There are so many things I want to talk about, but I think I should start for the beginning. And there cannot be a better beginning than talking about the city where I live, Madrid.
Big city, big task. It is hard to describe any major city in the world, they are always changing, evolving for better or for worse. Where should I start? I think my first advice could be applied to any city really. If you are holding in your hands at this moment a travel guide, please throw it into the bin. Yes throw it. Unless you want to go and meet with another hundreds of people that were on your exactly same flight. You will mirror that lovely queue at the airport check-in, this time trying to enter into a museum or restaurant. It could sound a little bit radical, but that´s the first sacrifice you may do in order to take your first step into a better holiday. For some people it can be like quitting smoking, or dieting. You may feel insecure without it, lost, but once you overcome the first shock, a whole new world of possibilities opens up in front of you.
At his stage, you may be asking yourself, shy I advise not to use travel guides, when somehow this blogs intends to be kind of one. Personal and different. But at the end of the day, a travel guide. Well I am not crazy, although some people tend to think sometimes I do behave like if I really was crazy. The point is, guides are useful, no doubt about it. They can give you some basic information, help you to orientate your research when you are really lost but few times are going to help you to make your holidays memorable. But why? Here they are a few reasons why…
· Guides are usually outdated. Think for one second, about the process of making a guide. The author, travels to the selected destination (well if the guide is good, because I have come across some that made me wonder whether the person has actually been in the place). By the time it comes back, writes the report, gets corrected, published and distributed, we are talking of at least 1 year the very least. And when you get it in the bookshop, it can be at least 2 or 3 years old. What that it means? For instance, that night club that was so cool and trendy in London is now completely out of fashion. That the list of hotels in the resort you were thinking about, just misses the latest one opened a few months ago and has the ultimate ocean view. Or that the restaurant they recommend, has lost its Michelin star, due to food poisoning…
· Second main problem is that guides cannot give you all the information. Many people rely on them as a Bible, but actually they cannot cover all the city attractions, restaurants, hotels, bars, shops… Think about your own city or town. Even if you have been living there for many years there are still areas where you probably haven´t been. Restaurants that you haven´t try, places where you keep saying you will go but you never had the time. Now think about the author. Even if he spends several months in the city he will not be able to see everything. Furthermore, take it to the other extreme, if you really know well all the sports, think about that time when some friends come over to visit you. How hard was to actually recommend or take them to all of them?. For sure you realized afterwards that you forgot to take them to that little bar you loved…. Guides had limited pages. They can only hold a little amount of info.
· But for me, the biggest problem of all is that guides are biased. Let´s face it. Every person is different, ahs different interest, likes and dislikes, different notions of what it is relevant or not. If you are a 25 year old you will be looking at different things to a 75. So when it comes to write a guide, the author normally tries to be as neutral as possible, and therefore it loses the freshness and makes the advice plain and average, suitable for all those who where in your flight, instead of unique. Even in the “specialized guides” it is hard to escape from that feeling. Moreover if you take a look at the authors, you will realize that 90% of then are Anglo-Saxons. That means that the guides are thought for average English speaking readers and that affects the contents and approach.
· And finally, if you don’t buy the guide, you will have probably 20 euro in you pocket to order a better bottle of wine in a restaurant, isn’t that a better way of making your holidays memorable?
So if you don’t want to have an average “Anglo-Saxon” holiday, it is easy bin the guide. I will try to give you in the following post so advice on how to plan your holidays to make them your own.
PS. By the way at the end I haven´t spoke a thing about Madrid. Promised I will soon.
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