Prior to your travel it’s important to do some research about the culture, local cuisines, museums, transportation, etc. You’ll most likely bring one or two travel books or language dictionaries with you. Alternatively, you can print out from websites, or have data ready on your phone. But there’s no better fallback than a small guide book. At market price, collecting these books can be very expensive overtime and they’ll burn a hole in your wallet.
So what’s an alternative if you’re really in need of a book? We’ll give you a few tips on to how to save some money and where to collect some in-good-condition copies for cheap or FREE!
International Travel section at a Barnes and Nobles.
A typical travel book can cost you anywhere from five dollars to fifty dollars. The bookstores are saturated with an endless collection of the latest and greatest copy. But sometimes, you really don’t need the latest copy; most of the time you just need a good map and a language guide. It’s not like the streets will shift the week before you visit and people speaks a new jibberish as their main language.
We typically shop at national thrift store chains like Goodwill, Savers, and Salvation Army. For the more local variety, there are plenty of yard sales and local town or city library book fair. For free copies, you can borrow travel books from the library or bum a copy off from a friend.
The best part about finding these discounted books are the little surprises inside. People tend to jot down notes about places to see, or what to avoid. Sometimes the official maps go missing, but in replacement the previous owner insert better maps from their own travel destinations!
Found a travel book for Alaska, with an even better map inserts! Also, the book was $2 bucks. Score!
Overtime, we’ve amassed a massive collection that’s more then enough to keep us busy and ready to plot our next trip around the world.
Our collection of travel books. Collected over the years from thrift stores to yard sales.
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