A Guide to... Travel Guides!

The travel guides

Two bought, two borrowed.

The travel guide! No journey (for me at least) would be complete without at least a little look into one of these. It probably goes back to my childhood when hotel guides about far-off lands (read: anywhere outside of Yorkshire) were the most exciting things ever. Or it's just because I'm your regular travel-obsessed Sagittarius, oh ho ho! But the fact remains, I still love travel guides. Despite them being sometimes CRAZILY PRICED.

Two of these four (the terrible framing of the photo indicates it was indeed taken by me...) belong to yours truly, and the other two were very kindly lent by a friend of the family (despite their being 10+ years out of date - though many sights haven't changed in hundreds of years so most of the info within is still valid, really...). The two at the top are borrowed, and the two at the bottom are mine and circa 2011-12; so, about as update as I could find.

New England 

As I'll be not only visiting Boston, MA, but will also be living and studying some miles from it in neighbouring Worcester, I figured I'd need two books at least to give me an idea of the places and things to see and do. I'm big on travelling - but I am not and have never been your average GAP-YAAAHRR student, whose seemingly endless resources means they don't just pop over to Paris for a week but actually end up in some far-flung jungle saving the world from itself. Which is awesome, of course, but that's not me. So I figured getting a couple of travel guides would not only help me figure out where I wanted to go, but also give me some indication of le dreaded cost~ So I bought two to cover the two areas I will of course visit the most or at least be nearest to: Boston and the New England area.

A tip I can give you right now is if you plan on travelling from any one state in the area, a New England guide will cover ALL states held under that title, and include numerous hot-spots and locations, both popular and lesser known, which many blanket USA travel-guides, or city-only books, might leave out. New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts often feature in varying degrees, but all are present. Guides on each of these states are most definitely available: if you should be more interested in Maine, for instance. In this post, I'll quickly explain what the guides cover, but also include two out of date (and, probably, print) guides to give you a wider idea of what other guides present, in comparison.

The book I bought (below, left), is Insight Guides: New England [2012] (available in book stores and on amazon; RRP: £14.99 - price varying). Hefty is the best word for it, at 450+ pages, but is in full colour with plenty of illustration and map references at the front and back (particularly for Boston: street and subway map pages at the end of the book). No surprises it caught my eye, huh? And I'm not kidding when I say it is full of pictures. It covers innumerable points of interest, from the best restaurants in an area to the flora and fauna of the counties. Numerous small towns are mentioned, including the city I shall be studying in, which is incredibly helpful. Though the more expensive of the two, I am really glad I bought it. It's inspiring me to visit the neighbouring states, particularly New Hampshire and Vermont. I plan on visiting local places and some further flung spots with other would-be travellers, and so this will definitely be a great help during my time in the US. Likewise, I recommend it to anyone with a interest in the area: a huge amount of history is found at the front. Its focus on the New England area is extensive, and the layout of the guide means you'll find something quite quickly which'll pike your interest. Everything from Fall foliage to lighthouses gets a look-in so whether you want a sporty trip, a hike in the Berkshires, or want to visit some of the oldest towns in the States, this book appears to have most interests covered.

The borrowed equivalent of this book (above, left) is from 2000, and so is very dated in terms of travelling tips and businesses to visit. This book is Marco Polo: USA - New England - Long Island and, again, covers the New England states (to a much shorter and more compact degree, though; the book only just reaching past 100+ pages) but also includes Long Island (apparently due to its proximity and relation to the New England states). Some of these New England guides do seem keen to also include New York, so if you're planning a long-reaching excursion, there will be guides which include all you need: there are so many there's literally one for all requirements. Be warned though, a lot of New England guides do stick to the primary areas and so doublecheck the guide includes New York state if you're planning a definite trip. If not, most book shops are exploding with NY only guides...trust me. They're fighting for space next to the Florida ones... This book, however, is more focused on quick and small reviews of places to see and things to do - and includes an extensive amount of businesses, some of which are still available. It's more of a book to be quickly looked through and for a compact travel guide its size is perfect. However, it's probably out of print now, but a good example of the variety of New England-based travel guides, despite its age. No doubt there will be a modern version/equivalent somewhere...

Boston

The second book I bought last Thursday, is AA: City Pack Guide & Fold Out Map: Boston [2011] (below, right). This one caught my attention primarily for the hugely decent price of £6.99 (RRP) - a rare price for travel-guides (which frequently hit the £10-15 price range). Much smaller than the New England guide I first mentioned, and lighter, this book also has the added surprise of a plastic wallet at the back of the book holding a double-sided map of Boston city and subway. For that price and the added maps, I had to buy it. Boston, I am hoping, will be a place I get to visit a few times, not just the first week I arrive. But as it stands, my mother and I are planning to spend five days in the city and as we don't always have the best sense of direction, a map of both the city and the subway is much needed! Colour-coded and full of pictures, this guide takes a TOP 25 approach - listing places of interest, and common tourist destinations, and then explaining their background/appeal, whilst telling you what prices to expect and what the sight may/may not have. An indispensable book especially for those who plan on driving as it tells you where the best places to park are and also warns you of the difficulties of driving in the city (most likely due to it being published by AA). It not only tells you where the nearest subway or train station is, in a key code at the side of each location, but also if a museum has wheelchair access, indicating the level of thought and detail which has gone into researching some of these locations. Surprisingly, the tips for travel at the back of the book were the most helpful to me, indicating how I might visit the surrounding places of New England from Boston, using their train services. A great little book which won't take up much room, it's a decent investment and I can't wait to trial it on our journeys in Boston.

The older Boston book (above, right) is Berlitz Pocket Guides: Boston - also outdated at 1995 (make that seriously outdated...). But again, these older guides still prove useful; this little book is incredibly light and tiny and so is a perfect travel companion. A thought: maybe we should stop chucking these older books, or ignoring them as useless, and start recycling them by using them again in our later journeys - as this little book contains simplistic yet very helpful maps of Cape Cod and Boston. Within, it separates each part of Boston as a new location (though almost all Boston guides do this, there's a sense of careful cohesion here, in such a small book). Of course, a word of warning with these old guides is their tips for travelling in airports are very outdated as such tips in other guides have dramatically changed over the last few decades, and an older guide's insistence you try out a brilliant restaurant in Chinatown is a little awkward if that restaurant has been shut for years, but as for quick tips on major sights, many of which unchanged for centuries in some cases, these books still prove just as helpful. It's also a Berlitz published book and I've always thought them to be a decent publisher...just sayin'.

Don't forget the Kindle!

Lest I forget: many travel guides are available in the Kindle Store: I bought two. The Little Black Book of Boston, 2011 Edition by Maria T. Olia, and the Boston Massachusetts City Travel Guide by Davidsbeenhere. Both of these are primarily text-based due to the Kindle being, well, text-based. Some pictures are included - especially in the latter, but the former is mostly hand-drawn and only slightly relevant pictures, perhaps a gravestone when explaining Salem, MA. Though not as visually stunning as some guides, for quick facts and references these can prove fantastic. I have to applaud the use of internet references within the text allowing for quick discovery of sites which will help you plan your journey more clearly. For instance, they often include links to the location's own website which can be hugely useful when estimating cost. At around £1-5 quid (these being more around £2) these guides are great value for money and if you're like me and carry your Kindle nearly everywhere you go, I highly recommend you make a little collection named Travel Guides and download yourself a couple. It's the interactive links in these editions that make them invaluable to me. Oh and the fact that they also take up no room/weight too...

Just a few weeks...

It's a little worrying to think that in two weeks (maybe a little less...) I'll be jetting across the Atlantic to MA. People ask me if I'm excited and I am, but I rarely get outwardly/leaping around the room-style excited about anything, truthfully. I'm usually more concerned with WELL WHAT IF THIS HAPPENS, OR THIS, OR... I also get concerned that I haven't got everything I need sorted... Urgh. And there's a lot of university-based things which leave me confused and most of it will have to be resolved when I arrive, I guess; like my courses for instance. But the university I am off to have been incredibly helpful and with so much support, it's a relief that when it comes to travelling or planning things to see and do, I'll at least be able to kick back and flick through one of these guides and set my mind at ease. Even if it is just by chuckling at pictures of confused looking moose.

-G~

Advice: Enter the Kindle

I promised myself...

...that I wouldn't overload my suitcase with books whilst heading to and from and around the United States. I learned this lesson the hard way simply travelling from uni in Norfolk to home in N. Yorkshire. THE WEIGHT. OH DEAR GOD THE WEIGHT. You see: I love books. Like, with a burning passion of a billion exploding suns. So much do I like books that I sometimes worry that my family is planning an intervention to save my room's cupboards and bookshelves. Big surprise that I study two forms of literature, right? Oh ho. But after lugging a kit-bag full of books for my essays across counties via two trains...I always manage to sap the already tiny amount of strength I have from myself to the point where, once I've reached home, my arms are about as useful as two empty socks. So I really, really don't want to be lugging it around the States with a bag that is mostly weighed down by books. SO HOW DO I AVOID THIS?

TIP #1 - Enter the Kindle

In my (hopeful) attempts to not be weighed down by the books I'll be studying in the US, I got a Kindle Touch. YES. I betrayed the paperback traditionalists and bought one of the sworn enemy: the electronic book. Or 'THE SCOURGE,' as they're widely known. No, they're not. I lied just then. I think... I was not wow'd or amazed when these devices came into being. I actually died a little inside. And I do still buy paperbacks, as I'll get to in a bit, BUT I'll explain why I'm going to recommend you buy the Kindle first. As le aspiring author (not French), the idea of any future projects being pushed into electronic format ONLY makes me not want to write anything ever, but sometimes you need to embrace things you're not 100% about to better understand them, right? And I needed a Kindle. Why? Well, as this post has already revealed I am no Goliath. Therefore, if I have to study 20+ books, I cannot carry them all. And outside of RPGs I am an awful merchant. The only answer really in my case would be a Kindle - buy the books I need, store them on my device, backed up by the PC program you can download via amazon, and to buy them quickly and easily, without waiting for WAY-AY-AY-ATE MISTURR POSTMAAAHN. But I am also picky. I wear contact lenses as I am short-sighted. As such I am cursed with eyeaches and headaches like you wouldn't know. Bright screens are not my forte, and no one likes reading page after page of pdf on a PC screen. Or Mac. If you're that way inclined.  I had seen other e-readers and been immediately struck by the OH GOD THE LIGHT THE PAIN THE LIGHT omen that usually emits from them. So I was very GET THAT AWAY FROM ME whenever anyone mentioned the damn things. But the Kindle thankfully doesn't have this issue.

In which I explain the madness

• Without using too much technobabble - which as a student who adores science fiction but sort of laughs and awkwardly leaves the room when people attempt to teach science FACTS with maths and physics and other subjects I am allergic to - I'm gonna give you the mercy of not reading my long-winded attempts to translate what I read online by stating simply: it uses e-ink. Basically, it uses an ink technology - not LED/back-lighting type STUFF you get on laptops and-- ...Somewhere some science type is laughing at me. Look online if you don't understand, goddamn it. *sighs* Long story short, it isn't lit. As such it doesn't burn the old retinas when you read it for long period of time as it emits no light. Yes, like a book it means you need to shuffle up to the nearest lamp during an evening, but in terms of long-term reading (i.e. reading a book for 5+ hours) it strains the eyes as much as a print version. So yay: no tired eyes after one hour of reading.
•  The device does not over-heat. Yeah, crazy. But also means that the product has some level of longevity to it. I.e. won't burst into flames just as you're about to find out who the Man with the Twisted Lip is. BECAUSE THAT HAPPENS.
• Store access is crazy fast and easy - immediately showing you what books are on Kindle. And there's LOTS. They're also very cheap usually, and if you study primarily the Classics or anything below 1940, you can get full collections of an author's work (e.g. Shakespeare or Wilde) for around £1-£2 - if they're not free. BEAUTIFUL PRICING.
• Huge amount of space. You can have hundreds and hundreds of books. I'm not kidding. 
• Everything is backed up automatically - lose your data or Kindle? You should be able to find the books you bought on your amazon account.
• The device and downloadable/optional PC program remembers what point you last read was, so if you fancy reading on your PC for a bit and then go back onto your Kindle, it'll know where you were. Nice!

But there are some faults:

• Internet access is a little awkward at times and a little too discreetly hidden away. I found internet access by accident. YEAH. /I totally read the manual... The internet once on is very simplistic - it's in black and white just as the Kindle always is (it can't magically change screens, duh~), but for text-based websites this is fine. And facebook is accessible too. BUT some sites cause the device to crash or stick. And this can be irritating. I get the feeling the crashes are caused by adverts online, Watson... It eventually sorts itself out in about a minute or two but, when it freezes, the simplicity of the device means there's little you can do to get around it but wait until it snaps back into life. Also you can't watch videos on it. /obvious fact is painfully obvious. If you're wanting it to use like an Ipad...I think you need to have another look at what a Kindle ACTUALLY IS. Yeesh.
• Not all books have page numbers listed but they all locations and percentages. It seems odd that many Kindle editions are devoid of page numbers (which can be seen when one accesses the drop down menu, but I won't go into the controls of the device now), and many Kindle-only editions have only the percentage of the book read (which is present at all times and useful if not weird at first), and the code-like locations. If I need to reference such books in an essay I'll have to find a way around that. Also some books seem to have page location errors - such as my edition of R. R. Martin's 'Clash of Kings' seems to think all pages after 41 are...page 41. (Though this does not damage your reading of the book or the syncing process at all.)

I could list a lot more things but I am not a technology expert and plan only on mentioning all this as a tip to the travelling literature student. A-thank-you.

To close this chapter...

I have the Kindle Touch, as aforementioned, and at £109 it's not badly priced at all. Wi-fi access and tons of storage means that I can avoid the weedy-arm-syndrome a little whilst travelling. I know at some point I'll be forced to buy a book or more due to them being unavailable on the Kindle, but, library and future friends allowing, I might be able to borrow more than buy (as I know many do at universities anyway). I adore paperbacks, and I still buy them - I bought a travel-book today in fact! - but I also know that they'll be a huge weight off my suitcase and carry-on luggage. I am happy carting around the odd guidebook and books I can safely hide away in my suitcase for long-haul but if I can reduce the number of books by carrying around a Kindle, well, I'm convinced. I recommend them for literature students. And don't worry if you feel like you're betraying the cause. It's a good way for you to lug around all those books they force you to buy, and often at a discounted price. You can still buy books in store and I urge you to anyway. My dying shelves might hate my saying this, but a world of just electronic books would be a sad one. So to wrap up this long-winded post, the Kindle could be the perfect travelling companion for any bookworm or student off across the pond or indeed anywhere. In fact, I carry mine with me nearly every time I go out, just in case I want to read something and not sure what. So swallow the pride, even if just temporarily, fellow book connoisseurs and marvel at the retained upper-body strength you will save!

-G~

Let's start with a godawful pun...

From Old to New...ENGLAND

Did you see..? Did you see what I--? No? Okay.

From mid-August 2012 (*nods* yes, this year. In a few weeks time, in fact...) I shall be flying from London Heathrow to Boston, Massachusetts and then travelling across to sort-of-neighbouring-city, Worcester, to study at Clark University for a full academic year as a part of my university's third year abroad scheme.

When there I will be study American and English Literature (and with a little luck maybe some subjects new to me). Likewise, I shall also be, yes, you guessed it, working on a dissertation - or at least researching it - over the next few months. That's one of the principal reasons for this year abroad scheme in my university's department. Not the unhindered access to delicious American sweets, oh no. 

Why the Blog?

As a general rule, I gave up blogging circa 2010 but then I also swore I'd never get tumblr or twitter and now they're my life. Literally. However, it appears to be an informal tradition - or bizarre compulsion - for many people who undertake travelling (for whatever reason) to keep a blog; primarily, to document and inform, or so they can store future philosophical ramblings about the meaning of life which they discovered whilst tucking into a fake Sunday roast on a plane-- BUT I'm not really one of those people, so my apologies if I don't write much in the way of ~soul-finding~. As for the documenting, well, of course! And the informing? Well, I hope I can be of some help to people, be it pointing out cool places to visit, or general tips on how to fit into a new culture - granted, I have to succeed at these things first... I'll admit right now: I'm not a great photographer but hopefully I can take some illustrative snaps, otherwise expect illustrative but slightly unrelated GIFs instead. Occasionally, I might write thoughts on my own studies in literature here, or maybe the odd review, or if it can't be contained some sort of fangirl squee-a-thon about some show, but I have a secondary blog which I may just link to for that. /well, the more serious review stuff...idk.

A Northerner in New York would be a better title but...

So, this is the blog of a 20yr old student, leaving the unfortunately-un-sunny-climes of North Yorkshire (well, at least this year...) to travel 3000+ miles across the ocean to the state of Massachusetts, USA. I have never been to either Boston or Worcester, or the state itself (I've been to NYC (2010) and Florida (when I was, uh, eight...?)). So this is ALL NEW TO ME. I also don't holiday much abroad...let alone by myself. I'll be accompanied up to the university but from then on it's me. BY MYSELF. *starts hysterically laughing and shaking, clambers out of window to sit on roof with pigeons and crows*

To end this long introductory post, as no one likes reading on computer screens, I'm looking forward to, of course, the whole experience of living in the United States as an exchange student. I'm excited about meeting awesome new people and getting to know brand new places. I hope to be inspired through my studies and to have those much sought-after ~transferable skills~ CV builders are always harping on about. But I really just want to have a great time with great people. And if this blog can help shape or maybe make sense of this experience, well, that would be just plain...WIZARD. /yeah, still trying to bring that phrase back...maybe it'll have more success in the US...?

- G~