Tony Wheeler

I recently lived and travelled in New Zealand for 15 months and it was rare to come across another traveller who didn't have a copy of this book - seeing a competitor's book was even more rare. It is the backpacker's bible in New Zealand - and for a good reason. It IS extensive and helpful and easy to use (and yes, I did compare before purchasing). Sometimes the masses have got it right. ;) That isn't to say that it's perfect - yes there are things missing (gladly the company seems to be show more good at updating their products often) and I thought the writing was a bit uneven, especially for the South Island (the focus is very much on commercial activities there: pages and pages for Queenstown and the quickest drive-thru of the Catlins for example). But no one suggests your travels should be a paint-by-numbers exercise anyway.

Definitely recommended for anyone planning/on a NZ trip. And do yourself a favour - even if you only have the standard three weeks, step outside the Auckland - Rotorua - Wellington - Christchurch - Queenstown fast track for a bit! show less

Travel disaster stories were promised but the only disaster were the stories…

Since I stumbled upon “Kamikaze Kangaroos!” by Tony James Slater several years ago, I sometimes like to read travel memoirs - especially when there’s disaster involved!

By now, I’ve read all of Tony’s books (and those of many other travellers!) and it seemed a logical next step to take a famous travel guide’s collection of supposedly funny travel stories…

Sadly, the promised “disaster stories” show more here are mostly of the following variety...

“Look, I did this and this is why: (long-winded explanations)”
“I could have died from that long walk, the road traffic, my inability to overcome inertia, (blah blah)!”
“And, lo and behold, I dangerously sprained my ankle!”

This is neither very entertaining nor does it make for a good read which is why I’m abandoning this for good.

One star out of five.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Medium | Matrix | Tumblr

Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam show less

May or may not have a story on or about Indonesia in this volume. Have soldiers ever mistaken you fro an enemy agent? Have police ever thought you were a murderer on the run? From kidnappings in Morocco to riots in London, from close encounters with Brazilian voodoo to close shaves with Russian bureaucracy, it's all in a day's work for Lonely Planet writers and staff. Revealing the challenges that lie in wait for budding travel writers, Lonely Planet Unpacked Again will make armchair show more travelers glad that they're safe and sound at home. show less

This is a collection of stories billed as "travel disasters" and written by the folks who write or edit the Lonely Planet guides. I dived into this fully expecting some really funny but harrowing tales (well, only expecting funny because the authors clearly survived their disasters to later write about them) but found the comedy I was expecting to be sorely lacking. And for me, the non-lover of short stories, simply reading short essays about travel going wrong written with the literary show more equivalent of a straight face was not all that satisfying. The disasters ranged from a remotely occuring car accident to being robbed while in a foreign country and surrounded by unhelpful officials and they occurred all over the world, proving that there is no such thing as a disaster-proof trip. I suspect that these writers are very good at the travel writing they do for the Lonely Planet Guides, and none of the essays here were poorly written, but this collection left me disappointed. Personally I find that levity helps in the re-telling of any and all disaster situations and would definitely have helped here. So this wasn't my cup of tea but perhaps other armchair travelers will have a better experience. show less