Travel writing seems like a pretty good gig. You get to travel to places in the world that you may not ordinarily venture to, and as an added bonus, someone else picks up the tab. In return, you produce a detailed and adjective-filled account of your visit for your editor, who then promptly cuts out all of the juicy dirt and prints a homogenized, airbrushed version for public consumption. You get paid and, generally speaking, everyone is happy. If you decide that this is the career path for you, then check out Chuck Thompson’s latest book, Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of a Rogue Travel Writer. Thompson has managed to put together some of the best — and worst — travel stories from his illustrious career, beginning as a cash-strapped youth driving across the United States from Alaska in a 1973 Ford Torino, to catching the travel bug and becoming a travel writer, editor and photojournalist. For good measure, we get a few pointers on how not to be a travel cliché.

Both informative and entertaining, Thompson relates stories more to do with the multi-million dollar tourism industry as opposed to just travel writing, and he doesn’t sugar-coat it. Whether it’s his disdain for the cruise ship industry that has changed the face of Alaska, getting robbed blind by Christian school girls in Thailand or teaching English in Japan, Thompson’s wry sense of humour, coupled with his matter-of-fact demeanour, make for a quick and, at times, hilarious read.

Thompson’s book is not all wild rides and swanky hotels, however. The amusing author slips in a bit of bitter reality — little snippets of Latin-American history, stories of foreign sex-trade workers and their clientele, and the not-so-forgiving food markets that supply his living. The tourism and publishing industries are not spared his frank commentary. It’s fun, it’s interesting, and whether you’re a seasoned traveller, an avid reader of travel literature or just someone looking for a good book, Smile When You’re Lying fits the bill.