It began with a date on 7 October 1970 in London’s Regent’s Park. The air was crisp, filled with a sense of possibility. The young couple, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, spoke about a love for travel and soon enough, fell in love. Together they drove around England–a journey that paved the path for a discovery of Europe–Czechoslovakia, Austria, Yugoslavia, Venice, Switzerland and France. Before long, the couple caught the travel bug. Inspired by the travels of the hippies, beckoned by the great cities of Morocco and Afghanistan, they hit the road. Their journey took them across Asia and resulted in a book–Across Asia on the Cheap. 

Their route was a detour of the hippie trail. But time had morphed the path. Wars and conflicts affected borders and behaviours—including the modes of communication. Travellers no longer stuck notices on pinboards in guesthouses from Lahore to Rishikesh, and the Wheelers sought an answer to the queries of the wayward travellers they encountered along the way. That’s when the Lonely Planet came into existence.

That single act brought about a new chapter in publishing, ushering a generation of budget-conscious travellers to venture out into the great unknown. In the decades that followed, Lonely Planet became the bible for backpackers taking off to discover the world.

The Lonely Planet team–now a small empire in its own right, followed the footsteps of modern-day hippie communities who travelled from Goa to Gokarna and Phuket to Phi Phi, living in idealistic communes. Eventually, these communities were nudged away from their private utopias—serene beaches coupled with low rents—by bands of tourists. For long, seasoned travellers lamented about the “Lonely-Planetisation” of the world. 

Today, the Lonely Planet is a fragment of an age that passed us by. The thick book, now replaced by the ubiquitous smartphone that promises to leave little to the imagination. Routes, rates and reviews in the palm of your hand evade a sense of discovery that challenges the very spirit of travel—to get lost and discover.