Travel guides

Since we tend to avoid tour groups, planning the trips takes considerably more effort than simply signing up for the tour and sending in money. In the early years, say pre-2010, I relied mostly on guide books. I was usually looking for trips that did not just hit the popular spots but also explored places that were off-the-beaten track. But of course, there is a reason why the popular spots are popular so we usually also included them. Rick Steves recommended many of our favorite memories in his ‘back door’ approach. Unfortunately he became so popular that many of these places became touristy hot spots too. My other favorite guide books are Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. Nowadays there’s a wealth of information on the web that can be overwhelming. I’ve made extensive use of the travel forums of Lonely Planet (called Thorntree for some reason) and of TripAdvisor.

Other travel blogs I recommend

There are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of travel blogs that have sprung up in recent years. Here are a few that I’ve enjoyed reading.

  • The Stray Photographer - brilliant photos and blogs from Francis Cassidy about travels around the world. His experiences in western Sichuan were similar to ours and instrumental in our decision to go there: thestrayphotographer

  • Moore Misadventures -Caitlin Moore provides detailed travel information on off-beat and adventurous travel destinations around the globe with engaging photos and personal accounts: mooremisadventures

  • Planet Janet Travels- Janet is a boomer who has traveled extensively and loves to share personal stories and photos about experiencing adventures beyond the guidebook: planetjanettravels

  • Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel - lovely photographs from Barbara Weibel, an extensive world traveler: holeinthedonut

  • Uncornered market - a husband-wife team of Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott with a website devoted to tourism development along with travel blogs around the world with marvelous stunning photos too: uncorneredmarket

  • CarryOnQueen - travel blog and photos from Mary Charleson aimed at ‘fun-fit females/ traveling light: carryonqueen.com

Accommodations and eating

Obviously many people travel for the experience of staying in a luxurious hotel with a scenic view and enjoying a delicious dinner with a glass of fine wine. However, these parameters depend very much on the traveler’s resources (i.e. how much money you have) so I’m reluctant to say much about where we stay or eat, unless the hotel or restaurant or experience was exceptional in some way. Typically, we like to stay in bed and breakfast inns, or now Airbnbs and avoid 5 star hotels. I enjoy having some direct interaction with the locals rather than a concierge at a hotel who is paid to be friendly. In general we have had great experiences with Bnbs and Airbnbs.