But potential researchers should not expect much pay in return for their sore feet and upset stomachs, Let's Go editors say. Few make any surplus from the flat rate Let's Go gives them for their expenses, even when it is as much as $2400. Those touring in Scandinavia and the U.S. have actually reported losing money on this summer venture.

Managers, however, hope to avoid these losses this year by instituting a per diem salary system which would vary with the region's cost of living. Airfare and travel will also be included for the first time this year.

But the editors say they also want to avoid offering researchers too comfortable a financial situation. "We try to make sure that they'll have just enough to get by on--because we want it to be a realistic guide for travelers on a budget," says Whitlock.

The Let's Go series caters to the college-aged budget traveler, and accordingly it sells especially well at stores like the Coop. "The marketing figures are astronomical for us and buyers I've talked to at Dartmouth and the University of Washington, where they have similarly sized stores," says George Stephens, a buyer for the Coop.

The collection's publisher, St Martin's Press, also handles its advertising and distribution. Cities with large student populations--like Boston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles--are Let's Go's strongest markets, according to publicist Maryann Mazzola.

Most Let's Go buyers choose this guide--which costs either $8.95 or $7.95--because friends who have used it recommend it. But St. Martin's also invests in an extensive advertising campaign, relying heavily on radio spots on FM rock stations and advertisements in college newspapers to each consumers.

In addition to stressing the books' annual updating and emphasis on budget accomodations, another selling point is its student-oriented writing style.

As the radio commercial puts it, "Let's Go--the only travel guide written for students by students."

Many researchers see the writing, which they send into HSA's Thayer Hall office in installments every ten days, as the greatest challenge on the road.

"I found the most interesting part was trying to perfect the prose. I would spend hours on it every night--what an ego trip to begin writing and have all these people take an interest," says Jeffrey M. Rosen '86, who spent last summer canvassing France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

"It's amazing because every single person who's under 30 carries this orange book [Let's Go Europe] around. Some of them would ask me to autograph them," Rosen says.

At the same time, though, writing and especially being edited, can be frustrating. Maria A Agui '86, who spent much of last summer in the Deep South, says, "I wrote about things to the editors about the lingering prejudice but a lot of it didn't get in."

Other past researchers and editors expressed similar concerns about what material was appropriate for a travel guide of this type.

Some say they feel the guide should reflect the "explore the world and experience" attitude. "A lot of people on the staff fit the counter-culture image of the 60's--they've taken time off from this place and are willing to sacrifice and live cheaply just to be in a different country," says researcher and editor Gideon A. Schor '84-5.

Rosen says he sees a "dichotomy among the current researchers, between the diehard hippies and the more lavish travelers."