BUG launches new downloadable travel guides
March 2nd, 2010 by Tim Uden
Last week BUG launched the first of its downloadable travel guides. These are PDF files that you can download and print at home.
These travel guides are published just for backpackers – that’s young independent travellers who travel with their gear in a backpack and stay in hostels. Unlike other guides, BUG doesn’t weigh you down with listings of fancy restaurants and flash hotels that you can’t afford. Instead BUG guides have practical information on the things you want to see and do. Rather than tell you about expensive tours, BUG will tell you how to get around on public transport and about cheap iconic eateries such as a classic hot dog stand rather than overpriced stuffy restaurants and the only accommodation establishments in BUG guides are backpackers’ hostels and youth hostels.
These guides have detailed and up-to-date travel information as well as excellent maps. They are designed to ensure you have a great trip and they only cost a couple of quid.
In many ways they are better than traditional travel guidebooks (and not just because they are cheaper). For instance:
Downloadable BUG travel guides have better maps than a traditional guidebook. Because you are printing your guide on regular A4 paper, you can take advantage of larger, more detailed, maps. Downloadable BUG travel guides also have more maps than most other guidebooks. While most guidebook only have maps for the city centre, downloadable BUG travel guides also have maps for individual neighbourhoods plus separate maps showing points of interest and accommodation.
Downloadable BUG travel guides are more up-to-date than a traditional guidebook. Traditional guidebooks can take almost a year to research and up to four months to print and distribute. Research is quicker because BUG’s downloadable travel guides cover specific cities and regions rather than entire countries and we can get them to market sooner because you can print them at home. Generally we can have a guide ready to sell within a month or two of researching it.
You get free updates when you buy a downloadable BUG travel guide. With a regular guidebook you have to pay around £15 to buy the latest edition, but when we publish an update to a downloadable BUG travel guide we email our customers a link to download the latest edition for free.
BUG currently has downloadable guides to Los Angeles and New York City and will shortly be launching guides to San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Click here for more information on BUG’s new downloadable travel guides.
Stockholm to get a unique new hostel
September 4th, 2008 by Tim Uden
Last Thursday, the world’s first hostel housed inside a Boeing 747 jumbo jet progressed a step closer as the unused aeroplane was towed to a spot near Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. The Swedish news website, The Local, reports that the plane, which had been resting on Arlanda’s third runway since 2002, has been purchased by Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Diös.
There had been rumours about the Jumbo Hostel for a few years now, although approval from the airports authority and the Swedish National Roads Administration mean the hostel looks set to open for business in December.
The interior of the jumbo jet will be completely overhauled with construction of 25 three-bed dormitories plus a luxury suite in the converted cockpit.
The Jumbo Hostel will also feature a café and a walkway onto the plane’s left wing.
The location at Arlanda Airport isn’t the most convenient to Stockholm city centre, but I am sure it will prove popular with plane-spotters and travellers arriving on a late flight as it is only a 10-minute walk from the airport terminal building.
If this hostel is sucessful; Oscar, who had previously run Uppsala Vandrarhem, plans to open more Jumbo Hostels elsewhere in the world.
The forums are back online
August 4th, 2008 by Tim Uden
We had a bit of a hiccup with BUG’s forums over the past couple of weeks. Last week we fixed most of the problems and now the forums are working properly again – and looking much better too.
We are still working on restoring the travel journal feature of the forums, which is expected to be finished in a day or two.
Take part in a new adventure travel TV series
July 28th, 2008 by Tim Uden
Channel 4 in the UK are looking for young travellers who want to take part in a new adventure travel TV series.
The Ultimate Gap Year is a Channel 4 television series that follows a small group of travellers – typical to those you may find on a gap year – who travel around certain parts of the world for 2-3 months.
Channel 4 are keen that the series is truly representative of the real ‘travel experience’, and how important and life-changing the gap year experience can be. This means that they are looking for people like you to participate in the show.
If you are aged 18 or over, a UK resident, available during October and November this year and fancy a far flung adventure then apply to take part at www.ultimategapyear.com.
It sounds like a great opportunity if you don’t mind millions of people following your travels.
Fun Is BAD
May 8th, 2008 by Isak Ladegård
