ONCE while travelling is a unique combination of autobiography, travel story and business book and tells the story of the couple behind the huge success of the ‘Lonely Planet' travel books – Tony and Maureen Wheeler. The book follows their journeys over the years and looks at the growth and changes Lonely Planet has gone through. “How did we manage to live together, travel together, grow a business together and even include two children in the picture? It's all here,” writes Tony on his blog. Lonely Planet Publications was born in 1973 when the Wheelers self-published a quirky travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. This was quickly followed by what soon became the backpackers' staple, South-East Asia on a Shoestring. Going boldly where no other travel publisher had ventured, they catered to a new generation of independent, budget-conscious travelers long before the advent of mass tourism. Above all, their memoir reveals the spirit of adventure that has made them, according to the New York Daily Times, ‘the specialists in guiding weird folks to weird places'. The book is being published by Crimson publishers and will be launched in the UK this week. __
