Katie Fisher / Staff Photographer

In regard to exploring the world, the travel guide website lonelyplanet.com offers this sound advice: “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!”

While deciding where in the world to study might be hardest part, seeing all there is to see in that place may come as a close second. Travelers are travelers because they love to discover new adventures, experience different cultures and generally have a desire to, well, “go.” As a traveler, there are probably few things worse than being away for five months only to return home and feel like there was something missing the entire time, as if the experience wasn’t taken advantage of. This is where the helpfulness of travel guides makes a welcomed entrance.

Be they in print or online, travel guides have surely become some students’ lifesavers when away. However, of all such guides to take advantage of, these are four, two online and two in print, that stand out.

Lonely Planet

The Lonely Planet brand of travel guides is one of the most popular out there. Often rivaling another brand, Rough Guides, The New York Times has called the Lonely Planet guidebooks, “quite simply, like no others.” According to amazon.com, the books “are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit.”

The inside seems a little text-heavy but full of information, and every few pages features a map or other graphic of the page’s place of interest. Online, Lonely Planet also stresses the fact that its books are printed using Ancient Forest Friendly paper, and are written honestly as authors are forbidden to exchange favors for positive reviews. Few pages are printed in color, but this may help keep the price down. A typical Lonely Planet guide will set shoppers back about $20-25.

Eyewitness Travel

If graphics and color have a higher priority than text, the Eyewitness Travel books are packin’ heat. Stuffed with colorful pages, beautiful photography and annual updates, Amazon says the guides “use pioneering innovations, such as 3-D mapping, building cutaways, floor plans, guided walks and evocative photography to truly show you what others only tell you.” As an additional plus, restaurant and hotel listings are included, as well as a list of useful terms from whatever foreign country is the focus. Typical Eyewitness Travel guides cost $25-30.

wikitravel.org

Unfortunately for the printed travel guides, they run the risk of going the way of magazines, newspapers and, pretty much, dinosaurs. Online travel guides are increasing in popularity, such as the site, wikitravel.org. Similar to the notorious, open-for-public-edits website Wikipedia, Wikitravel allows people to edit and update destinations’ pages.

“These guides can be written by anyone, whether they’re an expert on all things Europe, or just know a thing or two about hiking in Russia,” an article on bravenewtraveler.com states. “It’s a free-for-all affair that has the potential to overthrow the dominion of the guidebook.”

The article continues to list the five positives of such a website, which consist of, “More writers means a balanced opinion, editable information is current information, (it serves as) an outlet for travelers to share their advice, (is) a complete information package (and allows) unlimited growth.” Overall, the site has 23,786 destinations so far and is still expanding.

travellerspoint.com

Despite Wikitravel’s innovation, it isn’t without its share of drawbacks, such as a lack of listings for accommodations. Not only does travellerspoint.com offer resources for anything from a resort to a youth hostel, it also links to travelers’ blogs and a massive photography gallery. Destination information is also provided through forums as well as from members of the site, called Travel Helpers, who are there to answer the questions of the confounded explorer.

Deciding to travel is one thing, but deciding how to travel is another entirely. Travel guides can help explorers navigate the best a destination has to offer, with as little trouble as taking a trip to a local bookstore or finding an Internet connection. But, that should be one of the easier parts.

“So go!”