Do Travel Writers Belong In The Same Level Of Hell As Used Car Salesmen And Tax Collectors?

It’s a story you just knew would blow up one-day. Former Lonely Planet writer Thomas Kohnstamm claims to have written about Colombia without having ever visited the country.

“They didn’t pay me enough to go to Colombia,” he told Australia’s Sunday Herald Sun newspaper.

“I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating who was in an intern in the Colombian consulate.”

In reality, the story is a little sensational than it seems.

“Lonely Planet publisher Piers Pickard told Associated Press that Kohnstamm’s revelation of not having been to Colombia was “disingenuous” because he was hired to write about the country’s history and not to travel there to review accommodation and restaurants.

Kohnstamm later told AP: “It was expected I would never go to Colombia.”

Maybe this story has traction because there is more than a hint of scepticism towards travel writing today? To be fair, I only know one professional travel writer in person and he is exceptionally well travelled and familiar with the destinations he writes about. But, I’ve also done enough travel and seen enough destinations that don’t measure up to the copy to know that there is a bit of fiction out there as well.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. Travel writing, good accurate travel writing is a tough gig. Given the number of junkets around and the sheer cost of producing guidebooks and magazine features, some corners must be cut. So, just like used car salesman, not every travel writer is a disreputable. Caveat Emptor.

[tags] Travel, Journalism [/tags]