Globe Corner Blogs

To Hellholes and Back

Allow me to repeat myself: Chuck Thompson is coming to the Globe Corner Bookstore! Author of Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer, Thompson will read from his latest book, To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism. The event will take place on Tuesday, January 19th at 6pm in the bookstore. Not only will Chuck read, but he will also answer questions and chat with the audience about travel and writing.

I will admit that here at the Globe,  Chuck (we like to think we’re on a first name basis) has attained something akin to cult figure status. Smile is among the few books the entire staff has read – and loved. Hellholes is quickly following suit. For a staff who has blogged about *hearting* Chuck and even interviewed him, this is a very exciting moment. We hope you’ll join us and join the fan club!

Chuck Thompson’s books are not for the faint of heart…or stomach. But anyone who has traveled past their city lines will appreciate his commentary on the highs and lows of travel. His first book,  Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer, is a favorite of the GCB staff. His upcoming book due in December, To Hellholes and Back, promises to be equally popular. Chuck was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about his travel, his books, and his taste in beer.

1. Do you prefer aisle or window? (Please explain.)

Aisle always, avoiding at all costs the trays-down imprisonment of slow post-meal and beverage-service pickup.

2. The subtitle of To Hellholes and Back is “bribes, lies, and the art of extreme tourism.” Could you give us your definition of “extreme tourism“?

“Extreme tourism” is often associated with space tourism or living in a grass hut in Papua New Guinea for a month. But if your idea of a good time is hanging out in grass huts, what’s so extreme about that? Extreme travel, to me, is anything that takes you out of your comfort zone — physically, intellectually, emotionally. That’s why both the Congo and Disney presented me with “extreme” opportunities. I didn’t want anything to do with either one.

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Hearting Chuck Thompson--photo by Llalan

Any human alive — or any alien familiar with the John Cusack oeuvre — knows the pain of crushes: the sleepless nights, the appetite loss, the general degeneration into a love-lorn automaton capable of nothing more than boring the bejesus out of all his friends with painfully detailed rehashings of eye contact near-misses. What is worst of all (if you are the crushed, not their friends) is the fact that most crushes remain, for all eternity, unrequited.

And this is why we love Mr. Thompson.

We can’t say that our adoration of the man behind Smile When You’re Lying is returned with the same intensity and fervor, or that he speaks of us with the same breathless exuberance that causes us to trip over words and fall in paroxysms of laughter that end in unfortunate snorts.

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Smile When You’re Lying is not your average travelogue. It’s way better. Chuck Thompson reveals the not-so-glossy reality behind the travel writing and tourism industries with hilarious rants and anecdotes about his misadventures overseas and in the business back home. Below are Nicole and Llalan’s top reasons for *hearting* Chuck Thompson: Continue Reading »