Good Guide Book Starts With Basics

With 10 years of guidebook writing behind her, Susan English has insight for guidebook readers.

“They’re not created equal,” said the co-author of the recently released “Inside Out: Northern Rockies,” a Northwest Best Places travel guide to the indoors and outdoors.

English is a features editor at The Spokesman-Review who has contributed to Best Places and Fodor’s travel guides. When it came time to put her own name on a guidebook with Montana author Kathy Witkowsky, English had definite opinions on how to stand out from the crowd.

“I wanted to cover all the basic information you need to visit an area, plus tips to hidden gems that can provide a memorable moment in your travel,” she said.

The new “Inside Out” guidebook series targets the aging baby boomers who have the money and the yen for comfortable accommodations and fine food, but who still want to get out on daytrips to ski, fish, hike and paddle.

The series came from a marketing study that found a dearth of guides covering the Northern Rockies on both sides of the international border, she said.

The products adhere to English’s theory: “Guidebooks aren’t reading material.” The “Inside Out” books can’t be confused with coffee-table material. No photos dress up the pages, and only a precious few general maps are included.

“These books are designed to put all the expenses into information, not decoration,” she said.

In her many travels throughout the Northwest, English said she’s been appalled at how superficial some guidebooks are. “Some don’t give you anything more than you can get from the local travel bureau for free,” she said.

Her tips for selecting a good guidebook and getting the most of it are fairly simple:

Check how the author describes a place with which you are familiar. See if the author’s perspective matches yours. “That tells you what page he’s on for the places you’re not familiar with,” she said.

Decide whether the book does the work for you. “Some people go to the same places over and over because the advanced scouting takes so much time they don’t want to do it again. A good guidebook should make it easy to break away and try some place new.”

Buy the guidebook in advance and use it for planning. “Don’t wait until you get to your destination to buy and read a guidebook” she said. “Getting the most of your trips requires advance planning.”

English used that same philosophy for writing her share of the book.

“I never go on the worst trails to determine which are the best ones,” she said. “I do the research before I leave so I don’t waste my time. That’s part of being a good reporter.”

Guidebook readers can take advantage of the same techniques a seasoned guidebook writer uses in research.

To find gems in the cities, English said she contacts local gourmet cooking stores for the fast-track to the best restaurants. Local outdoors stores are free with tips to the best trails.

In many cases, the price of a guide is a good investment to get the most out of a few days in a new area.

“If I’m looking at a specific park or mountain range, I’ll ask several guides or rangers what four or five hikes are the very best,” she said. “Some trips usually are mentioned by everyone you ask. Those are the best ones.”

A knack for “chit chat” is the key to learning about hidden gems, she said.

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MEMO: GUIDEBOOKS “Inside Out” guidebooks for the Northern Rockies and Washington link outdoor daytrips for people who prefer the comfort of indoor dining and accommodations. The guides were released in June by Sasquatch Books of Seattle. They cost $21.95 each.