When the guidebook was your GPS
Revisiting the world’s greatest destinations through the eyes of a vintage guidebook – comparing then, now and everything in between.
What Is Retro Tripper?
Retro Tripper is a travel site with a time machine. Armed with a stack of vintage guidebooks, Dusty Guidebooks revisits the destinations of the past — comparing what travellers were told to expect in the 80s, 90s and 00s with the reality of those places today. Part nostalgia trip, part travel guide, part cultural time capsule — Retro Tripper is for anyone who remembers when getting lost was part of the adventure, maps were made of paper, and the guidebook in your backpack was your only companion.
Meet Dusty Guidebooks
Dusty Guidebooks is your guide through time. Armed with a Walkman, a weathered backpack and an obsessive collection of vintage travel guides, Dusty has one mission — to find out what happened to the places the guidebooks promised us. Part time traveller, part cultural detective, always slightly bewildered by the modern world he keeps landing in.
The Guidebook Vault
Every journey starts with a guidebook. These are Dusty’s most prized possessions — each one a portal to a different time and place. Click a cover to step inside.
Coming Soon
More destinations coming soon…
Coming Soon
More destinations coming soon…
Before Your Phone Told You Where To Go
There was a time when travel meant folded maps, phone boxes and trusting a stranger’s directions. When your guidebook was your only companion and getting lost was part of the adventure. No TripAdvisor, no Google Maps, no Instagram to tell you where to eat. Just you, the open road and a dog-eared book full of someone else’s recommendations. That’s the world Retro Tripper celebrates.
Latest From The Vault
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