�I think the Lonely Planet helps a traveller to understand and appreciate his destination better if he is informed about its culture, religion, food, people, music... Anytime a newspaper wants an article written on any city in the world by a traveller who can recommend 20 hotels to stay in, 20 restaurants to dine at, 20 unusual bus-stops, they call me. I�ve been there and done that!

TONY Wheeler, 57, the founder of the world�s most popular and thumbed travel guide, the Lonely Planet, has been around the world at least two, three times, and in one year he did all seven continents including Antarctica. �It has been all work, even holidays... they are like a busman�s holiday, I just never turn off,� says the great traveller with a twinkle in his worldly eye. �There�s always something I think we can add or take off from the Lonely Planet guides that are into reprints.�

His travels brought Wheeler to Bombay recently where he enthralled travellers, readers, and the media with his anecdotes. About 31 years ago, he and wife Maureen brought out the first Lonely Planet guide entirely on their own. �It was called Across Asia On The Cheap and we did the travelling, I did the writing, I drew maps, she looked after sales. Today we have a CEO and staff for everything. I have stepped back.

I am like a backseat driver. I don�t do day-to-day work. But any new project that we are doing, I have my say. And Maureen and I are major owners of the publication. I am rolled out to talk about the company, to be its spokesperson,� Wheeler says. He is involved in doing two new books this year on lesser-known countries. �One is on East Timor, the newest country in the world, which has a population of 600,000. And the other is on the Falkland Islands,� says the man who enjoys writing on travel immensely. Wheeler does not just write for the Lonely Planet. �I write quite a lot for newspapers and magazines. I would hate to be involved with a guide book all the time. I do a column for The Independent of London. And anytime a newspaper wants an article written on any city in the world by a traveller who can recommend 20 hotels to stay in, 20 restaurants to dine at, 20 unusual bus-stops, they call me. I�ve been there and done that!�

Of all his books, Wheeler says that the Lonely Planet guide to China must prove to be the most helpful to travellers. �It is easier to travel in, say, India,� he explains. �Even if you don�t speak Hindi or any of the regional languages, you can get by on English. But not in China. You won�t even be able to read the street signs that are in Chinese. And China is still a country where you can do some things and not do a lot of things. The Lonely Planet prepares you for that.� But as a guide book writer, it is countries like China that excite Wheeler the most. �I look for variety, for lots of different things, for exciting food, strange hotels, various experiences. I am always happy doing these things.�

Talking of the Lonely Planet again, he says that the edition on Australia sold perhaps the most. �Australia is a popular destination,� he says. �The other editions that sold well are India, Thailand, South-East Asia, these are all long-selling books, India has been a best-seller for many years.� Now the Lonely Planet is into city guides as well. It has done Goa, Kerala, New York, London, Paris. �These are more difficult and you can never tell how they will sell. Our Bombay guide, for example, did not do well. I think that�s because a lot of people come to Bombay, but they don�t stay here, they move on to other destinations in India from here.�

Personally, Tony Wheeler says his wife, Maureen, is still his favourite travel companion. They love travelling incognito so that the hotels they stay in don�t recognise them and roll out the red carpet. And when they travel, Tony Wheeler�s big thrill is to walk around airports and see what travel guide the other passengers are buying at the bookshops or referring to in the waiting lounge. �I think the Lonely Planet helps a traveller to understand and appreciate his destination better if he is informed about its culture, religion, food, people, music,� he says.