US travel writer Arthur Frommer, known for the guidebook Europe on 5 Dollars a Day and other titles on budget travel, has died aged 95. Frommer began his journalism career while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army during the 1950s.

“Throughout his remarkable life, Arthur Frommer democratized travel, showing average Americans how anyone can afford to travel widely and better understand the world,” his daughter and co-author Pauline wrote in her statement on the Frommer’s website.

Frommer was the founder of Frommer’s guidebooks – a series of travel books that included planning and travel tips to destinations around the globe. The series began with Europe on 5 Dollars a Day – one of his first publications, which came out in 1957 and sold millions of copies.

The book described how average Americans could afford to take trips that many thought were only accessible to the wealthy.

“This is a book for American tourists who a) own no oil wells in Texas, b) are unrelated to the Aga Khan, c) have never struck it rich in Las Vegas and who still want to enjoy a wonderful European vacation,” he wrote in the original guidebook.

Frommer was drafted during the Korean War. He was sent to Europe and served in Germany because of his language skills. While deployed, he wrote what would be his first travel guidebook for his fellow service members, The GI’s Guide to Travelling in Europe.

As well as a writer, Frommer was a TV and radio host whose work helped shape others’ approach to travel.

In one essay, Frommer wrote that travel “broadens our lives”.

“Travel has taught me that despite all the exotic differences in dress and language, of political and religious beliefs, that all the world’s people are essentially alike,” he wrote. “We all have the same urges and concerns, we all yearn for the same goals.”