Editing Lonely Planet (section)

===20th century===
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple [[Maureen Wheeler|Maureen]] and [[Tony Wheeler]]. In 1972, they embarked on an overland trip through Europe and Asia to Australia following the route of the [[Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition]].<ref name=bailey>{{cite web|url=http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/97083.html |title=Asia's overland route |date=20 July 2006 |publisher=[[LiveJournal]] |access-date=5 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224071023/http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/97083.html |archive-date=24 February 2012 }}</ref><ref name=MacLean>{{cite book |title=Magic bus: on the hippie trail from Istanbul to India |last=MacLean |first=Rory |author-link=Rory MacLean |year=2007 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-14-101595-8}}</ref>

The company name originates from the [[Mondegreen|misheard]] "lovely planet" in a song written by [[Matthew Moore]].<ref name=Wheeler1>{{cite book |title=Unlikely Destinations: The Lonely Planet Story |last1=Wheeler |first1=Tony |last2=Wheeler |first2=Maureen |author-link2=Maureen Wheeler |year=2007 |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing|Periplus Editions]] |isbn=978-0-7946-0523-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/unlikelydestinat00tony }}</ref> Lonely Planet's first book, ''Across Asia on the Cheap'',<ref name=fundinguniverse>{{cite web |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Lonely-Planet-Publications-Pty-Ltd-Company-History.html |title=Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. |publisher=fundinguniverse.com |access-date=5 March 2011}}</ref> had 94 pages; it was written by the couple in their home.<ref name="Car">{{cite news|title=Journey's end for the guidebook gurus?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/oct/07/escape.travelbooks|access-date=26 May 2014|newspaper=The Observer|date=7 October 2007|author=Carole Cadwalladr}}</ref> The original 1973 print run consisted of stapled booklets<ref name="Emily">{{cite news|title=A Lonely Planet Founder Looks Back|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/travel/a-lonely-planet-founder-looks-back.html|access-date=26 May 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 June 2013|author=Emily Brennan}}</ref> with pale blue cardboard covers.<ref>[https://www.publishinghistory.com/lonely-planet-guides.html Lonely Planet Guides – Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 21 February 2021.</ref>

Wheeler returned to [[Asia]] to write ''Across Asia on the Cheap: A Complete Guide to Making the Overland Trip'', published in 1975.<ref name="Wheeler1975">{{cite book|author=Tony Wheeler|title=Across Asia on the Cheap: A Complete Guide to Making the Overland Trip|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9FENHQAACAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Lonely Planet Publications|isbn=978-0-9598080-2-5}}</ref>

The Lonely Planet guide book series initially expanded to cover other countries in Asia, with the India guide book in 1981,<ref name=Steves>{{cite web |url=http://www.ricksteves.com/radio/archive.htm#115 |title=Tony Wheeler's "Lonely Planet" |first=Rick |last=Steves |author-link=Rick Steves |date=24 November 2007 |publisher=ricksteves.com |access-date=24 November 2007}}</ref> and expanded to the rest of the world later.<ref name="Out">{{cite web |author=Charles Bethea |date=27 March 2014 |title=The 25-Year-Old at the Helm of Lonely Planet |url=http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/The-25-Year-Old-at-the-Helm-of-Lonely-Planet.html |access-date=26 May 2014 |work=Outside Magazine}}</ref> [[Geoff Crowther]] was renowned for frequently inserting his opinions into the text of the guides he wrote. His writing was instrumental to the rise of Lonely Planet. The journalist used the term "Geoffness", in tribute to Crowther,{{clarify|date=June 2023}} to describe a quality that has been lost in travel guides.<ref name="Car" />

By 1999, Lonely Planet had sold 30 million copies of its travel guides. The company's authors consequently benefited from profit-sharing and expensive events were held at the Melbourne office, at which Lonely Planet authors would arrive in limousines.<ref name="Out" />