India as exotic as its image: Tony Wheeler

Lonely Planet`s founder tells us how travel is never boring and India is really a thousand worlds in one.

Think travel and what comes to mind as the perfect guide for exploration of new vistas are the Lonely Planet books. It is the world`s largest independent guidebook and Lonely Planet’s founder Tony Wheeler is probably the most traveled man around. When he began in the 70s, it was his trip across Asia which resulted in the creation of the world’s most trusted title for travelers.

Attending the Jaipur Literary Festival this year, Wheeler tells Shashank Chouhan of Spicezee.com that he is not tired after all these years of travel and that India is as exotic as its image in the West. Excerpts: Why Lonely Planet? The name Lonely Planet comes from a song (Joe Cocker singing Space Captain on the record/film Mad Dogs & Englishmen) but in fact I misheard it, the name should be Lovely Planet! But we are on a Lonely Planet, as far as we know it`s the only one out there with life. So many years going around the world…doesn’t it get tiring sometimes? Tiring? Never! I`m at the airport hotel in Singapore now, somewhere new in New Delhi this afternoon. Never boring. What is the one place in the world that you like to go back to again and again….and why? I’ve often said my favourite place in the world is the departure lounge, because it means I’m about to go somewhere, so that’s a place I like to go back to over and over again! Which is the one experience you can’t stop telling your friends about any travel adventure? I’m like any obsessive traveller, I like to be able to say I’ve been to somewhere new, somewhere little known or somewhere difficult to get to. It’s always fun to be first on the scene and I think that is one of the things, which has been a strength for Lonely Planet. There were lots of places where we did the first book, we were the first foot in the door. How do you look at India as a travel destination and is it different from the exotica image that western travelers carry in mind about India? I think India is every bit as exotic as its reputation and image, that old line about ‘being tired of life when you’re tired of London’ should really have been written for India. What’s the hardest part being a tourist in India? I think people forget not how big India is – one glance at the map will show you that – but the density of India (there are a lot of people) and the density of the experiences, there is just so much difference from state to state and region to region. Simply saying ‘I’ve been to India’ means nothing; when Kashmir and Tamil Nadu, for example, differ more than many countries, say the US versus Canada or Germany versus Austria. Ditto for almost any other two states in India you care to choose. What is stopping India from becoming the preferred destination world wide- or is already one? It’s always worth looking twice at travel statistics. People don’t approach India lightly, it’s often a big investment travelling to India in terms of the time it takes in getting there and the time it needs after you arrive. It’s not like European countries where you might, for example, hop over from the UK to France for a weekend. So, a million tourists to India is a more important figure than a million tourists to France. I think visitors to India often put a lot of energy and effort into their visit. Sure there are tourists who come to flop on the beach at Goa, but I believe far more visitors come with the intention of learning about the country, trying to get to grips with the diversity that India offers. You have written about ‘Bad Lands’. Is there any place or places in the world that you would think twice before visiting? I want to come back as well as go there, so I’m not interested simply in visiting ‘dangerous’ places. But I don’t believe places are ever as dangerous as the media would have us believe. Although it is always a good idea to be well informed and careful when visiting a ‘bad’ land. You began promoting low budget traveling at a time when it wasn’t exactly a fad that it has now become… Obviously I don’t need to be a low budge traveller anymore, I’m much older and much better off than when Lonely Planet started. Although, of course, there are many places in the world where no matter how much money you had you would still be a low budget traveller because there is no other option, low budget is all that is on offer. But I think there’s a lot to be said for low budget travellers, they put their money into the local economy at ground level, they interact with local people more, they pioneer new destinations. And of course for young travellers low budget is often their only option, they don’t have much money, but as a result they get all those experiences that people who insulate themselves with money miss out on. Where are you off to next? This year I’ve got trips to the UK, Italy, Brazil, Macau and Burma lined up, plus several shorter trips in Australia. But I’m also hoping to be doing some more TV programs. Last year I worked on LPTV programs for the National Geographic channel on Laos and the US state of Alaska. We’re discussing a new series which, if it comes together, I will be working on and we’ve mapped out half a dozen really interesting trips to go with it. Finally, being a travelers’ traveler, what is the lesson you have imbibed and the tip you would like others to remember when they are out discovering the unknown? People are people everywhere, it’s always worth remembering that people are essentially looking for the same things, a better life, education for the children, relationships, beliefs, trust – with so many concerns and worries about the differences between people it’s worth remembering how many similarities there are.