Media & PR Update July 2024

Inside Lonely Planet’s Guide to Death, Grief and Rebirth, dark travel expert Anita Isalska takes readers on a journey into 35 fascinating customs that reveal the different ways in which people approach life's one certainty: death. This book is divided into four key chapters: Celebrating, Commemorating, Mourning, and Offering. Within these chapters, readers will discover resting places, burials, rituals, and symbols associated with death throughout history, imparting valuable lessons on how to live (and die) well.

Since the release of this beautiful and vibrant coffee table book in July, Lonely Planet’s Guide to Death, Grief and Rebirth has garnered widespread media attention, with author Anita Isalska making appearances on a number of well-known broadcast channels worldwide. In Australia, Isalska appeared on ABC Melbourne Radio (1:19:00), ABC Life Matters, and ABC Sydney (3:38:00). In the US, Suswati Basu from the How to Be Podcast interviewed Isalska on the new release and the grief customs featured within the book. In the UK, Isalska appeared on BBC Scotland and BBC East Midlands.

In a review by Publisher’s Weekly, the book was described as: “An eye-opening tour of the varied ways cultures grapple with what lies beyond. Readers will be glad to take the trip." In the June issue of Prima Magazine, the book got featured under their travel book recommendations. Anita Isalska also wrote articles about Lonely Planet’s Guide to Death, Grief and Rebirth for the New Zealand Herald and Prevention Australia.

Offbeat North America

Lonely Planet’s Offbeat North America inspires readers to explore off the beaten path, supplying 100 exciting alternatives to North America’s most over-touristed destinations. Packed with practical information to help begin planning the trip of a lifetime, this book offers unique insights from local voices and first-timer tips for everyone looking to travel and discover the unexpected.

A follow up from Lonely Planet’s hugely successful Offbeat, this latest edition has seen a wide variety of media coverage since its release in May. Lonely Planet’s Nitya Chambers appeared on New York Living and WYNC-FM’s All Of It discussing the best last minute vacation destinations featured in the book. 

Australian publication’s Paramatta Times, Luxury Travel Magazine and the Sunday Star Times all published articles on Offbeat North America. The Larry Meiller Show and The Boston Globe did exclusive interviews with Nitya Chamber’s on this latest release.

Offbeat North America received an amazing review in the July Life+Style issue of Library Journal: 

“In the introduction to this guide, journalist Anita Isalska emphasizes the dangers from excessive tourism to the sustainability of national parks specifically and to the environment at large. As an effort to illuminate that issue, the book presents a selection of 100 destinations in North America that offer scenic beauty, recreational opportunities, or cultural attractions free of the crowds and traffic commonplace at more popular vacation spots. Highlighting unique activities, local cuisine, and quirky folk art, this guide provides advice for reaching each location and the best seasons for visiting, travel and safety tips, and plenty of enticing photos. The descriptions of each destination urge readers to think more creatively about the opportunities these off-the-beaten-path locales offer: the low-on-light-pollution Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan, for example, makes for stellar stargazing, whereas Alaska’s Dalton Highway gives adventure seekers a route to the Arctic Circle.

VERDICT An inspiring and helpful resource for vacation planning. From the sci-fi geological formations of Oregon’s John Day Region to the islands of Vermont’s Lake Champlain, the sites in this title offer something for every preference.”

- Sara Shreve