Andrew gave a very nice talk in Philly yesterday. This time, the talk was all about his travels, including his recent trip to Sudan. A writer for the Philly Inquirer facilitated the talk.
Andrew started off my talking about how he got into acting, and then how he got into travel writing. He said that he met Keith Bellows, editor-in-chief of NatGeo Traveler, at a party. Over the course of many months, he tried to convince Keith to give him a try. Keith did, and Andrew's first assignment was to write about Ireland. The rest is history.
He talked about how being an actor worked well with his travel writing--learning to be very observant. And he really likes the interaction with people much more than seeing the place. So, visits where you stay on a resort are not for him. He likes to go and see how native people live--not the impressions they try to give tourists.
He mentioned being really scared to go on the trip to Sudan. He was hoping the flight would be cancelled. He knew the risks and questioned whether doing the trip was wise given his family. Once he got there, he enjoyed the experience. He said that Sudanese people were curious about him, given his light skin. For the most part, they ignored him. He said that they were too engrossed in eeking out a living...that the $120 he had in his wallet was more than many of those people made in a year.
He also said he's often sad when he travels, simply because he trys to seek out how others live. And often, those people do not have near the lifestyle that he has. You can tell that travel really humbles him.
I recorded three 8 minute segments of the talk. I will try to figure out how to get them on YouTbe. If not, my husband will burn them to a DVD and I will send them along with the books.
Thanks for your report! I wish I could go there with you! You are good listner! I wouldn't be a good listner 'cus I'll be staring at him all the time during his speech;) Please tell us more about his speech whenever you have time. Thanks again.
I saw myself in the audience in the longer segment. Now I have to rewatch mine video. I took three 8 minute segments. Have to admit that I was concentrating on holding the camera steady, so I wasn't as attentive as I was in Washington DC.
Andrew did talk about his book, The Longest Way Home. He said that after he got engaged to his wife, he took off to Patagonia because he was afraid of commitment. However, that trip grounded him, and the rest is history.
He told a funny story in response to a question. Somebody asked him if he takes notes by talking into a tape recorded. He said that he wasn't comfy listening to his voice. Instead, he would head off to the bathroom to jot down his notes, especially when he was talking with another person. He mentioned that he had to be careful how many times he headed off to the bathroom, lest someone think he has a prostate problem. We all laughed.
It was totally great seeing him so excited and relaxed. It's so obvious that he enjoys what he's doing and that he's so happy at where he is in life. Thank you to everyone for letting me share with you.
Here's a cute story about his article on Tahiti. When he found out he was going, he researched (and Andrew does a lot of research for his trips) unique aspects of the island. He wanted to write on something other than it being a tropical paradise. He discovered that the majority of black pearls are obtained from Tahatian oysters. He knew his mom's birthday was coming up and asked if she liked pearls. She did, so he decided to write his article about diving for a black pearl in Tahiti. In advance, he made sure there was a farmer willing to let him do his own diving. He said he didn't take enough air on the first attempt but got one on the second try. He had the pearl made into jewelry for his mom. So neat. And gosh, I think Andrew could win National Geographic's geology bee...he sure knows his globe/atlas.
Hi. It was a very sweet story. Do you think Andrew' mom still alive? I guess Andrew ' mom raised him nicely. I wish my son (only son) would do the same thing to me someday. Andrew is a wonderful travel writer :)
