Backpack & Budget : Student Guidebook Series Expand

Guidebooks for Thailand, Austria and Ireland have been added to the popular “Let’s Go:” budget travel series.

The series started with a 20-page mimeographed pamphlet in 1960. It was handed out to passengers on charter flights by representatives of Harvard Student Agencies, a then-3-year-old nonprofit corporation established to provide employment to Harvard and Radcliffe students.

Today, “Let’s Go:” publishes 20 titles covering travel in 36 countries, and Harvard Student Agencies has become the largest student-run corporation in America, with more than 1,200 student employees.

Last year, students at the University of California at Berkeley, in cooperation with the Associated Students organization at the school, launched a similar style of travel guidebook series, called “On the Loose.” They have updated their first four guides: “California” (including Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon; $16.50), “Mexico” ($16.50), “The Pacific Northwest and Alaska” ($14.50) and “Eastern Europe” ($17.50). New for this year are editions covering “Central America” ($16.50), “France” ($16.50), “Germany” ($16.50), “Great Britain and Ireland” ($16.50) and “San Francisco and the Bay Area” ($12.50). The series is published by Fodor’s Travel Publications, Inc.

“Let’s Go:” guidebooks are researched by students on student-style budgets. Early in the spring, 85 researcher/writers begin intensive training that prepares them for seven-week trips where they visit hotels, restaurants and sightseeing venues, checking prices and quality of the establishment.

Over the years, these travelers have encountered more challenges than expected. Researchers have reported being chased by amorous camels in the Sinai, attacked by neo-Nazis in Berlin, and bitten by reindeer in Finland. One researcher wound up sharing a seat on an Egyptian long-distance bus with a corpse.

But the final product is a series of guidebooks that are current and that contain the type of information most helpful to independent budget travelers. Everything from where to stay, how to get around, what to see, when to go and who to contact in an emergency.

It’s important to buy and study any guide before you head abroad.

The new “Let’s Go: Thailand” (544 pages; $15.99) is packed with helpful details and advice on everything from hill-tribe trekking to where you can find more than 20 guest houses in Bangkok for less than $4 per night.

For example, the ancient northern Thai city of Chiang Mai is exotic and interesting at any time of the year, but if you plan your visit between April 13 and 16, you’ll be in time for Songkran, the unusual celebration of the astrological New Year, when everyone takes to drenching each other with water.

Ko Samui, the third-largest island in Thailand is, according to “Let’s Go:”, “a sun-worshiper’s mecca . . . Ko Samui’s beaches attract everyone from backpackers to billionaires the world over.”

Again, “Let’s Go:” teaches that timing is important. According to the book, “From March to July, the prices bottom out, the seas are the most placid, and Ko Samui is a true backpackers’ island paradise.”