(Photo from gramedia.tumblr.com)

This book actually contains helpful information, but it's 474 pages thick. It's not heavy, but it is thick, so it would be quite bulky when put inside a bag. As a plus, it contains tips and experiences from the author in 20 different countries. I feel that Indonesian people tend to make books with mixed contents-- take this book as an example. The book contains tips and also travel memoirs of the author; why not make a specialized book of just travel tips instead of mixing them up? 

I'm guessing that Indonesian people may say, "What? This is only a travel tips book and I pay this amount of money just for travel tips? What a ripoff!" or something along those lines. So it has to be mixed up with something so people feel that oh I'm paying this amount of money for a lot of information! But sometimes you don't really need all that information.

Imported travel guidebooks tend to be more well-designed than its local counterparts, and as a consequence, is also more expensive. Ada barang ada harga :')

The most common brand of imported travel guidebooks here is Lonely Planet. They sell many kinds of travel books: guides to a certain city, guides to a certain country, guides to a certain continent, compilation of travel guides, predictions of popular spots, and many others. They also sell a travel tips guidebook, similar to what I am trying to make, minus the illustrations.

Lonely Planet's Best Ever Travel Tips, authored by Tom Hall, is a portable small travel tips book that contains travel tips divided into 10 chapters. It contains tips on packing, money, health, etc; similar to what I intend to make. However, there are aspects of the book that I do not quite agree with, or would like to improve, such as the red hole, which is quite useless other than reducing the effective text/info area in the book. If you attach a baggage strap tag into the hole, you won't be able to read the book, and since it's a small book, it's much more convenient to just put it in your bag and take it out whenever you want to read it.

I do not wish to redesign the book, because they already have a good design. I want to create an illustrated book so I can use pictures to lessen text usage, and just because the book doesn't have illustrations doesn't mean it's bad; some people might like books better without illustrations, but I want to use illustrations so travelers can use the book on the go and grasp information immediately without having to thoroughly read a whole passage of text.

Other than adding illustrations, I also feel that travelers should be given space to add their own tips, so it would be nice to make the book personalized to each traveler's needs.

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For the thesis, I have to make a total of 7 chapters in 4 months. Yes, 4 months. One semester is 6 months, but we have to finish by early June and we only started consulting our supervisors on the last week of February. Right now (April 1st actually), I have submitted 4 chapters that contain Introduction, Theoretical Foundation, Problem Analysis, and Strategy & Approach for thesis pre defence. And then next week on Wednesday, I'll present my thesis progress to three examiners who will then decide whether my thesis is doable, passable, or etc etc.

Wish me luck!!

Cheers

Bella