Introducing a Blue & Green friend: Lonely Planet

Each day we’re introducing one, two or three of our new affiliate friends. If you click through the link in this article, the link is tracked and may generate a small payment to us. Sometimes the payment is per click, per user, per application, per accepted application or any combination of the above. That payment funds us so we can grow and encourage even more readers to live, spend and invest sustainably. Today it’s the turn of Lonely Planet.

The Lonely Planet Story: A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket, and a sense of adventure.

That’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime. They met on a park bench in Regent’s Park and married a year later. For their honeymoon, they decided to attempt what few people thought possible – crossing Europe and Asia overland, all the way to Australia. It took them several months and all the money they could earn, beg or borrow, but they made it. And at the end of it all, they were flat broke… and couldn’t have been happier.

It was too amazing an experience to keep to themselves. Urged on by their friends, they stayed up nights at their kitchen table writing, typing and stapling together their very first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap.

Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. Two years later, their second journey led to South-East Asia on a shoestring, which led to books on Nepal, Australia, Africa, and India, which led to… you get the picture.

Fast-forward over 40 years: Lonely Planet has gone on to become the world’s most successful travel publisher, printing over 120 million books in eleven different languages. Along with guidebooks and eBooks to almost every destination on the planet, Lonely Planet also produces a range of gift and reference titles, an award-winning website and magazine and a range of digital travel products and apps.

Lonely Planet is now a leading global travel information company. For over 35 years Lonely Planet has been the leader in travel guide book publishing, renowned for its first-hand approach and commitment to providing the best information for travelers.

In addition to around 500 trustworthy and inspiring books, Lonely Planet produces an award-winning website (including an online shop, hotel/hostel booking service and access to some of the best bookable travel services) and a range of innovative digital products.

Travel Guide books – including country, city and regional travel guide books

Digital Chapter guides – downloadable PDF files of Lonely Planet guide books or individual chapters, from £2.99, currently unavailable anywhere else

Travel literature, guides to travel photography and writing, coffee-table pictorials and more

At Lonely Planet they tell it like it is, without fear or favour. There’s a whole world of amazing sights, hotels, travel companies and gear manufacturers out there – and they want to tell you which ones they think are best. But they never compromise their opinions for commercial gain. If you read something written by a Lonely Planet author, you can guarantee they’ve been there, had a look for themselves and are telling you what they really think. It’s trusted advice from a trusted source.