Lonely Planet's The Travel Book

I recently got my hands on a copy of Lonely Planet's The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World , a book that gives us a glimpse at every nation on the planet, while inspiring more adventures for our life lists.

Like all of the books from Lonely Planet, The Travel Book is high quality from cover to cover. The images within are captivating, and the writing is informative, with a nice mix of useful facts and interesting trivia. The 446 page coffee table book is large and heavy, thanks to the high quality pages that help the images pop off the page.

Inside The Travel Book you'll find every country listed in alphabetical order. Each nation has two pages dedicated to it, one of which is entirely photos, while the second has yet more photos, but also text broken down into categories to help the would-be visitor before traveling to that place. The text begins with a paragraph describing the country, and then proceeds to the categories that include such headings as "Best Time To Visit", "Essential Experiences", and "Surprises". The page is topped off with a map of the country with key areas highlighted.

While Lonely Planet is well known for it's travel guides, this is one book that you won't find useful in that regard. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of great tips in the book on what to eat or drink, simple words that could prove useful, and much more. But with the scope of this tome being the entire world, there really isn't enough space to go into great detail like you find in the other LP books.

On the other hand, for someone who is interested in travel, this is a book that should be in your personal library. It's great to pull out and learn new things about some place that you're considering visiting, and it may get you thinking about a place you hadn't considered in the past. It's simply a joy to page through the Travel Book and gaze at the images while dreaming of your next adventure.

Note: The version I own is the hardback version. Amazon also has it in paperback which is a bit more affordable, although I doubt it carries the same level of quality. Still, a great edition to your bookshelf. Just be warned, this book WILL NOT make your life list any shorter.