Put your son apprentice to a shoemaker, there is little doubt of his learning to make a pair of shoes; but send him to study the law, it is at least twenty to one if ever he makes such proficiency as will enable him to live by the business.Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations Book One Chapter X Part I)
As I struggle to be the one in twenty, Wikitravel provides a welcome respite from the daily grind with information on travelling to all sorts of places in this wonderful world. That is one of the things I like best about Wikitravel: it is extremely comprehensive and covers the most godforsaken shitholes in the world. It is also very up to date. As someone who is not an experienced traveller, I also appreciate it for its precise, step-by-step details - see, for example, the guide on entering
Gaza. (The things I like about Wikitravel are basically the things I like about Wikipedia.)
And of course, as a user edited site, Wikitravel is full of wonderful quirky notes, sometimes resulting from one editor adding his own experience to someone else's. For example, a couple of editors had this to say of a resort at
Nuweiba: 'Soft Beach's management seemed to be in flux recently, and basic facilities were in disrepair. The cabin hotel has one bathroom of around 4 stalls each per gender for up to 50 guests, which were in a major state of decrepitude in April 2009. Likewise, the cabins had rodents, uncomfortable and short sleeping mats, and large un-mended holes in the mosquito nets.
But smoke their weed, snort their blow or absorb Achmed's special rectally and the surroundings will be the least of your worries.'
