Tom Gleisner, Real Author of Fake Guidebooks

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Our second film, “The Dish” (2000) starred Sam Neill and told the little-known story of Australia’s involvement in the Apollo XI moon landing—believe it or not Australia actually provided the television pictures of the first moon-walk. Our favorite genre is definitely comedy and we look forward to writing another film soon.

When did you first visit Molvania and what made you decide to write a book about it?

We trace the origins of Molvania to a trip that the three of us made over a decade ago to Portugal. It might just have been a coincidence but every monument or tourist attraction we visited seemed to be closed for repairs. At one point, we started making up fake guidebook descriptions such as “some of the scaffolding on this cathedral dates back to the middle ages.” Little did we realize but this was the start of our love affair with travel guidebooks. When we eventually got around to writing the book, we decided to place our fictional country in eastern Europe because we figured no one was too sure of the exact geographical boundaries in that part of the world.

Is Molvania the first book you’ve published?

Yes, all our other writing has involved film or television.

"Phaic Tan" hasn’t been released in the US yet, can you tell us about the book?

“Phaic Tan” is the follow-up to “Molvania” and focuses on an equally unknown part of the world, the Southeast Asian principality of Phaic Tan. It’s a beautiful, if somewhat low-lying, kingdom, renowned as the birthplace of irritable bowel syndrome and the trouser press.

You’ve done a few travel-themed shows, are you big travelers?

Rob and I made a fly fishing television series called “A River Somewhere” a few years back that involved us traveling all over the world. We really do enjoy travel but are also able to laugh at the pretensions of so-called “serious” travelers, the sort of people who have always been somewhere before you have and swear it was so much better when they first visited. The character Philippe in “Molvania” is an example of this sort of person.

What type of traveler are you?

Mildly annoying I suspect. I’m often so convinced that there’ll be a better hotel/restaurant/shop down the road that I refuse to stop at the one I’m standing in front of. I’m sure this syndrome has a scientific name.

What was your best/worst travel experience?

One of my best travel experiences was visiting a tiny country in the Himalaya region called Bhutan. So few tourists enter the kingdom that it has a wonderfully authentic feel to it—locals walked around in traditional costume and English is rarely spoken. It’s a truly magical place.

As for worst experience, head a little south to India where I found myself staying for several weeks in the coastal region of Goa. Each afternoon as you were lying on the beach, bus loads of local men would arrive to gawk at the bather-clad westerners sunbathing on the beach. One day this unsubtle staring got too much for my wife who sarcastically suggested “why don’t you all just take a photo?” at which point a dozen cameras appeared to capture the moment. I suspect our pale bodies are still on some Indian web site to this day.

What’s the next trip planned?

Having spent many months researching Southeast Asia for “Phaic Tan,” I would love to head back to the region. Perhaps the jungles of northern Thailand or the beautiful island of Bali.

What are your future plans?

We’ve just finished another season of our TV show “The Panel” and so will be taking a break over January. After that, it might be time to start working on a film and maybe another travel guide. Anyone interested in visiting the South American land of San Sombrero?

For more information on Jetlag Guides, check out www.jetlagtravel.com.

Helene Goupil is the editor of InsideOut Travel Magazine.

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