The Lonely Planet Effect

This story was posted under the categories: Big Asia Trip, Cycling, Cycling South-East Asia

Backpack travelling has never been so popular as it is right now. Everybody is throwing out their Samsonite trolley and heading into the A.S. Adventure shop for an 80 liter piece of stitched North Face nylon and preparing for an adventure into the unknown and the undiscovered regions of the world. They are ready to spend hours on busses to get to that fabulous secluded village, that lush jungle, that amazing vista… only to find that they are sharing it with a thousand other backpackers and tourists alike. They all come for an individual journey, a unique experience but end up at the same place all tour groups go to. This is a story about what we call The Lonely Planet effect.

Lonely Planet has become the de facto leader in travelling guides. Even the French, who swore by Le Guide Du Routard for decennia are converting to LP. If you’ve ever set out on an independent journey, chances are you’ve also used one. You’ve gotten familiar to the structure: Getting there and away, Sleeping & Eating, Sights,.. You might even have given it nicknames (we used to call our South-East Asia On A Shoestring “Den Dikke”, Dutch for The Fat One). But after some time, you might have started noticing something strange. Your adventurous, independent journeys, have become a series of trips on busses filled with white people. You bump into the same folks at every corner. Your hotel is filled with backpackers. You share the sunset spot at that particular temple with a hundred of other travellers… and all of a sudden, you don’t feel unique or independent anymore. You feel like you’re just doing the same as everybody else. You are experiencing the Lonely Planet effect.

We had this moment while we were in Burma. After the violent breakdowns on protesters many of the (package) tourists stayed away. Hotels would stay empty, owners lamentating about the lack of visitors, not having seen a single paying customer in weeks. But one hotel always seems to do good business. One hotel had plenty of customers. It is the one hotel who has been so lucky to score the number one spot in your Lonely Planet. The same happens later that night, when you go for dinner or a drink and there’s not a single local in sight, only white people. And the next day, when you’re on the bus to another city with the same people. It’s time to wake up. You are on a package tour! You are being guided. Not by a person, but by a book.

So you’ll say: “Of course everybody is going to the same places, because those are the most interesting spots.” Unfortunately this is true enough, the most pretty, spectucular places in the world are the first to be ruined by mass tourism. The locals who lived from making pottery and cultivating the land, now all have learned 3 words of English and opened up a shop or have become a tour guide. They’ll bring you to traditional villages where you can buy imported pottery. It’s now another village a bit further away who does all the pottery.. the one that isn’t visited by tourists. The place you wanted to visit has become a hollow shell.

So next time that you’re planning on setting out on a journey and you want it to be unique, consider this suggestion. Go to the bookstore and buy a Lonely Planet (a second-hand or even an old version will do fine), browse through it and select what you want to see. You do need a place to start after all… Now return the book to the bookstore, get back some money and spend it on a map of the country and a phrasebook. You’ve got everything you need for a real adventure right there. Follow the map, ask around for directions and get lost. Don’t worry, you’ll find an excellent place to stay on your own and you’ll find the best foodstall in town by just wandering the streets. Perhaps just that one time, you’ll run into some tourists, their guidebook clutched in their hands and know that this is a Lonely Planet place. And actually, it’s isn’t any better than the one you found by yourself…