The fruits of last year’s labor, in the form of Lonely Planet’s Egypt guide, is due on store shelves in a couple of weeks. And while you’re waiting for my masterpiece to arrive, the savvy folks at Lonely Planet have made the full text of the book available in PDF, through its clever “Pick & Mix” program. So if you’re just going to Cairo, by all means, pick up my chapter for just $6. Then you can print it out and have it bound at Kinko’s, and have your own stealth guidebook.

(I recommend printing four pages to a single sheet of 8.5 x 11, then getting it spiral-bound with some blank sheets in the back for your own notes. Add a Moleskine-style piece of elastic and a pocket in the back, and you’re so ready to roll. Costs about $5. Oh, and print out several full-size copies of each map, so you can fold them up and mark them up as you like. There–I’ve just given all my trade secrets away.)

Even if you don’t do any of that, you can preview the Cairo chapter here, and read my introduction. It’s the first place I’ve gotten to use the word ‘snot’ in print. A personal victory.