Travel plans
October 16th, 2006 | Published in Google Books
I love to travel, and when I can't travel, I'm mentally planning for my next trip. These plans can get fairly detailed, so I've become a huge travel guide book fan. Like any seasoned traveler, I've had the requisite conversations over free breakfast in many a dilapidated youth hostel about which guides are better, lighter, or include more relevant details.
While I may have my preferences, I maintain that different guides work for different trips, which is why it's great that you can browse quite a selection of the most well-known names in guide books through Google Book Search and then buy the one that's right for you. This is particularly helpful because many bookstores will only give you one or two titles for some countries, making it difficult to compare across different brands when preparing for a trip. Google Book Search also allows you to browse and even buy those elusive guide book accessories often referenced within the guidebooks themselves, yet maddeningly difficult to find in stores.
Because I love to read, I usually scan my guidebook for suggestions of notable local poetry and prose, which make great companions to the site seeing, sun bathing, and culinary adventuring that make up any trip. I'll often try browsing through a few of these to ensure that the guidebook author's picks for enlightening reads match my taste. For my upcoming trip to India, I found several of the recommended novels on Google Book Search -- including The God of Small Things and The Guide. Sampling a few pages online was enough to assure me that these books would be readable as well as edifying. So indulge your craving for travel guides and world literature -- Google Book Search can help.