SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Delighted to introduce the amazing Twist Phelan. Twist writes critically-acclaimed and award-winning short stories (I got to pick up her ITW Thriller Award in New York this year, because she was off in an exotic land!) and the legal-themed Pinnacle Peak mystery series (Poisoned Pen Press).
A different
sport sets the theme in each of Twist's Pinnacle Peak, Arizona legal-themed
mysteries. (Before becoming a full-time traveler and writer, Twist's was a lawyer, specializing in putting away bad rich white men.) HEIR APPARENT highlights team roping, while road and mountain biking
is the lawyer protagonist's sports passion in FAMILY CLAIMS (Best Mystery,
Colorado Gold Writers Contest; Calavera Award Finalist). In the third book in
the series, SPURRED AMBITION (a Book Sense Notable Pick), rock climbing is the
athletic focus, while FALSE FORTUNE features kayak paddling.
In addition to all the sports, Twist is an unparalleled traveler. Here is her take on wanderlust and travel.
About a year and
a half ago, I stopped daydreaming and started traveling (again, that is; I
lived on a boat for ten years in my thirties and spent that time going around
the world). In the past eighteen months, I’ve visited Italy (twice), France
(twice), Spain (twice), Portugal, Morocco, Germany (twice), Croatia, Iceland,
Australia, Thailand, Finland, Norway, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, and Greece.
Next up are Ireland, India, the U.A.E., Switzerland, South Africa, Netherlands,
England, Austria, Spain (again), and Italy (twice again).
Why these
places? To me there are two kinds of destinations:
On-The-Page and Off-the-Page. I try to travel to Off-The-Page places, with
perhaps a two- or three-day stopover at an On-The-Page spot en route.
What in the heck
am I talking about? It’s pretty well explained in the scene in The Guilt
Trip (another movie reference; sorry!) where Seth Rogen and Barbra
Streisand are standing in front of the Grand Canyon. Barbra exclaims, “I always
wanted to see the Grand Canyon!” and Seth enthusiastically agrees. After an
awkward pause, Barbra says, “Um, how long are we supposed to look at it?”
While I was
pretty wowed by the Grand Canyon, I’ve had the same reaction to other landmarks.
When it comes to some destinations, I can get almost as much satisfaction through
reading about them or looking at pictures on the web as I do by seeing them in
real life.
For example—and
I know many will disagree with me — I’m not a huge fan of the south of France. I
don’t dislike it, but I don’t go out of my way to visit. I like looking at the
beach at Cannes on Google
Images about as much as I like looking at it in
person. On the other hand, plunk me down in any town in Italy or Spain, and I
am so enamored of the people/buildings /food/language/lifestyle, I immediately
start trying to figure out how I can spend several months a year there, if not
relocate permanently. The days fly by and too soon it is time to leave. As soon
as I arrive home, I’m already planning how I’m going to return.
This approach
governs my choice of activities when I travel, too. What do I like to do when I
land in a new country?
· Explore neighborhoods on foot or bike; great
architecture and art galleries are a bonus, as is getting lost
· Sit in a cafe or a restaurant and observe/eavesdrop
on the locals
· Practice the local language, preferably where no one has any English (grocery shopping, taking clothes to the laundry,
etc.)
What do I generally
not like to do while traveling?
· Go to museums. Perhaps it’s a case of
been-there-done-that (between living on the boat and traveling with my parents
a lot when I was young, I’ve visited—often several times--tons of the major and
many minor ones throughout the world), but I’m just not that much of a museum
person anymore (caveat: unless it’s a personal interest, such as architecture
or contemporary and modern art).
· I don’t buy traditional souvenirs: no Eiffel
Tower paperweights for me. I prefer either an article of clothing from a native
designer or a small piece of art from a local gallery.
· While I like food (who doesn’t?), I’m not
someone who connects to cities through their top-tier restaurants. Don’t get me
wrong: I’ve loved the meals I’ve eaten at establishments with stars after their
names. But more nights than not, I’m instead dining at a neighborhood bistro in
Dubrovnik or snacking from a food stall in Singapore.
TWIST PHELAN: Reds and readers, how about you?
How do you choose your travel destinations? What do you like to do when you’re
there?
Twist Phelan is a
world traveler and endurance athlete. She has competed in Ironman triathlons,
skate-skied in Scandinavia, team-roped in the American West, paddled outrigger
canoe in Australia, rock-climbed in South America, and bicycled from the Pacific
to the Atlantic Coast in less than four weeks.
Twist
received her bachelor and law degrees from Stanford University, completing her
undergraduate studies in two years. Success as a plaintiff's trial attorney
suing corporate scoundrels enabled her to retire in her early thirties to live
on an ocean-going boat and in various places around the world.
