Travel Book Writing
I have read a few travel books in recent years. I am glad that I don’t live in an area that has been written up by Rick Steves. He is a trusted source of information for American tourists who want to learn to be travelers. He has regretfully tipped the masses of to many undiscovered places that became overcrowded tourist stops in the span of just a few years. We suspect that there are a few places that he doesn’t write about because he is scared of spoiling them.
His model of a single trusted source making a life’s work out of figuring out the tricky stuff for tourists so their one chance to visit a region can be a great experience works well. A totally different tack is taken by Rough Guides. These are generally written by people who live in the regions about which they write. For some of the authors, it may be the only travel guide that they ever write. I think this model can work too, but I suspect that they vary a great deal in tone, and in accuracy.
