You expect the publishers and writers of your favorite
guidebooks to practice what they preach…but what if they get too preachy? I guess that’s my question in the matter of
Tony Wheeler and Mark Ellingham, two names behind the Lonely Planet Empire and behemoths in the world of guidebook
publishing, who
say we all fly too much, too often, and are causing permanent damage to the planet as a result. The planet is not
just lonely, they are telling us, it is getting too warm.
Strange to hear such a thing from publishing
magnates who have made their fortunes beseeching us to fly more. But it makes a bit of sense. At least part of the
equation does. The campaign, such as it is, is urging travelers to "fly less and stay longer" as well as to
donate money to carbon offsetting schemes. I’m all for the stay longer part. IMHO too many people go somewhere distant
and then stay for a day or two and jet set out having seen a monument or two. All travelers should favor the
“longer in fewer places” scheme over the “more places shorter” one.
But back to the
Wheeler entreaty. Is this a good thing or the knee-jerk pleas of folks who have made their dough and now want to tell
the rest of us what to do with our vacations? And what’s with the owner of a company that manufactures six
million copies of 600 different Lonely Planet guidebooks a year, the pulp from entire forests of trees, doing telling
us we should be more environmentally concerned? Well, despite the value of asking such questions, I still believe
Wheeler and company’s hearts are in the right place. I practice the quality over quality method of travel anyway,
so I won’t be making any methodology changes soon. But I admit I find the whole matter rather interesting.