tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1024398511254172770.post5957335379070124037..comments2023-10-26T17:06:56.408+04:00Comments on cool travel guide: There's more to beaches and malls in Dubai: the case for using a guidebookLara Dunstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05568159382939703162noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1024398511254172770.post-69607213240457765972009-03-03T18:21:00.000+04:002009-03-03T18:21:00.000+04:00This is so true, Lara. I would have argued the po...This is so true, Lara. I would have argued the point a few years ago, but I've come to realise just how useless any old bugger talking about stuff is. I really want experts to give an overview of a country or a city. Especially when I know nothing about it. At the end of last year I went to Melbourne for virtually the first time. I was so ridiculously sure that I would know and understand and be able to understand Melbourne just by looking around... which, you know, I did, because it's still Australia... but far out, It would have been so much better if I'd read up before I went. I was attending a week-long conference and they had a lot of info on the city and I actually found myself devouring it. It was so good to read stuff that was actually aimed at getting international people to understand a bit more about how Melbourne operates. I love reading travel books and anything on travel, but I don't think I've ever really relied on them before, and I am certainly doing it now. <BR/><BR/>Also, I really hated that there were no good guide books on Dubai before I moved there... it made it so much harder, and at that stage (in 1998) there really was almost nothing on the internet about Dubai. Actually funnily enough, the best website I found on Dubai was run by the place I ended up living at... and when I was in Dubai, I probably used the Concierge more than I did anyone else (I lived at Al Bustan near the College) and he was brilliant... he knew how to suggest beyond the tourist experience - and I recall you talking about the importance of a concierge... again I learned that I really need to do that each time. <BR/><BR/>And I dunno about the four year update issue... four years is probably at the long end for an update with LP or RG the only two that I usually use, but I think I'd prefer a ten year old copy of something than some of the stuff I read on the net. I do wish that the print guides would avoid listing actual accommodation places and prices (cos they do change a lot and rack rate is one thing etc), but they are so more minimized than they were a dozen years ago, that I think the editors must get that. <BR/><BR/>I remember wondering if travel guides would be the first to go as the internet took off... I remember talking to a friend about it in about 1995... and here we are 2009, and I'm about to go out and buy another one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1024398511254172770.post-87016718251527025242009-03-03T15:54:00.000+04:002009-03-03T15:54:00.000+04:00I have been traveling for one year and three month...I have been traveling for one year and three months, just left the Middle east and now I am in Greece. I will be in Eastern Europe for the next two years, and yes, I just bought the Guide book for Eastern Europe. <BR/><BR/>I use the guide book for the maps navigation into big cities and for lots of detailed information. <BR/><BR/>Many travelers get their ego involved concerning "how to travel". Sometimes the guide book can help figuring out the subway system, too.ClearlyEnlight,https://www.blogger.com/profile/09923101507501834687noreply@blogger.com