I have lived and vacationed in several countries with the Lonely Planet guides, and have always found them extremely helpful. With this new guide, “Lonely Planet’s Best of Travel 2009: 850 Trends, Destinations, Trips and Experiences for the Year Ahead,” I found it very enjoyable for several reasons.

I always liked that the Lonely Planet guides had a lot of information about the places I lived or visited. However, sometimes I wish they had more color photos, like some of the other travel guides available. With this “Best In Travel 2009” guide, there is no depth to each country like country-specific guides, but interesting places from around the world. And this book is full of colorful images.

It is a beautifully designed book with dozens of magnificent photographs. Combine the photos with the brief descriptions of places around the world and you have a great coffee table book and text that will inspire you to plan your next travel adventure. What I enjoy most about this book is that it helps generate ideas of places to go and things I want to do.

The book is full of chalk lists. Top 10 countries, top 10 regions, top 10 cities, etc. I don’t know if I agree with the top 10 in each of these categories, and maybe you don’t either, but that doesn’t matter. Use the book to inspire you to travel to new places and generate ideas and possibilities. Even if you don’t travel to the places listed, you’ll be more aware of what’s out there and the places that are available to explore. If you like to travel, you will enjoy looking for ideas in this book.