How do you use travel info?
 

There are many many books available for do-it-yourself walks in Paris, such as: <BR>Walking Paris : Thirty Original Walks.... & I think Fodors has one too. How do you cope with using these materials--and yet not get run-over by French traffic, mugged by every gypsy, etc. etc.?? <BR>Seriously, how do you work with all the informational material out there? Or am I the only one who can not instantly remember that the building on the corner of ... was the WWII German HQ & that Rue de ... is a 16th century street?

I hate to tell you this Marion but I find myself in the same boat as you. Before a trip I always read up on these great paths to take to see where such-and-such lived during his expressionist period etc. But somehow, when I am actually in a city I end up drifting around, I usually take a little overview bus type tour the first day, then spend the rest of my time seeing sights I REALLY want to see, sitting in cafes and generally wandering aimlessly through interesting neighborhoods. *Sigh, I always tell myself that next time I will be better and follow the suggested walking routes, but I inevitably don't. I guess it's a bit like staying on a diet, I always promise myself I WILL tomorrow, but the food tastes SOOO good today.

Marion <BR>I'm sure everyone has a different system. I do 99.5% of my reading and research before I go, from all sources. <BR>I designate one guidebook as the one I will take with me. When I find an interesting suggestion or restaurant or fact in another source, I tear it out and write it on an index card, or tape it/write it directly into the primary guidebook I'm taking with me, in the appropriate section of the book. <BR>When I notice suggested itineraries or walking tours in various sources, I read through them, glean the options that interest me, and then either just rely on one, or else combine them into my own perfect itinerary/trail. <BR>If I'm using index cards, I separate them by topics--one is for shopping, one for museums, one for restaurants, etc. <BR>So when I'm traveling, I carry one guidebook annotated by me, a few index cards, and sometimes a couple of magazine articles or brochures on a topic or place that particularly interests me. The cards and articles, and brochures go into a thin folder or binder. The binder <BR>also has pockets for my hotel and restaurant faxes, articles, and index cards, and hole-punched zip lock bags for any tickets or passes I have. <BR>I'm also blessed/cursed with a good brain for trivia, so if I can't remember the address of the 15th century church I made a note of, at least I might remember that I did make a note about one. However, sometimes I forget to consult my notes or book and I miss the church; it's not a foolproof system. I've been known to go back if I can. <BR>I've been traveling for a while now, but <BR>Of course many people prefer to be less-prepared and rely more on serendipity, but I do the basics that are important to me, and leave serendipity for the time left over. That's just me.Luxury travel for me is wandering around aimlessly on my last day or spending an entire afternoon in a cafe. <BR>By the way, despite my map and book, I still pay attention to my surroundings and I've never been run over nor accosted by a criminal while traveling, knock wood. <BR>I'll add that my "system" has to be flexible depending on who I'm with, how we feel, and where I am. Venice, for example, is a city made for aimless wandering, imo. <BR>

I am nuts for guidebooks and end up taking 3-4 different books with me on a two week trip. ie food, shopping, art, architecture, and general focus. I don't take the books that have a lot of hotel info or cover more than my itinerary but use those obsessively for planning. I will also use the binder method with a twist. I have binders from Levenger called circa with movable pages and I will paste copied info into those. www.levenger.com

Marion, <BR>Interesting question and an interesting problem that I've never faced. In trying to figure out why, it struck me that I don't depend on walking guidebooks to tell me where to go and what I'll see. I develop the walks based on my own interests and resultant research. Just about four years ago, for example, I was interested in delving into the architecture of townhouses on Amsterdam's Herrengracht canal. Did my research and off I went. Spent a week walking the Herrengracht. An hour yesterday strolling a block or so, back for another hour today, back tracking a bit to refresh my memory then off to another block, and so on through the week with never more than an hour or so each day devoted to the walk. Saw all I wanted to see, devoted the time necessary to experience it, never overwhelmed myself by trying to see too much all at once. I've done the same on a number of occasions including a self designed walk of historic pubs in London (which later deteriorated into something of a stagger.) Limiting the amount of information you try to absorb at one time makes the experience much more meaningful and long lasting. For me at least!

I do as Wes does - plan an itinerary by my own research and interests. I'll look at suggested tours (walking or driving), because they often coincide with what I've planned, and sometimes include things that I would have missed otherwise. Everything gets written onto index cards, then sorted by day, and then onto looseleaf paper. I take the sheet of paper with that day's itinerary with me. I usually don't have time to visit everything, but figure I'll just have to make another trip!