Hey, Ho, Let’s Go

<< back << home

The experience was eye-opening and I was hooked. After that assignment, I came back and got an office job editing the first edition of Let's Go Southwest USA, which was a great experience. But then I found myself back out on the road when I had a chance to write for our New Zealand and Chile books. My early experience swung from travel writing to editing and back again.

How does the research happen at Let's Go? Do writers travel in groups? Did you travel for this book as well?

Each Let's Go book is researched (and re-researched on a regular basis) by a handful of writers who each go out on their own preset itinerary in the destination they're covering. These writers live on a stipend, and they eat, sleep, and breathe their work. Each writer is responsible for a portion of the book, and writers almost never write for the same book twice. This means that every review and every piece of text has a fresh pair of eyes updating it every edition.

What do you look for in a person when hiring Let's Go researchers?

Editors at Let's Go look for a combination of travel experience, reliability and a keen eye for detail when they're hiring writers. In the case of “Roadtripping USA,” the editors were also looking for people who weren't daunted by the idea of trying to drive the full length of a 3,000-mile roadtrip and distill it into120 pages.

Reading the "Roadtripping USA" guidebook, I was impressed with some of the recommendations—places usually only known by locals like the Willow House Café in Phoenix, Ariz. for example. Do researchers seek out suggestions from locals? And were researchers assigned to an area depending on their expertise?

Writers' travel experience and their home residence are always taken into consideration when editors are making hiring decisions. You definitely hit on something, though, regarding locals' suggestions; the most important resources that every Let's Go writer has available are the locals and fellow travelers they meet on the road.

Although a restaurant doesn't make it into the book if the writer hasn't investigated it for him/herself, locals and fellow travelers often give writers ideas and places to investigate that they wouldn't have discovered otherwise. This is one of the ways we end up with so many establishments like the Willow House Café in our books.

It sounds like you've traveled quite a bit, can you tell us about some of most memorable trips (good and bad)?

I don't think I've ever been on a bad trip. In my experience, it takes some kind of catastrophic event to make travel a negative experience.

The worst travel experience I ever had was probably in New Zealand when I nearly had to camp out on the side of a road in a blinding snowstorm because nobody would pick up a hitchhiker in such horrible weather, or maybe when I had my camera stolen (with all my photos of that beautiful city) in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Still, these weren't bad experiences—they just caused me to get that brief sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I think the key to having a good time while traveling is to put aside all your expectations (which is a hard thing to do), and just take it one day at a time.

What type of traveler are you?

I'm not a Type A traveler. I like to adapt to the rhythms of the culture I'm traveling in and go with the flow. I would much rather take my time and linger in an interesting local hangout or out-of-the-way attraction than try to see everything.

I also like to travel to active destinations, where I can get outside and go hiking, climbing, biking, rafting, etc.

What's the next trip planned?

I'm thinking about taking a roadtrip of my own through the Texas hill country. Or maybe I'll end up going to Baja California. I just haven't decided yet.

What are your future plans?

Right now I'm completely focused on working with Let's Go to publish the best possible guidebooks this year—our 2006 series will come out in the late fall of this year.

Helene Goupil is the editor of InsideOut Travel Magazine.

<< home

<< back

<< discuss article >>