Like the notion of offbeat travel the idea of Offbeat Guides has intrigued me. I received an invitation to test their Beta last year, but I’ve been on the road and haven’t had time ’til now. As I’ve been curious about the product for a while, I’d imagined a whimsical website with quirky guides to … Read more about How ‘offbeat’ are Offbeat Guides?
So for something to be ‘off·beat’ it has to be original, unusual, quirky or kitsch, something that doesn’t conform to conventions or expectations – but as Kim Wildman argues in relation to sights, “it is the story behind them, how did they get there? who created them and why? that makes them so fascinating…” Take … Read more about Offbeat: to be unconventional, original, quirky and weird – and tell a story
To continue from my previous post’s reflections on offbeat travel… it seems that conversely, and curiously, out-of-favour mainstream attractions can come to have kitsch-appeal to some. Now when exactly that starts to happen is something I find intriguing. Take Australia’s ‘big things‘, the Big Pineapple, Big Banana, Big Sheep, etc. And yes, please take them, … Read more about More reflections on offbeat travel: when the mainstream starts to have kitsch appeal
If something is ‘offbeat’, it’s strange, quirky, eccentric, so travel to offbeat destinations means visiting weird places and seeing unusual things that the average tourist might not think (or want) to see. Right? Travel writer Kim Wildman wrote ‘Offbeat South Africa: the travel guide to the whacky and wonderful‘ which the blurb describes as “a … Read more about What does it mean to be ‘offbeat’ in an age where everyone is so ‘switched on’?
Yesterday I provided some tips on how to choose a guidebook, my advice being don’t judge a guidebook by its cover, judge it by its author, just as you would any other book. The way I see it, if you’re buying a novel (compelling story aside) you’re buying the book based on the author’s talent, … Read more about Don’t judge a guidebook by its cover: but should you judge it by its brand?