This talk presents a concept for a "Lonely Planet" travel guide to the commons as part of an organizing strategy. The concept of "the commons" is strange to most people – but, not at all unfamiliar to travelers who have an open mind and eventually bump into something on a vacation that money can't buy. Still, with so many privatized and commercialized places and properties in cities and far-flung rural areas around the world, many people lack the vocabulary or guidance to do anything with that feeling. I estimate that only a few hundred intellectuals are familiar with the commons in history or theory; we write and lecture about the shared and non-exclusive resources like grazing lands for cattle (in ancient times and today) or even photos and videos produced for fair use by all (Creative Commons). This is something that my late professor Erik Olin Wright explored in his work on "Real Utopias" as a larger frame for social progress towards equity and justice, and my elder David Bollier has produced popular writing for self-identifying "commoners," but I've yet to see work interpret or translate the importance of the commons for a large swath of the public – for example, everyday tourists or consumers who might support some kind of true stewardship. As a companion to another paper presentation on "Not-Commons," a satirical photo album of 'commons'-branded enclosed spaces and private property all around us, this talk looks forward with a positive, uplifting guidebook to the real, actually-existing commons around the world.
