today's haul from amazon.de

[nibot]

To be honest, I am only a grudging patron of Lonely Planet these days--their guidebooks have gone so mainstream that they can change places as much as they describe them, and any place mentioned in a LP guide will be, by virtue of its publication, no longer "off the beaten path". But I reluctantly admit that they are still pretty much the best for getting your feet on the ground -- I haven't found any better series -- even if they won't usually help those feet leave the backpacker/tourist ghetto.

It's always a delight to find a one-off independent guidebook or travelogue written by someone motivated only by their enthusiasm, personal interest, or unique experience. One such gem is András Török's "Budapest: A Critical Guide," sporadically in print and with an idiosyncratic website at pergolam-budapest.hu.

Comments

[serrano.livejournal.com]

There's a great old book called Central America by Chicken Bus from the nineties, too.
Also you've seen Vagabonding the Axis of Evil, right?

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for the references! I know of the Chicken Bus book, but not the Evil Vagabonding one. I love Duffy Littlejohn's book but I've only read it, not used it. Comment again if any other titles come to mind. I love weird travelogues and idiosyncratic guidebooks. (-:

[serrano.livejournal.com]

If you don't know Vagabonding the Axis of Evil, I s'pose I should also tell you about the hitching yahoogroup that's been around for fifteen or so years, and is admin'ed by a few Lithuanian folks who're mostly now homebodies but last decade were hitching across Africa, through Iraq in 2003 right after "the war ended," etc. It's pretty low traffic and low tale-telling lately, but there are some good oddities around, including one guy who's been compiling hitching stats for twenty years or so. Anyhow, most folks are Lithuanian or German, so it might be a good resource for you. Occasionally there's a good trip report on the train-hoppers googlegroup, too.

I'm pretty sure Erinmack's gonna turn up and give the definitive list of lo-fi travel books any minute now. I'm think if she were on Jeopardy, this would be one of the categories she'd kill at.

The People's Guide to Mexico is the definitive version of what you're talking about, I bet.
There has to be a good write-up of a bunch of these somewhere online, if only I can think of how to find it! I can't believe I can't think of more!

[serrano.livejournal.com]

Also a ton of older hitchhiking how-to books, and the inimitable, self-published Hopping Freight Trains in North America by Duffy Littlejohn, former assistant DA of Alameda county, and pretty up to date.