Couple of weeks back, I wrote about Offbeat Guides, which allows you to create a customized and uptodate destination guidebook containing only those things which you want, instead of the full Monty. Well, it seems Lonely Planet has something a bit similar, if not exactly the same thing.

Their Pick & Mix Digital Downloads lets you pick and buy specific chapters out of guidebooks, instead of the full book. You select and buy the chapter or chapters you like, and you can download it instantly in pdf format. So let’s say you want to first find out more about all the things to do in Honolulu. You go to Lonely Planet’s Hawaii guide book, download for free the table of contents and itineraries, go through the contents and decide which chapter contains the relevant information (Oahu - $6), and then buy only that one.

The full guide would have cost you $21.99. Oh, and the combined cost of all the Hawaii guide book chapters, seperately purchased, adds up to $33.50. So this is actually pretty smart of Lonely Planet to allow people to purchase single chapters. Plus, Lonely Planet is offering a 20% discount if you purchase 3 or 4 chapters, and a 35% discount if you buy 5 or more chapters.

Since we’re on Hawaii, here’s a bit of Hawaii news. There’s a fine line diving brave and stupid, and this guy at a Hawaiian beach just crossed over to stupid, when he tried to get a closer look at a school of sharks while everyone else was trying to get as far as possible.

Here’s the video of the whole incident, captured by his wife. I’m sure its fun to have a tape of yourself being called an idiot, among other things, by your loving wife…. Photo credit & copyrights - NBC/Kare11

In other Hawaii news, the Hawaiian Monk Seal is now the official state mammal of Hawaii. Roughly 1,200 Hawaiian monk seals remain in the wild—about 80 to 100 of these in waters surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian monk seal population declines by about 4 percent each year. But experts are hopeful that the animal’s designation as an official state symbol will boost seal numbers again. Four monk seal pups have already been born this year.

Posted on June 16th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Travel News, Travel Tips