Paul Theroux called Thomas Swick ‘the ideal travel writer,’ but he’s the first to admit he hasn’t always been the ideal traveler. He moved to Poland in the late 1970s as a young aspiring travel writer in love with a local woman, whom he would eventually marry. As he learned the (formidably challenging – I should know!) Polish language and gained his first published clippings, he also spent much of his travels in a state of high, anxious alert. Shouldn’t a travel writer be cooler and less fazed by the ordeals of a journey? As Thomas would come to realize, no, one shouldn’t. In fact, it’s this very hyper-alertness that causes the travel writer to notice and be sensitive to things more relaxed travelers may miss.
Thomas Swick joined the travel writing podcast to talk about his extraordinary career, sharing his top tips for travel writers, and discussing his immensely readable and instructive memoir, Falling Into Place – A story of love, Poland, and the making of a travel writer, which features a foreword by Pico Iyer. Listen here or find the Travel Writing Podcast on Spotify or iTunes.
Find your copy of Falling into Place: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/falling-into-place-9781538181775/
Learn more about Thomas Swick: https://www.thomasswick.com/
