Field
Trips.

Lonely Planet came to Early Spring looking to expand their experiential footprint. The brief was to take fifty years of editorial authority, and a newly launched app, and translate it into something people could physically step into.

Guidebooks built their authority by sending people past the obvious and toward the people who actually shape a place. That instinct works as a format. Applied to a single neighborhood it becomes a route, with a narrative thread running through it and a cast of characters along the way.

Field Trips. A three to four hour deep dive into one neighborhood, seen through a single lens. Each route is co-led by a Lonely Planet editor and a local guide, and built around introductions to the chefs, artists, bartenders, shopkeepers and archivists who give the place its character. The format is designed to run anywhere, from a major metro to a small town.

The pilot ran in Red Hook, Brooklyn on July 17, co-hosted by Lonely Planet Senior Editorial Director Brekke Fletcher and NYC guide and comedian Tom Delgado, for a hand-picked group of writers, creators and friends of the brand. The route became a full Lonely Planet article, live on the site and in the app, alongside a social package profiling Red Hook locals.