Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008 3rd Ed.: The World's hottest trends, destinations, journeys and experiences [Paperback]

I took a gamble on purchasing this book after reading the negative review above (book just rants on about middle eastern travel locations with no talk of the dangers involved). WELL - I'm glad I spent the $16 because this book is exactly what I was hoping for - a comprehensive list of locations to consider traveling to for open minded individuals. There is a special feature portion in the middle of the book on Islamic travel locations BUT it is 30 pages of the 230+ book and it does speak a small bit to the dangers involved. The remaining 200+ pages of the book equally cover Asian, African, South + North American, Russian/Czech, and other remote locations with a variety of reasons to travel there. The book doesn't seem to overly boast just the positives but gives you some ideas of dangers/negatives too, so I definitely did not get the feeling the book was openly suggesting travelers to blindly fly to dangerous locations. If you're looking to travel abroad and looking for some potential ideas you haven't considered pick this book up, it's worth the $[...] - I ordered from [...] and got the 2007 bluelist book free when I ordered the 2008. It's got some great photos too.

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2009 (General Reference)

850 Trends, Destinations, Journeys & Experiences for the Year Ahead-that's how Lonely Planet describes their newest "wish" book. Picking the brains of their best authors, Lonely Planet has put together a book for the travel-minded person who wants a creative mix of what's best. This is a book to charge the senses about possible travel tours and to facilitate formulating plans before you get to the ticket purchasing stage. Open a random page and begin reading the eclectic topics offered. The book is divided into a collection of Top Tens: Countries, Regions, Cities, a large section on Water: the Ultimate Traveller and Top Travel Lists. Facts and trivia abound in this exciting addition to the Lonely Planet guides.

Top Ten Countries: (Not those you might think.) Here's an opportunity to read what's best about Kyrgyzstan ("the country your inner nomad has secretly been dreaming about all these years") and Oman ("the real deal"). Paragraphs on the defining experience, hot topic of the day, festivals and events and life-changing experiences will pique your interest to learn more about these unusual, off-the-beaten-track places on the globe.

Top Ten Regions: A few better known regions add to the mix of the unusual here. Learn a bit about France's Languedoc, Svarlbard, Norway, France and Spain's Basque Country (home to some of Europe's best walking.)

Check out The World of Water for the best sparkle, the best partying, the best place to drop anchor and much more. Go on a water safari, drink in an igloo, take a husky ride are just some of the experiences detailed in this fascinating chapter. Also, don't miss fabulous ferries and water worship (Do you know the six places for the best liquid blessings?).

Lonely Planet's Top Travel Lists contains a potpourri of exciting tidbits such as the top ten places to steal a kiss (no surprise that Paris is number one), the flashiest lighthouses, the best places to have a midlife crisis (bet you can't wait for THAT one or the next!-best places for deadly sins).

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2009 is fantastic even if you're not planning a trip. It's great to educate yourself about places you may not have heard, about customs you may not know exist and otherwise to learn more about our fantastic, wonderful, diverse planet. This is a book to inform, to entertain and to get the creative juices charged up to learn more. Beautiful photos highlight nearly every page. The layout is hip, the text easy to read. Each topic covers a paragraph to a couple of pages of fascinating reading to incite wanderlust in the most dedicated armchair enthusiast.

I love this series from Lonely Planet. It's beautiful and cleverly written. The bluelist isn't designed to give you a travel itinerary or help you get around but presents interesting and iconic experiences weighted by current travel trends. For me, the bluelist is all about daydreaming about the next travel adventure.