I have a half-dozen or so travel stories that I love to tell. Like the time hiking in Sweden when we came across a herd of Lappish reindeer in a remote valley and were so close you could hear them breathe.  Or that time when we brought out a soccer ball on a beach in Mexico and were quickly caught up in a terrific game of pick-up soccer with kids from four or five different countries.

Lonely Planet’s New Zealand is a cram-packed 756 pages of tiny print written about islands with a combined land mass the size of Colorado and a population of 4.2 million or half that of New York City.

Lonely Planet’s “Flightless: Incredible Journeys Without Leaving the Ground” is a thought-provoking guide for anyone seeking an alternative to the indignities, monotony or environmental impact of flying and who at the same time wishes to avoid the twelve-countries-in-seventeen-days approach to getting away.

Lonely Planet's Cambodia guidebook starts off with a respectably comprehensive narrative about the kingdom and it's six thousand year old

As a Special Bonus, Lonely Planet  has graciously donated several copies of Syria & Lebanon, to be given to randomly drawn commenters on this article.  

As a Special Bonus, Lonely Planet  will give a copy of Tokyo City Guide, to a randomly drawn commenter on this article. Post your comments - you might win! 

Published by Lonely Planet, One People many journeys explores global intercultural themes through eight different aspects of the universal human experience.