TO HELLHOLES AND BACKBribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism
The guru of extreme tourism sets out to face his worst fears in Africa, India, Mexico City, and—most terrifying of all—at Disney World
In the widely-acclaimed Smile When You’re Lying, Chuck Thompson laid bare the travel industry’s dirtiest secrets. Now he’s out to discover if some of the world’s most ill-reputed destinations live up to their bad raps, while confronting a few of his own travel anxieties in the process. Whether he’s traveling across the Congo with a former bodyguard from notorious dictator Joseph Mobutu’s retinue or diving into the heart of India’s monsoon season, To Hellholes and Back delivers Thompson’s trademark combination of hilarious stories and wildly provocative opinions, as well as some surprising observations about America’s evolving place in the world.
Praise For To Hellholes and Back:
"Riveting, hilarious, and wildly entertaining."—Booklist
"His observations are sharp and honest. A witty, provocative tale that … packs in plenty of local flavor and amusing anecdotes."—Kirkus
"[From] the original rogue travel writer…. Well-written, funny, and fast-paced.… It's refreshing to read a travel writer who eschews all the ‘sun-dappled vista’-style prose and tells it like it is."—Jaunted.com
"Extremely irreverent."—Outside
"Thompson is without doubt, a funny guy ... a tour de force á la Eat, Pray, Love, only with snarky commentary."—BraveNewTraveler
"Funnier than Smile While You're Lying. ... (Thompson's) incisive observations and biting sense of humor make for some riveting reading."—Denver Post
SMILE WHEN YOU'RE LYINGConfessions of a Rogue Travel Writer
From Bangkok to Bogotá, a hilarious behind-the-brochures tour of picture-perfect locales, dangerous destinations, and overrated hellholes from a guy who knows the truth about travel.
Travel writer, editor, and photographer Chuck Thompson has spent more than a decade traipsing through thirty-five (and counting) countries across the globe, and he’s had enough. Enough of the half-truths demanded by magazine editors, enough of the endlessly recycled clichés regarded as good travel writing, and enough of the ugly secrets fiercely guarded by the travel industry. But mostly, he’s had enough of returning home from assignments and leaving the most interesting stories and the most provocative insights on the editing-room floor. From getting swindled in Thailand to running afoul of customs inspectors in Belarus, from defusing hostile Swedish rockers backstage in Germany to a closed-door meeting with travel execs telling him why he’s about to be fired once again, Thompson’s no-holds-barred style is refreshing, invigorating, and all those other adjectives travel writers use to describe spa vacations where the main attraction is a daily colonic.
Smile When You’re Lying takes readers on an irresistible series of adventures in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and beyond; details the effects of globalization on the casual traveler and ponders the future of travel as we know it; and offers up a treasure trove of travel-industry secrets collected throughout a decidedly speckled career.
Praise For Smile When You're Lying:
"(Thompson) knows the score and he tallies it accurately. ... A dead-on demolition job. ... The book is a savagely funny act of revenge."—The New York Times
"Impassioned, funny, and uniquely honest."—Esquire
"Consistently irreverent, Thompson is wickedly entertaining ... reminiscent of Chuck Klosterman and David Foster Wallace. ... Thompson asks the right questions about why we travel, how we travel and what we expect from the experience. The unvarnished reality in these pages might just make you more eager than ever to hit the road."—San Francisco Chronicle
"A rare victim's-eye view into the world of travel marketing and the nervous, unmoored corporate weenies who populate it. ... fascinating reading, in a plane-crash sort of way."—Washington Post
"Thompson's weapons are wit, a well-oiled subversive reflex and a defiantly unbuttoned prose style."—The New York Observer
"If there is such a pastime as extreme tourism, Chuck Thompson is surely its guru."—Boston Globe
“Bitingly funny…Thompson fills his book with lots of anecdotes, many of them miserable, most of them hilarious….Thompson offers a list of travel tips unlike anything you’re likely to see in a glossy magazine….as much as Thompson loves to play the curmudgeon, a reader can tell that through it all, he still loves to travel, despite, or perhaps because of, all the challenges.”—The Columbus Dispatch
"A fun read."—Salt Lake Tribune
“Vivid and ribald…. If all Thompson was aiming for had been caustic observations about the industry he knows from the inside out, the book would have been an amusing but limited experience. But Thompson weaves his take on the travel racket and the damage it does into an engagingly personal narrative about his own nomadic life…”—Publishers Weekly
“An aggressively funny account of the world from an acerbic, energetic professional traveler who tells it like he sees it and has no reservations about sharing his stockpile of outrageous (mis)adventures and advice…. At his best, this Thompson will remind readers of Hunter S.—provocative and thoroughly engaging, with a manic liveliness.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Reading Thompson is like listening to a buddy who shoots from the hip. He gives the straight dope on what a travel writer really sees on his trips and includes his opinions about it. Although readers may not always agree with Thompson's conclusions ... they will recognize an authentic voice on the subject of travel when they encounter it.”—Booklist
"Our favorite moments, by far, arrive when Thompson writes about his native Alaska. Bemoaning the way the tourist industry has dominated the state and pushed local culture to the fringes, he has the self-awareness to recognize his complicity in the movement as a travel writer who’s exposed local haunts to the visiting masses, and there’s a brilliant anecdote about a friend of his MacGyver-esque tendencies."—Time Out Chicago
"Thompson is the real thing, a travel writer in the sense that Mark Twain or Hunter S. Thompson was, and Redmond O'Hanlon is. He's a travel writer like Anthony Bourdain is a food writer. He's a travel writer for people who don't much like travel writing."—The Oregonian
"Thompson's witty prose entertains as it educates...the perfect read for a long plane ride."—Seattle Magazine
"Highly recommended."—Calgary Herald
"My three favorite travel writers of all time are Robert Louis Stevenson, Graham Greene, and Chuck Thompson. Smile When You're Lying not only tells the truth about the travel-writing racket, it gets to the heart of some of the travel industry's best-kept secrets."—Kinky Friedman
"Smile When You're Lying could do for the travel industry what The Tipping Point did for the tipping point industry."—Joe Queenan
“In the spirit of successful travel writers, like Paul Theroux and V.S. Naipul, who have gotten there by portraying the documentary side and not the fantasy of travel, Chuck Thompson punctures the saccharine travel myth with a vivid ride through the gritty side of the roving experience, as he runs a gauntlet of thieves, charlatans, lost souls, and food made for Lomotil. His travel is far more strange, and gripping, than any fiction could be.”—Joe Robinson, founder of Escape magazine
THE 25 BEST WORLD WAR II SITES:
PACIFIC THEATER
Follow in the footsteps of history with The 25 Best World War II Sites: Pacific Theater, the world's first — and only — comprehensive travel guide to the Pacific Theater in WWII.
From Pearl Harbor and Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima and Manila, you'll find directions to every significant WWII site in the Pacific Theater — city museums, hallowed battlefields, landing beaches and jungle relics — along with:
- More than 500 individual points of interest
- Detailed histories of significant battle sites
- Hotel accommodations close to major sites
- Local attractions and must-see spots
- 40+ full-color photographs
- Dozens of detailed maps
For the casual traveler or the dedicated war buff, The 25 Best World War II Sites: Pacific Theater is an essential part of any trip to Asia or the Pacific. Meticulous, up-to-date research makes it easy getting to and from hard-to-find sites, leaving plenty of time to enjoy the beaches and other fabled attractions of some of the most beautiful islands and vibrant cities in the world.
Praise For The 25 Best World War II Sites: Pacific Theater:
"Breathes life into museums, monuments and battlefields."—The Oregonian
"Impressively researched."—WOR, New York
"More than just a travel guidebook—a worthy addition to your history library."—Pacificwrecks.com
"Perfect planner for a foray into the front lines."—Maxim
"The definitive hip-pocket book. Never been done before. Don’t go to any of these places without it."—KKCS, Colorado Springs
THE 25 ESSENTIAL WORLD WAR II SITES:
EUROPEAN THEATER
Normandy, Bastogne, Dunkirk, Anzio... names that resonate through the hallowed halls of historic World War II. Follow in the footsteps of history with The 25 Essential World War II Sites: European Theater, the world's first — and only — comprehensive travel guide to the European Theater in WWII.
Inside The 25 Essential World War II Sites: European Theater, you'll find the ultimate travelers' guide to battlefields, museums and monuments, along with:
- More than 500 individual points of interest
- Detailed histories of significant battle sites
- Sites related to "Band of Brothers" and other great war films
- Hotel accommodations close to major sites
- Local attractions and must-see spots
- 40+ full-color photographs
- Dozens of detailed maps
For the casual traveler or the dedicated WWII history buff, The 25 Essential World War II Sites: European Theater is an essential part of any trip to Europe. Meticulous, up-to-date research makes it easy getting to hard-to-find sites, leaving plenty of time to enjoy the fabled attractions of some of the most beautiful and vibrant cities and countries in the world.
Praise For The 25 Best World War II Sites: European Theater:
"A fresh title in a dwindling field."—Philadelphia Inquirer
"Should be on the shelf of anyone interested in the subject."—Knight Ridder News Service
"The two books are a welcome new addition to the short shelf of military travel literature."—Orange County Register
"This two-volume series is essential reading for military history enthusiasts/travelers. Anyone interested in the history of the Second World War and planning to visit the battlefields should add these books to their library."—World War II Quarterly
"Without this book, you'd have to cobble together pieces from dozens of histories and guidebooks."—Washington Post
"No other volume provides such a rich, informative survey of these important sites. This book is a pure jewel and the sites it covers reveal a multitude of disclosures of every conceivable kind."—WWII pilot and Senator George McGovern
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