Lonely Planet Pick & Mix

Posted by Nicholas Gill Aug 22, 2007

This July, guidebook publisher Lonely Planet began their Pick & Mix, a new travel guide product that enables travellers to select and purchase individual chapters from their wide range of titles, starting with their Latin American titles. There are more than 350 chapters available spanning 35 guides including destination guides, phrasebooks, and trekking guides. The chapters feature the exact same content as the guidebook, and can be downloaded to various devices.

The chapters range in price from $2 to $4 and you get a discount when purchasing multiple chapters. You can try Pick & Mix for free by downloading the Planning chapter from each book, which includes the Getting Started, Snapshots and Itineraries sections. All Pick & Mix chapters are available in the Buy by Chapter section of the Lonely Planet online shop at shop.lonelyplanet.com.

The beauty of this is that you can just print out the chapters that you need or simply look at them on your Ipod (via dropping the files in your notes folder) or PDA. You won't have to lug around the entire guidebook if it isn't necessary. This is particularly convenient with the trekking guides where every ounce of weight in your pack tends to be important. You can just print out the map and info on the trek your taking and leave room for essentials, such as food and warm clothes. Trekking in the Central Andes is particulalrly recommended by the way.

More chapters from other guides from other parts of the globe are expected to be released in the near future.