre-trip (from that great resource, your local library - also download from web wikipedia articles etc.) and xerox and/or print out the portions that pertain to areas we'll be visiting. I don't bother with spiral binding - just use staples and/or scotch tape. Then throw away as I go. This is helpful in case of going on R.S. trips w/o much info on a given area, although to be fair, the R.S. organization will send addenda if you're going to be in an area they don't cover or cover very minimally (like on the Southern Italy tour - a great one, by the way). I also must admit I now take my Iphone (for videos and photos) and Ipad (for everything else, since even cheap hotels tend to offer wifi these days)/ It does indeed add to luggage weight but we travel pretty lightly so not that bad.

Thanks for all the responses!