Ripping apart Rick Steves

[IndyDenise]

No, not THAT way..but this way: I have the Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Port Cook 2012. I am not really fond of some of his books, but this one is great...but it is too big. REALLY Big..like it would not fit in my medium size PacSafe.

 

Since I am not visiting all of the ports listed ( darn! ) I only needed less than 1/3 of the book. Today I ripped the thing apart, dividing it into my May ports and the MAYbe some day ports.

I hole punched the pages and found a planner that had rings like a binder , and just slightly larger than the book ..but much skinnier!. What is nice is there is also room in the planner for maps, my notes with bus/metro routes, business cards and it is still smaller than the original book, ...and weighs A LOT less...plus everything I need is on one place. Also, the planner zips up so no lost post it notes. When I pull it out I will look business-ey with my planner and not all hopelessly lost like a tourist ( NOT! LOL! )

I felt guilty about ripping apart this wonderful book where I learned so much info. However I am going to bring the rest of the book to my HAL meet and greet and see if someone there would like it as some are visiting those other ports( they are on a 20 Day, I am on a 10 ) .

I just wanted to give those that love the book but not the size the heads up that this book can be downsized!:D

[paul929207]

Not his books, but we have done that with other guide books. We rip out the sections we will need and leave the rest home.

[cruisemom42]

You do what you gotta do to keep weight (and size) down!

 

I just got finished tearing several sections out of my Blue Guide to Southern Italy for my upcoming trip. It almost physically hurts me to tear up books, but I just can't see bringing along a 582-page book for about 40 pages' worth of info I needed.

 

My grandmother was a librarian and taught me to love books (and I'm a book editor). :eek::o

 

Sorry, nana!

[Queen of Travel]

Thanks for offering the info on the Rick Steve's Ports 2012, we are interested in obtaining this book. Does it give you details on where to go and what to see in each port? Thanks again it sounds like you are using it for your port visits.

[nana541]

Buy it on Amazon as it is cheaper than the Rick Steves website....order today and you will have the UPS guy in your driveway by Tuesday afternoon....

This book covers everything for one day Port Visits for both the do it yourself vistor or someone who just wants to know what they should be doing and not missing. Places to eat, local currency, public transportation...anything you want to know!

Order it today you won't be sorry....

[PCWalton1]

I got it for my Kindle Fire so I didn't have to add any weight. :D

[nana541]

I got it for my Kindle Fire so I didn't have to add any weight. :D

 

Humm great idea!!! I've got the book but putting on my kindle might also make since...are the Chapters broken out or do you need to bookmark everything. With my book I tabbed each chapter I needed and wrote the day of the week I would be there as well as times in port... As some sites and museums are closed on weird days and have odd hours.

DH is now also going crazy with this book and is really excited about all the sites we will see....

[World Gallery]

This has been on my "to do" list for a month! Where and what kind of planner did you get? Did you use a 3 hole punch or a single hole punch? The book doesn't seem to be a standard size.

This is a good idea! I was just going to staple the pages together and put them into separate packets for each port but this is much better. Thanks!

[robinlynn]

I put Steves' Mediterranean Cruise guide, as well as his Croatis and Slovenia tour Guide and Frommers Italy on my KindleFire, plus several smaller travel guides that were super cheap (like 1.99)! I used to take 2-3 of these big and heavy books on every trip, and now the Kindle fits in my side compartment of my purse.I am hoping this will really lighten my lugggage load. I love it!!!

 

With its easy to access carousel, table of contents for each book, and lots of highlighting and bookmarks, I am hoping it will be as easy to find what I am looking for as my old bookmarsk, tabs and paperclip method!

[lisiamc]

Hahaha - getting ripped apart sounds painful for poor Rick! Seriously, he ought to offer a "take-it-along" companion binder for his books, so you could detach and carry the needed sections with you. Hmmm... a great business opportunity there!

[dolittle]

Belive it or not I heard Rick say this on his shows more than once .

[NancyIL]

In Rick's Europe Through the Back Door book - there's a photo of guide books with the pertinent sections ripped out and a rubber band around them! However, I love his books and don't want to do that to them. I need his Italy 2012 book for our May cruise, and I'd like to bring the Mediterranean Cruise Ports book for Split and Dubrovnik. The Med ports book also has some walking tours included that aren't in his Italy book. I still like REAL books and am not interested in a Kindle.

[PCWalton1]

Humm great idea!!! I've got the book but putting on my kindle might also make since...are the Chapters broken out or do you need to bookmark everything. With my book I tabbed each chapter I needed and wrote the day of the week I would be there as well as times in port... As some sites and museums are closed on weird days and have odd hours.

DH is now also going crazy with this book and is really excited about all the sites we will see....

Yeah, you can click on the Table of Contents and browse the chapters, or you can also just search by keyword. One thing I did find strange is you can click on the Map Index and select any map, but if you go to the regular Index, you can't click on anything. Just scroll through it. :confused:

[IndyDenise]

This has been on my "to do" list for a month! Where and what kind of planner did you get? Did you use a 3 hole punch or a single hole punch? The book doesn't seem to be a standard size.

This is a good idea! I was just going to staple the pages together and put them into separate packets for each port but this is much better. Thanks!

 

____________

 

The planner is a Tempo style by Day Runner brand ..and I had a HECK of a time finding something small enough and with binder style rings. It has 6 rings so I had to use a single style hole punch...but the binder has a calender, ruler, address book etc in it too. I took the ruler which is shorter than the book and centered it on my pages and used it's holes as my guide.

I looked at Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, Target, Kohls and couldn't find anything. ( Office Depot had an expensive leather bound one for $32.00 but that is to high for my cheap butt! :p I finally found one at Kmart with their calenders. It was $12.99. I like it so much I will use it as a normal planner too.

[IndyDenise]

Thanks for offering the info on the Rick Steve's Ports 2012, we are interested in obtaining this book. Does it give you details on where to go and what to see in each port? Thanks again it sounds like you are using it for your port visits.

_____________

 

This book is fantastic. It covers so much..transportation, local customs, independent touring etc..as well as guides to some sites.

I highly recommend it..I have other Rick Steve's books that were just oh so okay but this one is great.

[IndyDenise]

Hahaha - getting ripped apart sounds painful for poor Rick! Seriously, he ought to offer a "take-it-along" companion binder for his books, so you could detach and carry the needed sections with you. Hmmm... a great business opportunity there!

 

--------------------

 

I wish he would! He would have saved my feet from walking all over town looking for a binder and my hands from having to hole punch.

I would have gladly paid an extra $20.00 for a binder bound book ( or maybe more cause my hand really hurts! )

[Genessa]

Rick definitely recommends just ripping out the pages you want, but I also have a problem doing so, so I too put it on my Kindle.

 

For our Baltic cruise (and I'm going to repeat for our upcoming Med), what I will do, since

I love the Kindle, but I need to touch pages, too,is jot down the things I find most interesting, then find info on the internet, print it out, add info to it.

 

 

 

I will make detailed itineraries for each port, but also have a couple of "second" choices in case one doesn't work out - and I will list the exact "page" in the Kindle it is on.

This helped in Copenhagen when my original plan to go in one direction didn't work out because the train track was being worked on ...

[dln929]

Yes, Kindle is the way to go! I used to be a "ripper" but now I've gone high tech and never looked back. ;)

[NancyW12]

Disagree with the Kindle. I am an avid Nook user and put the Lonely Planet Spain on mine last year. It was very difficult to find the specific information I was looking for once I started trying to go back in and get detailed after the fact. This time I got Rick's Ports book mentioned above (Half.com for 12 bucks) and will do the ripping thing, but will also take my Nook for pleasure reading. No more electronic guidebooks though.

[TMLAalum]

Disagree with the Kindle. I am an avid Nook user and put the Lonely Planet Spain on mine last year. It was very difficult to find the specific information I was looking for once I started trying to go back in and get detailed after the fact. This time I got Rick's Ports book mentioned above (Half.com for 12 bucks) and will do the ripping thing, but will also take my Nook for pleasure reading. No more electronic guidebooks though.

 

There is something to be said about having an actual travel book (or pages of) in hand- easy to flip back and forth between pages of interest, can have Rick's maps in hand, and it's more easily shared with others.

I've already copied his Venice in one-long-day section from his Italy guidebook which should give us a fabulous experience in the short time we're in port.

 

We also plan to download his free audio tours for famous sites such as the Vatican and the Grand Canal of Venice.

[Cornishpastyman1]

Yes, Kindle is the way to go! I used to be a "ripper" but now I've gone high tech and never looked back. ;)

and don't forget his free podcasts for St Peter's Basilica, The Colosseum, The Forum, the Pantheon and Pompeii.

[TLCOhio]

Agree on hating to rip-up some books you like and might need to have for the future.

 

Here's another option, especially for books you might borrow from the library. Go to a copy shop and make copies of the key pages that you will need for certain specifics on certain of the ports/cities during your cruise. That keeps things BOTH focused and light!!

 

I always build a "file" on my laptop computer for each port stop with highlights from that reading and then pulling up stories/articles from the travels sections of the New York Times, Telegraph of London, Wikipedia, etc. All of those help to consider your many great options. Amazon can be very good in providing such books at reduced prices, plus some used books websites. Lots of great options!!! Especially in these days of the Internet, it makes things easier to research and plan ahead. You can use Google.com for great access to various text items, plus a wide variety of visuals and maps. One option for some private tour and other local options is to contract the tourism office in each of your ports. You can use Google.com and put in the search term such as "city/port name tourism office". Then follow-up to each of those office by e-mail, ask your questions, get their suggestions, options to consider, etc.

 

There was a very good Rick Steves PBS show this weekend on Europe and some of its "hidden", lesser known places to consider for future visits. All interesting stops, places, including Lucca in Italy that we visited last June. When Googling that title, it got me to Rick's websites where he had lots of added info on those various places, key pictures, scripts from his TV shows, etc. Check his website, use that "copy & paste" feature on your computer to grab and save that info, etc., for your future review and consideration.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 67,991 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[bobalink]

For the real book lovers who have a difficult time "ripping apart" a guide book, here is a simple solution –

 

Take your paper-back guide book AND ring-binder with you to a Bindery. They will slice the spine of the book and drill the holes where ever you need them to accommodate whatever size binder you have.

 

I keep TWO identical binders. One, I use for the trip with only the pages I need. The other, is left at home with the remaining pages. When I return home, the contents of the travel binder go back in, and the book is back intact.

 

Of course this is only a simple solution if you live near a bindery. I do, and use them frequently for projects at work.

 

ALSO... you can download Rick Steves PDF WALKING MAPS from his website.

http://www.ricksteves.com/ae/ae_menu.htm

[Donder1]

Like others, I have a Nook and downloaded Rick Steves book. I also found a ton of free Apps about traveling and sites with maps, etc.in the Med. region. Trip Advisor has a great free app.

[World Gallery]

and don't forget his free podcasts for St Peter's Basilica, The Colosseum, The Forum, the Pantheon and Pompeii.

 

I have downloaded some of them but was wondering, is it difficult to hear them in places like St. Mark's square in Venice? We have used audio tours before and it was hard to hear at some places due to the noise and crowds. Any advice? Also, what kind of ear phones work well and how many people can listen to one phone at a time (is there a way to get many splitters for one phone?) Thanks.