About Us
MySherpa Travel Pty Ltd (ABN 17 127 393 855) was founded by Peter Brady. It is a privately held, limited liability company based in Australia.
The wood from the trees - in your pocket
"The idea originated the day I took a box knife to my new, 850g, 5cm thick country guide to India. It broke my heart but got me thinking. When can I get my books the way I now get my music - what I want, when I want and completely portable? I had a brutal travel schedule at the time, travelling to multiple countries each trip. Weight and bulk weren’t the only things that frustrated me with travel information. I found using maps in my books painful but buying a paper spinnaker of a map locally was just as bad. I never liked the ‘rob me’ sign over my head and wasting time marking up all the places I was trying to find. Also lacking was good advice on shopping and the stuff on bars and restaurants was usually out of date. There are some good city guides but not beyond the largest cities. I thought there has to be a better model.
Like most people I turned to the internet. Detailed, up to date photo rich information. Free. It’s all there is you know where to look. The last time I went to Paris I stayed in a 2* hotel that 26 travellers said was terrific. It was. The wisdom of crowds. More helpful than three lines and no photos in a country guide. But the internet’s a zoo. It takes ages to sort the wood from the trees and it’s hard to summarise and take with you.
These issues fermented until the idea behind MySherpa emerged. Harvest the wisdom of crowds. Develop a ubiquitous series of inexpensive local pocket guides with good small maps, updated frequently. Bypass the stagnant publishing business model and go with the grain of the internet. Distill the quality information, then print in small runs. Sell on the internet, on planes and everywhere in that location."
Who/What is in a MySherpa guidebook?
MySherpa answers one question: 'What's good here?' We look at all the types of experience you can have during your trip.
How do we decide?
1/ Web research and popular opinion. There's a lot of very valuable information out there. Popular feedback, is the MySherpa starting point. If 20 people before you think something is good, we think that you might too.
2/ Published guides/articles - expert opinions. We read everything. We sort the wood from the trees.
3/ MySherpa view. We do our own research. A fresh, independent perspective, informed by some very knowledgeable locals. MySherpa seeks out and removes the weakest links. We hunt down and give away fresh secrets. You can't buy your way into a MySherpa guide. We don't take kickbacks, referral fees, expect special treatment or return favors. You know the kind of thing. No celebrity authors.
Founder profile
Peter Brady has had a 20 year career working as an management consultant in the UK & Australia. His focus since 2000 has been alliances, growth strategies and early stage venture development. His most recent role was as Senior Director, Asia Pacific Alliances for Accenture. He is an Oxford University graduate and holds a Masters in Business Administration from London Business School.
