Let’s
Go Britain 2009
Edited by Kimberly Hagan
In addition to giving you general information and
recounting our own experiences abroad, we’ll also be suggesting resources to
take advantage of before or during your time in the UK. One of the areas of
additional resources is the travel book. Yes, travel books are most likely not
used as much as they were in the past due to the internet, but there will
always be people who prefer browsing through a book over clicking through
webpages. If you’re one of the former, travel books are a great (and condensed)
way to find things to do, or even to remind yourself of sites you want to see.
For example, a friend and I were perusing through the available travel books at
a hostel in Rome during some downtime one day. While flipping through one I was
reminded of “The
Mouth of Truth” (La Bocca della Verità ) I had seen in the movie Roman Holiday. I decided that that was
one of the places I wanted to stop at during our sightseeing.
This post will concentrate on Let’s Go: Britain 2009. Okay, so 2009 isn’t exactly up-to-date, but
it was the latest edition of the Let’s Go
Britain series at the local library
and I’m not one to sit myself down in Barnes & Noble and outright read a
book then and there. Let’s Go isn’t
the first series that comes to my mind when thinking of travel guides. Fodor’s
or Rick Steves’ books are among the popular options. (Speaking of Rick Steves,
apparently he visited the aforementioned Roman hostel during our stay. He
wanted to review it for one of his books. Unfortunately, since the hostel was
tiny, there weren’t any openings available. My friend and I came back from the
day out and the manager and one of the other guests were talking about getting
pictures with him and having him sign various items—including one of his travel
guides.) But the small font on the cover that states “[Britain] on a budget” caught
my eye. As a student, the words “budget,” “sale,” and “free” were always
enticing, as I’m sure they are with you too.
One of Let’s
Go’s strong suits is that it employs students as its researcher-writers.
There is a page in the book with dedicated photos and short biographies of the
writers. It’s nice to be able to see the contributors’ faces and know that they
give a younger viewpoint on things. In general Let’s Go seems to strive to cater to younger travelers, especially
student ones, over families or an older generation. I highly doubt that a fact
like the annual per-person beer consumption would find its way into some of the
other travel publishers’ books. Some basic chapter points include: communications,
UK customs, suggested itineraries, and planning. The rest of the book goes into
different regions in more detail, split up into the usual categories like “Entertainment
and Nightlife” and “Food and Pubs.” Probably the most interesting section is “Beyond
Tourism” which outlines volunteer, as well as short- and long-term work,
opportunities. I don’t think everyone in necessarily interested in au pair and
day farming jobs, but it’s nice to know that the options are available. Overall
Let’s Go blends the more traditional
sightseeing destinations with ones that might appeal more to students. This is
most likely even more apparent in the company’s student and budget series of travel guides.
-L.
