Journeys: Maureen and Tony Wheeler – A Life of Travel and Impact

Travel is a unique way of bringing people together, opening hearts and minds, and revealing the shared humanity in unfamiliar places. But few people have shaped the way we explore the world as profoundly as Maureen and Tony Wheeler, co-founders of Lonely Planet. Hosted by the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development, opened by Sergei Guriev, Dean and Professor of Economics of London Business School, and moderated by Rajesh Chandy, Professor of Marketing at LBS, Tony and Maureen Wheeler Chair in Entrepreneurship and Co-Academic Director of the Wheeler Institute, we welcomed back Maureen (LBS Honorary Fellow 2011) and Tony Wheeler (LBS MSc05 1972) to London Business School, who shared their remarkable story, discussed their entrepreneurial path, the birth of Lonely Planet, and their ongoing legacy in global development.

From Park Benches to the Hippie Trail

It all began on a park bench in Regent’s Park in 1971, just across from London Business School’s Sussex Place campus. Tony, then an LBS student, struck up a conversation with Maureen, an Irish backpacker who was reading Tolstoy. One year later to the day, on 7 October 1972, they married and set off in a £65 second-hand minivan towards Afghanistan with a dream of travelling the world.

Their route, part of the now-famous “Hippie Trail,” across Iran, India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia, was not always glamorous. Maureen recounted moments of charm and challenge, from fixing the near-broken minivan in a snowy day and making a £5 profit selling it off in Afghanistan, to surviving 16 days at sea on a concrete yacht running low on food, water, and fuel. “The only food left was tinned asparagus, creamed corn, and Christmas pudding,” she said, laughing.

But those early experiences planted a seed: With curiosity to explore and resilience to deal with unpredictability, anyone could experience the richness of the diverse cultures and scenery the world has to offering.

The Birth of a Global Travel Phenomenon

Upon reaching Sydney with little savings left, the couple found themselves repeatedly answering the same questions from fellow travellers: “How did you do it? Where did you go? How much did it cost?” Tony’s experience editing a university newspaper and Maureen’s practical ingenuity sparked the idea to write a guidebook.

Their first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, was a 96-page guide written on borrowed typewriters, hand-cut with a guillotine, and stapled together in the evenings—then sold to local bookstores. This self-published, do-it-yourself effort quickly gained momentum. A feature in a local newspaper led to television coverage and growing public interest. Soon, demand surged.

That modest booklet marked the birth of Lonely Planet, a brand that would sell over 150 million books and shape the journeys of millions of travellers across the globe.

Scaling the Dream

From the outset, Lonely Planet was deeply entrepreneurial. “We were the writers, editors, publishers, marketers, and sales team,” Maureen noted. A defining moment came in 1977, when the couple spent months researching and producing the guide to India—an ambitious 1,000-page publication that sold over 100,000 copies and catapulted Lonely Planet into a new phase of growth.

Their strategy wasn’t guided by boardrooms or business plans, but by empathy and experience. They were producing books they themselves would want to use. As Tony said, “We had done it, so we understood what travellers needed.”

They expanded rapidly, bringing on other writers and incorporating regional guides. At a time when major publishers dismissed travel as niche, Lonely Planet became the go-to source for independent, immersive exploration.

Changes and a New Chapter

Of course, the journey wasn’t always smooth. From navigating unanticipated shocks such as the dissolution of Soviet Union and the SARS pandemic in China, the Wheelers faced the challenges of adapting to changes while scaling the business. Maureen described how the couple partnered together as a team, “Tony was the architect, and I was the carpenter. He had the vision, and I made sure it worked.”

While they continued to scale and adapt the business, building pioneering online forums like Thorn Tree, venturing into early digital publishing with platforms like PalmPilot, the Wheeler recognised the right timing to let go. By 2007, the couple sold Lonely Planet to BBC, “Whatever you do, it has to be your love,” Tony said, understanding that the digital future of publishing required a new kind of leadership. “We could see the world changing, and we wanted to pursue new passions.”

Impact Beyond Travel

Even before selling the business, the Wheelers had turned their attention toward philanthropy. In 1987, they launched the Lonely Planet Foundation (later renamed the Planet Wheeler Foundation), supporting grassroots projects in the same countries they wrote about. From education in Uganda to healthcare in South Asia, their philanthropic philosophy has always cantered on empowering those already doing meaningful work on the ground.

This spirit continues through the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development at London Business School, which builds on their passions, empowers doing good through business, applies rigorous research and education to tackle development challenges, particularly in emerging markets.

In a fast-changing world with tensions and conflicts, the Wheelers’ story is a reminder that meaningful journeys—whether across continents or across industries—are built on passion, persistence, and partnership. The Wheelers’ journey was a love story, a travel diary, a business case, and a masterclass in humility—all rolled into one. The legacy of Lonely Planet lives on not just in books, but in the hundreds of places and millions of lives it touched—and in the mission-driven work of the Institute at London Business School that proudly bears the Wheelers’ name.

Speakers

About the writer