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Karin thanks the bible of backpackers

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

lonelyplanet

Hallelujah, it’s the weekend! I’ve been mentally counting down the hours since about, oh Monday at 10 am, so I am simply thrilled to have two days of freedom. First on the agenda is planning my summer adventurecation to Nepal. While the idea has been set in stone in my squishy brain for several months, I have done nothing at all in terms of planning except ask for the time off and buy the Lonely Planet guide to Nepal. Funnily enough, the Lonely Planet makes a trip a concrete reality for me. Even if I have no money and no plane ticket, if I have the trusty triple bound LP, I will be going on that trip.

Without exaggeration, the Lonely Planet guides have shaped me as a person. I would chase a thief for miles if he or she stole one from me while I was traveling. I first got to know those good old guides thanks to an ex-boyfriend of mine who made Indiana Jones seem like an untraveled scaredy pants. We took the guides all over Asia with us and when we were at a loss, they told us where to eat and sleep and learn and live.

When I started to travel on my own, my favorite thing to do was to pick a country, grab a Lonely Planet, sit on a train in said country with the LP and choose where to go based on what I read. They are like choose your own adventure books for adults.

Some of my LPs look like they were left in a tsunami and then someone peed on them. But I always keep them. I can’t wait to destroy my one for Nepal, after it tells me where I cannot go, and then encourages me to do so anyway.