I'm doing a dissertation on guidebooks, and one gender
question that has come up is whether men and women use
guidebooks differently. In particular some of my results
seem to point to women (particularly if travelling
solo) looking for accommodation references more carefully,
and sticking more closely to towns which are listed with
accommodation sections. Does this sound right?
Thanks, Marie.
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hmmmmmmmmm, I suppose I do! I travel solo and am in my mid
30's so when I head towards a new town I usually check out
the accom. section closely for
*location - will I have to walk far ? Sit in a cab or an
auto-rickshaw for a lenghty distance ? does it look
TOO isolated ?
*Does it sound safe ? (just back from India and Pakistan)Are
there any warnings e.g. don't stay in the hotels near the
station etc...
*Is there a phone so I can find out if they'll be still open
if I get there between 11pm-6am ? or if there will be a room
available. If I can't ring - are there other hostels/hotels
around that I can try easily!
*Price. Can I get a clean room for one reasonably priced?
After accom. I go to Getting There and Away
Hope this helps
Cheers
Donna
I look for places to stay either calling before I
arrived, or while I'm on the train, travelling to my
destination. Try to stay either near the train station or
near the main square or area I want to focus on.
I read the history of the country a lot. I like to know why
the place I'm in now is different than the place I was
yesterday.
I read about train safety from one country to another and
take heed, sometimes, locking my baggage to the seats or
couchettes.
I read about women's bars and gay/lesbian areas too.
What you say makes common sense, but mostly I use my
guidebook for transportation information, museum locations,
maps, etc. I rarely eat or stay at a place recommended in a
travel book.
I would tend to agree with that. I don't like to go to a
place if I don't know if there will be a decent, safe place
to stay. When I read travel stories, it seems like men are
always staying with people they just met, but women don't
usually have that option because of safety concerns. I also
wanted to point out that I take exception with guidebooks
(Lonely Planet included) that mention in the tiny "For Women
Travelers" section at the front that certain places are
unsafe for women, or that women aren't allowed to go there,
and then go on to rave about that place in the main part of
the book without mentioning women's concerns again. Sounds
like a great project--good luck!
I can't believe you're doing your DIS on this!! Do you get
to try out the products you're reviewing, or actually do in
field research? How fun!!!
Anyway, I always try to travel with two guidebooks, one for
accomodations (LP in Africa, Lets Go in Europe, Rough Guide
in SEA) and another for history/culture/getting to know the
place. Guide Michelins are my favorite, though only for
Europe, of course. Often this is a photocopied packet of
articles and histories and language hints...I never find
enough stuff in the marketed books about art, tradition and
culture.
As for where to stay, I absolutely look for safety or
centrality of location before I stay anywhere based,
generally on guidebooks reviews but hioefully more on Word
of Mouth...much more up to date and reliable.
When I'm in the states I'm usually road tripping so I stay
at the funkiest looking place I can find ("Dixie Motel")
along the road that's well-lit, hopefully inside doors, and
doesn't have an on-premesis bar or truck stop! ;-)
Hope that helps!
I travel regularly for my job. The last six years I have
been living out of Kathmandu and traveling for work in
Asia. Last summer I spent a month in Europe with my partner
and after many disagreements on places to stay on first
arrivals ... I came to the conclusion that we men and women
do approach things differently.
If possible, I will always call/email/fax ahead and make
arrangements for a place to stay prior to arriving in a
strange city. Other points above about not staying near
train stations apply strongly in Asia and only in a few
cities in Europe/NA do I trust the nearby train station
hotels.
I arrange my flights to arrive in the daylight (searching
for a hotel at night is not a good move ... and it does
happen even with the best planning). I also look for an
area which is well populated, would have English/French
speakers if I don't speak the local language, and has easy
access to food (so I am not scared to go out to have a
meal). My partner(male)in contrast, doesn't think about
physical safety aspects and looks mainly at the cost
involved.
Therefore guides should include as many contacts to book
hotels/guest houses in advance and indicate whether you can
call and get a pickup from the airport (this service is
often free and saves you the hassle of taxi drivers, esp.
in SEA/SA who are intent on taking you to the hotel/guest
house of their choice, get lost for greater charges, only
speak their local language which you may not speak -
therefore making it very difficult to communicate).
I don't know if this has anything to do with me being
female, but I have this strange addiction: I am absolutely
hooked on guidebooks! For me there's no better reading
material than a good guidebook eg LP of Rough Guide - and I
regularly go down to the library and devour guidebooks, as
often as not for places where I have no realistic liklihood
of ever visiting! And, what's perhaps even stranger, what I
most enjoy reading is not the purple prose describing
historical towns and beautiful landscapes, but the
practicalia regarding accomodation and transport, where to
get a cheap meal etc!!
Oh well, I suppose it's a cheap substitute for travel!
I almost never use a guidebook recommend on lodging or
dining. Being adventurous, I feel that the true find is the
one not too many people know about. Once I choose
accomodations, I like to cross reference to see if the place
is mentioned in guidebooks of if I can find it on the web.
I use guidebooks for musuem info, trains, metro & ticket
info., tourism numbers, event recommendations and excursion
descriptions. I have traveled by myself and rely on
excursion description for help; generally I view the
information as a "public" guide knowing I'll find my hidden
gems when
I tend to use accommodation suggested in guide books when
arriving somewhere I've never been before, as I can never
be bothered to look around when carrying my luggage. But if
I'm staying somewhere for a few days and find somewhere
better, I'm prepared to move, even if the new place isn't
in the book. I also use books for general information on
transport, eg. whether a particular journey can be done by
train, bus etc. and approximate journey times, but I tend
to double-check specifics like departure times. I don't
tend to eat in places recommended in books though, as I
think I'm capable of deciding whether I like the look of a
place myself.
Generally, I think my boyfriend uses guidebooks in the same
way as I do, although he tends to read the history and
background info bits more thoroughly than I do, as he is
into "the big picture", whereas I am more interested in the
detail, and prefer to find out about a place by talking to
locals, my own observations and the "feel" of a place.
When I was 19 I traveled eastern and central europe for 11
months solo. I had one guide book and I only used it for
museums and attractions. when it came to places to stay and
places to visit I relied entirely on word of mouth. Guide
books are good to give you general Ideas on what to expect,
but nothing beets hearing it from people who were there. I
could easily have not taken a guide book and had just a good
of time.