Not that Thompson ever seems particularly censored – and that’s why we love him. He is the author of Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer and has a new book coming out in December, To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism. He was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about travel, writing, and 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.

3. Where did the idea for this latest book come from? Pure masochism?

As I began to consider why I’d never made an effort to get to Africa it dawned on me that a lot of it had to do with being a bit intimidated by the place. Same with India. Why was I intimidated? I thought about that and the book sort of took off from there. And for my first trip to Africa I picked the Congo because that seemed to be the place that embodied a lot of the universal fears and worries about Africa — disease, violence, poverty, AIDS, corruption, and so forth.

4. Being a naturally hyper-anxious person myself, I can’t believe taking off on journeys like you did for Hellholes. Was there any one particular hellhole you were worried about more than the others?

Easily the Congo. The violence that grips a country involved in tribal war was, of course, a genuine worry. But the biggest thing was the lack of information. Planning other trips in this book was relatively easy. I mean, say what you will about Disney, it’s not a tricky place to book a room.

But the Congo remained an absolute enigma, even after weeks of research. Almost no one seemed to have been there, no one had any hard information, even the major guidebooks to Africa devoted just a few desultory pages to the entire massive country. And, of course, every African I spoke with simply said: “Do not go to Congo under any circumstance.”

5. Are those really your only hellholes? I have any number of places I wouldn’t go (including Disney World) unless bound and gagged and dragged by my hair.

I’ve heard so many bad things about Egyptian markets that I originally wanted Egypt in the book. But I could only fit in so many places. And the Muslim world seemed like an entire book unto itself.

6. On that same note, one coworker wants to know how to get to Iran without being captured and accused of espionage. Help in that department?

Funny timing. I just spoke on the phone yesterday about Iran with an Iranian-born friend who lives in Illinois. She’s been back several times and raves about what a great country it is to visit. I have no doubt she’s right.

Without fail, I’ve been treated warmly in countries where America is supposedly the great Satan. Normal people are by and large eager to show you that their dickhead political leaders don’t speak for the whole country.

7. Hellholes seems an exercise in eliminating stereotypes. True?

Does it really feel that way? In fact, I approached it the opposite way. I very consciously wanted to go into each of these trips with an open mind and not have any preconceived conclusions. If I found that the stereotypes I had before going were accurate, I wanted to give myself the freedom to say, “Hey, you know what? I was right. This place sucks and these people are jerks.” I did not necessarily intend to come away with a hands-across-the-sea lesson in common humanity.

The scene in the book at Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi, for instance, pretty much supports a lot of the stereotypes I have and many Americans have about Muslims. I mean, those people were incredibly hostile toward me. They were just dickheads. I didn’t want to sugarcoat that just because I’d like for it to be true that Islam is simply a misunderstood religion that preaches peace. That said, I did also report on some positive experiences with Muslim culture in India.

Mexico City definitely turned out to be about breaking stereotypes. What a great place. Congo? You’d have to pay me a lot to get me back there. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but it wasn’t a picnic, either.

8. Did you struggle much with being stereotyped yourself?

I’ve been the whitey traveler and American abroad enough that I’m used to the stereotyping and it’s not an issue with me at all.

9. When did the idea for Smile When You’re Lying come to you?

It came around kind of gradually. There was no single “Eureka!” moment.

Then I was at BEA in Chicago in 2004, I think, promoting one of my WWII books and a literary agent approached me and said she loved the book and did I have any other books I was working on? I told her about this idea for Smile, though I didn’t have that title yet. She said she’d love to see a proposal.

I felt sort of motivated by that and went home and in about six weeks banged out the intro and the Thailand chapter and a 15-page overview and chapter outline and sent it off to her in New York. About three weeks later she sent it back in the mail with a letter saying how it was a disgraceful, awful, profane thing I had sent her, and included some Xeroxed pages from some lame cookie-cutter guide on how to write a successful book. That was pretty hilarious to receive in the mail.

But I wasn’t all that discouraged because I’d kind of suspected she was one of these rah-rah let’s-go-to-war types who’d blow Henry Kissinger if she had the chance and who’d assumed I written my WWII books because I thought it was cool to bomb foreigners. Despite her pissy rejection, I felt I was onto something that would be fun to write and maybe even sellable. From then, though, it took about 18 months to sell the idea and about another year to write the book. Long process.

10. What kind of reactions from the travel and travel writing industries did you get from the book?

I’d say 85 percent very positive reactions. I got a lot – and still get – emails from people in the biz who I’ve never met saying, “Man, you wrote my book for me!” Or, “I’m so happy someone finally laid the case out like this – I have lived so many things straight out of your book.”
But I definitely upset a few apple carts and some industry people fired on me pretty hard. To be honest, I expected more of this. I mean, I did pretty much attack a lot of peoples’ livelihoods and did call out publications by name and it’s natural that people are going to want to defend the honor of their profession and publications. And in addition I was pretty harsh on fake Christians and Herr Bush supporters and Eric Clapton fans and there wasn’t much room to run for the sexually squeamish, so, you know, you’re getting into 70 or 80 percent of the population there. So you expect a little blowback.

11. Where is Shanghai Bob (prominent figure in Smile) right now and what is he doing?

At this very moment, Shanghai Bob is in France and reports that the country and particularly its female population are outstandingly equipped for all manner of good times. But day-to-day, he is still living at an undisclosed location in Southeast Asia.

(Catch up on more Smile characters here)

12. Seeing as you detest the use of the word “delicious” to describe anything but food, are there any travel books you really like and would recommend to us?

This guy Theroux is pretty good – not sure if you’ve heard of him, but I can’t think of a single thing he’s done that I didn’t enjoy. I loved Queenan Country by Joe Queenan, but I love anything he does. Michael Crichton’s Travels was different and extremely interesting. Probably out of print now, but some years ago I read a terrific book called The Circumnavigators [A History] by a guy named Derek Wilson. I’ve always had a soft spot for that book.

13. The Hemingway Challenge: write a travel story in six words.

Homesick. Back. Must leave. Anywhere. Homesick.

14. And most importantly, what is your favorite beer?

There’s a Dierks Bentley song called “Domestic, Light and Cold” that describes my abiding taste for piss water. When I’m in Juneau, out of dumb misplaced loyalty I still drink Rainier. Reminds me of junior high, I guess. Elsewhere, I tend to buy Molson’s or LaBatt’s or whatever’s on sale or that you can hold up and read a book through in a darkened bar.

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