Maureen and Tony Wheeler created their first Lonely Planet guide – Across Asia on the Cheap in 1973 and since then more than 150m copies of the travel bible have been sold
For backpackers the world over, leaving home without travel bible Lonely Planet is unthinkable.
Famous for advice on everything from the used car market in Afghanistan to the number of paces from railway stations to hotels in far-flung spots â where reliable maps are not available â they have been translated into 33 languages and cover 95% of the planet. More than 150 million copies of the iconic guide have been sold since 1973.
It turns 50 next month, and travellers can still be found clutching battered copies, despite the rise of the internet. The company, sold in 2007 for a reported £130million, has embraced the change, with a popular website, app and eBooks alongside its printed guides. And the British couple who founded the business are still just as unstoppable as the global brand they created.
Tony and Maureen Wheeler’s first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, followed their own 9,000-mile adventure from Harwich in Essex to Australia ‘s remote North West Cape. Bound using a borrowed stapler, it sold for just $1.80.