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Tony Wheeler, co-founder of the Lonely Planet guide books, talks about the nature of travel and its impact on the environment

by GREG LOWE

When Tony Wheeler and his wife Maureen travelled from London through Asia to Australia in 1972, little did they know that their adventure would transform the nature of travel. Nevertheless, the self-published account of their journey, Across Asia on the Cheap, sowed the seeds of what would become the Lonely Planet guide book empire.

Back then travel was a slower, harder and more arduous task. The road less travelled was, well, less travelled, and free from the hordes of tourists that festoon the most faraway destinations today, feverishly clutching their oracle-like little blue guide books. More…