This is The Savvy Traveler. I'm Rudy Maxa. Years ago, comedian Buck Henry
wrote a parody of a bad travel article. Of course it included the line,
"So-and-so is a... country of contrasts." Any time you see that, run the
other way. Because everywhere is a place of contrasts. That line is the
crutch of a lazy writer. Truth be told, despite the profusion of travel
magazines and websites, it's not easy to write well about places.
I know, because I've written about a lot of destinations, from the wine
country of California's Santa Barbara County in a recent issue of Worth
Magazine to a Washington Post piece about Phuket, way back 14 years ago
before Americans discovered that island off Thailand's southern coast.
Splendor seems easy to describe until you actually have to put it in words.
Avoiding cliches and flat adjectives while still trying to convey the mood
and sense of a place and its people can be a challenge. This week, we get up
close and personal with one writer who makes it look easy. Join us.
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