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Raileurope.com: See Europe by train
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Old 04-16-2006, 06:41 AM   #1
Munkeyrach
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Hello

I got a guide book for europe " europe on a shosestring) its full of great stuff and is good for me because I have a shocking memory. The thing is they are heavy as!. I have herd people say ripp out the pages that you want but thats is still 3/4 of the book that I want to keep hehehe.... so any ideas?

did you take a heavy guide book around europe and find it a burden?

Or did the extra info come in handy for you a few times?

Would luv to hear any suggestions



( and will try and work on the bad memory)
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Old 04-16-2006, 07:45 AM   #2
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I wouldn't rip out the pages... specially if you wanna keep it. But you provably wont need the entire book, right? What I'd do is make photocopies of the pages you're most interested in. And if you are worried about author's rights... well, you already paid for the book, so...

Photocopies are great cause you can highlight the most important parts, make notes on the sides and just take what is really necessary, staple them together and you can fold them and take them anywhere, and the best part is that they don't weight at all!
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Old 04-16-2006, 08:11 AM   #3
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I was looking at guidebooks and since none of them had the kind of information I wanted (I'd rather ask around on the train and at the hostel for things to do, all the restaurants and "accomodation" was really expensive) I found a little book that just had hostels in it, the "Insiders' Guide: Hostels European Cities" by Paul Karr. It's not nearly as complete a reference as TravelPunk! But it has a lot of hostels in most major cities in Europe and their "opinions" are all from surveys of people like us. Plus it has a kind of map of each city. It's a lot smaller/lighter/cheaper than a thick guidebook, though, and actually has info about hostels in it.
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Old 04-16-2006, 11:32 AM   #4
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i would say definately photocopy or make a scrapbook of info that you can take away with you A5 size or something
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Old 04-16-2006, 12:34 PM   #5
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I say photocopy the pages or just write down the information you want into a little pocket notebook. No sense in lugging around a book - more space for absinthe and cheap street vendor artwork.
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Old 04-16-2006, 12:59 PM   #6
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Yeah if there's a lot of stuff you're looking at needing.. photo copy, make notes of important numbers and stuff in the margins. or keep a second little book full important numbers... and always remember you've got the internet these days... so really it's not hard to get info if you don't have your book.. plus.. EVERYONE brings a book with them... just ask to look at someone elses
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Old 04-23-2006, 05:20 AM   #7
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I actually ripped out the sections on places I wanted to visit, then lumped them together with a thick elastic band. After a couple of weeks, I'd send home the bits I was done with, along with whatever souvenirs, extra clothes and what not that I didn't need anymore, so by the end of the trip, I only had a few bits left, and it wasn't a problem at all. However, if you're going to eastern Europe, I'd recommend instead of a guidebook, pick up copies of the "In Your Pocket" guide to various cities when you arrive in country - they're cheap, thorough and more up to date, being published every couple of months, on average (some places less frequently). Ditto on sending them home when you're done, though.

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Old 04-23-2006, 05:52 PM   #8
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I cut out the sections that i needed then took them to a book binding place and got them to glue it all together for me. It worked ok, except when i changed my mind on where i wanted to go, when this happened i had no info at all on the places because i had cut them out. I say only cut pages out if you know exactly where you want to go. Same goes for photocopying pages, it's only practicle if you know exactly where you want to go. Otherwise you can either take the whole book or try and get a smaller guide and just use other peoples at the hostel when you need more detailed info.
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Old 04-23-2006, 06:10 PM   #9
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For the reasons that Lostfarmboy pointed out, I would either make sure your plans are pretty solid as to where you are going before ripping out any pages....

Because I am kind of a wayward traveller and never really know where I am heading, I tend to just take the whole book with me. It is a little heavy, but really handy to have.
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Old 04-23-2006, 06:34 PM   #10
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I brought the whole "Eastern Europe" guide, and it was my bible during my 6 week stay there ! I used it daily, and never minded its "thickness". And since my original itinerary changed a bit whilst there, I was happy to have the complete guide with me.

In Asia, since it is so unexpensive, except for the first country I visited, I bought the guides in the country preceeding my next destination.
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Old 04-23-2006, 11:17 PM   #11
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yeah well looks like i am gonna have to take it I was thinking I could ripp the book in half and give one half to put in my bfs pack
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Old 04-24-2006, 09:36 AM   #12
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What somebody really needs to do is to start converting these guides into some electronic file format that is useable on I-pods, PDAs, smart phones and the like. It needs to be interactive to some degree (like the web) so you can easily find certain sections quickly, view maps, and have it still be readable on the small screen. Wouldn't that be cool, though, to carry a whole library of travel info on your I-pod, smart phone, etc? Even better would be if the downloadable content could link to a website that was updated fairly often so that as more and more people start using internet on their phones, you could quickly look up a bus or train schedule, get a hostel phone number or figure out where the hell you are in Amsterdam as you wander aimlessly down twisty streets with long dutch names that all look the same.

Think that's enough of an idea to get some VC money....??
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Old 04-24-2006, 11:13 AM   #13
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^

Think this will happen before September??? Anyone, anyone??
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Old 04-24-2006, 04:55 PM   #14
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I take the whole book, you'd be surprised at how often a big heavy brick comes in handy... i tend to survive on bread and cheese when I'm travelling so its a great cutting board for the cheese (put a plastic bag over it first, you dont want your guidebook smelling like old cheese!), and yeah I dont know I always found handy non-guidebook related uses for it
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Old 04-24-2006, 06:51 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally posted by benna2@Apr 23 2006, 06:10 PM
For the reasons that Lostfarmboy pointed out, I would either make sure your plans are pretty solid as to where you are going before ripping out any pages....

Because I am kind of a wayward traveller and never really know where I am heading, I tend to just take the whole book with me. It is a little heavy, but really handy to have.*
[snapback]114341[/snapback]
+1

Can't see demolishing a good book, either. But in all honestly, I didn't use it much. Relied on locals and fellow travelers more than the book. But it did give me a good edge on where I tentatively wanted to go, and more imporantly some insights into local culture and phrases I otherwise wouldn't have known ahead of time.

So, the Gospel According to Joker: Get the book, read it, Jot down a few notes of interest, leave the thing at home. Then go out on your own.... and most hostels will have various versions of Lonely Planet/Rough Guide etc there.
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Old 04-24-2006, 08:27 PM   #16
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I rip. Heartlessly. Except the guidebook for oz mum gave me, I like it too much to deface it.

I carry around a little book that Ive already made some notes in, badly drawn maps only understandable to me. My notes come more from tpunk than books though. And I always add to it whatever I hear in the hostels. I think thats the best way really. and then you can pass the book to your best mate when they go, and they can add to it. Its really nice. I like my books.
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Old 04-24-2006, 08:42 PM   #17
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I'm curently making the book im gonna take to Austrailia. it's a medium sized two subject book (maybe an inch taller than a guide book). and it's thin compared to a normal guide book.
the first half of it is all my hostel info, stuff i would like to see and do (with prices if available), transit routes and prices, all important country info, each city mini map, and general info on Oz, for example how many hours on the greyhound does it take to get places. And the other half will be my travel journal. but it's still a work in progress.

Bellelass, that is an awesome idea to pass it on to someone else.

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