Why Guide Notes Are Different
Guide Notes aren’t like any other guidebook. We hesitate to even call them a guidebook. Our books are thoughtful notes from a knowledgeable guide that are beautifully organized. We are committed to helping you design a great adventure and we think we’ve made a better guidebook for outdoor adventures. If you haven’t seen Guide Notes yet, here are a few things that make our books different.
Real People. Real Knowledge.
We don’t use any AI writing or stock images. It’s all us! Every adventure was completed by someone intimately familiar with the area. Most people have explored the route many times and tested alternative routes to know the pros and cons of all the options. We don’t allow authors to start writing until they complete the adventure to take notes and photos for the Guide Notes. If they haven’t done it, they can’t write about it (this is not the standard for most guidebooks or online resources). Guide Notes are also edited and laboriously fact-checked.
Focus
Guide Notes focus on a specific adventure. We’ve found that general information is good for inspiration, but it is not enough detail to actually plan an adventure. With Guide Notes, you get 30+ pages of hyper-specific information about one location. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive resource that meets the high standard of operating manuals for guided trips. We professionally designed and led multi-week outdoor adventures and created Guide Notes to give you the confidence to lead others on an adventure in a new area. Curation + Confidence is a magic recipe for encouraging adventures.
Optionality
We balance focus with optionality. Although we describe a primary route, we recognize the importance and value of creating your own adventure. We carefully design the information to give you the tools to make decisions that work best for you and your group. Guide Notes include alternative routes and suggestions for modifying the route. This might be the most valuable aspect of the book. We share our process, not just what we recommend, but why.
Ease
People say that just the resource page is worth the cost of Guide Notes. Forget navigating dozens of tabs in your internet browser. We put everything in one place, and you can trust that the information is accurate..
Digital First. Physical Ready.
Guide Notes are a digital-first publication. This means you can search the book, click links, zoom maps, photos, and text, and download it to your phone (or computer). We’ve also formatted the book with an unusual page size to make it easy to print at home. If you want to unplug on your adventure, simply print the pages you need and take them with you. Additional perks of being digital first are that we can make updates/edits more quickly and keep the cost low for you.
Cost
The digital version of the Guide Notes costs less than a post-adventure beer or ice cream cone. That’s more money for adventures! You get the information you need immediately and don’t pay extra for irrelevant information, printing, or shipping. All this fits our mission to make adventures more accessible for everyone. Printed books are available for some Guide Notes.
Responsible Travel
Our passion is helping more people get outside and go on responsible adventures. We take this seriously. Guide Notes takes a holistic approach to preparing you for your next adventure. We encourage you to be prepared, be knowledgeable, and respect others and nature. With better preparation, we believe we can be less extractive, travel more sustainably, and have a positive impact on the places we visit.
Check it out and let us know if we’ve designed a better guidebook for outdoor adventures. Where’s your next adventure?