Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Calendar 2010

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I really like the Lonely Planet wall calendars and look forward to getting them every year. However, this calendar is NOT in the picture-a-day format that previous ones have been. It's just one big picture with description, a small map, and 3 small pictures. I hope they will publish another calendar in the picture-a-day format that is so interesting to see. Find a way to look at the back to see if you like the pictures before you buy this calendar. I returned mine.

I've bought the Lonely Planet Picture-a-Day calendars for the past two years, and having shown them to friends (everybody loved them), a friend of mine bought the 2008 edition for me. I am severely disappointed with it. This is not a Picture-a-Day calendar, which is really what made previous editions the only calendar I ever wanted to buy again and again. This calendar features one large photo per month, with 2-5 additional small photos at the top and bottom of the pages. Some formatting is similar to that of previous Picture-a-Day calendars: each month includes a short description of the country, a regional map to locate it and photo captions. However, the captions for the photos are somewhat trite, in my opinion, compared to the more concise, matter-of-fact, non-opinionated captions in the previous picture-a-day calendars. My guess is that Lonely Planet is no longer making calendars through Workman Publishing (the company that does the picture-a-day calendars). If Lonely Planet does not publish a Picture-a-Day calendar for 2008, I will probably purchase the mega-marketed "1000 places to see before you die" picture-a-day calendar for 2008.

Having not seen this year's calendar it is likely that what I do not appreciate about this upcoming year's calendar may also not be in that one. The 2006 calendar has a photo on each day of every month. The 2008 calendar is ordinary - a large monthly photo and that's about it. I was and am very disappointed in this change.

My wife and I used to love Lonely Planet calendars. They used to have a photo for every day, so you had a lot to look at each month. Starting with their 2008 calendar, they decided to do things differently- now there are only a handful of photos for each month. If you're thinking of their old-style calendars when you buy this, you should click on the "Click to Look Inside" link and make sure that this calendar will meet your expectations before you buy it.

Workman Publishing is the publisher that used to make the LP calendars. They make photo-a-day calendars for Spain, Italy, France, and elsewhere. You can search for "365 days in calendar" on Amazon to see them. They're more monotonous than the LP calendar, which covers more than one country a year, but their photography is much better.

I've loved the Lonely Planet Calendar for the past 5 years. Each year there would be a different picture for every day of the year. This year's version (2008) somehow doesn't have this feature and just displays one large picture per month. Very cheesy!!

We should have read the reviews before purchasing on-line. Unlike all the previous years, the 2008 Lonely Planet is not a picture a day calendar. Alaska is one month and there are only 3 pictures for it. Also, the squares are smaller and thus we can't fit all our activities in this. We are going to switch to the 1,000 places calendar, but are sad. Now we know why we couldn't find "our" calendar anywhere in the stores. Not worth the price if you are used to the traditional.

At least there is more photos in the 2009 verses the 2008 calander, but I can't stand the Monday through Sunday weeks. This would be fine for an agenda or work calendar, but not a wall calendar. For the first few months, I've missed appointments, etc. and find it very frustrating to fill out. I won't buy another LP calendar unless they go back to Sunday through Saturday.

I agree with the other reviewer though I'm not sure why he suggested just the Country specific Picture a Day calendars when there is a worldwide version. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die Calendar 2009 (Picture-A-Day Wall Calendars) I prefer the photo-laden calendars. I browsed through both this one and the "1,000 Places to See Before you Die, Picture a day calender." Even though I am a hard core Lonely Planet fan, I highly prefer the "1,000 Places" calendar. It not only has a ton of pictures, but it also gives a suggested travel path for you to explore every month. I used that Calender last year and actually went on one of their suggested trips! The rest of the year it inspired awesome armchair traveling. This year I'm buying 4 copies (myself, my roommate, my boyfriend and my mom -to compliment her postcard collection). Get it instead, you'll love it.

BTW, Another great present for those <odd> folks in your life, The 2009 CounterTerrorism Calender published by the US department of State "This edition, like others since the Calendar was first published in a daily planner format in 2003, contains useful information across a wide range of terrorism-related topics: terrorist groups, wanted terrorists, and technical pages on various threat-related issues. The Calendar marks dates according to the Gregorian and Islamic calendars, and contains significant dates in terrorism history, as well as dates that terrorists may believe are important when planning "commemoration-style" attacks." Go to http://www.nctc.gov/site/index.html

Attention! This calendar is nothing like the previous editions! It's a very low quality product.

I do not recommend it!

I was so disappointed when lonely planet stopped the world picture a day calendar. None of the other picture a day calendars were as interesting or picturesque.

But this year I found that the 2010 Audobon world calendar Eco-travel has the format, subject matter, and features that I loved in the Old format lonely planet calendars As good as the original!