welcome to between the covers summer series where we Spotlight South Florida authors Thomas swick is here he has a new Memoir coming out in the fall it is falling into place a story of love Poland and the making of a travel writer Tom was travel editor of the Sun Sentinel for 19 years he has traveled the world wrote wonderful pieces for the paper and is the author of several books Tom thank you so much for being here it's a pleasure thanks for having me this new Memoir really brings ba ck home your first book unquiet gave us this political climate of the 1980s in Poland right now what inspired this new book this book tells what that book is more focused on Poland and as you say the political climate but I left out the personal story I mean I went to Poland because of love I fell in love with a Polish student well I met her on my way back from France and her in London she came to New Jersey where I was working at the Trenton Times and I decided to give up my journalism career and move to Poland I All for Love yes well not All for Love mainly for love but I also thought you know I wanted to be a traveler by ther really set out to to do this and I thought well this will be an interesting experience I'd spend a yea learning French but fans had been written about you know even back then there were lots of books a not much about Poland or Easter so I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn a of the world and my timing was excellent because two months after I got t the Archbishop of Krakow was named Pope and I was there when he came back for his first visit to Poland as Pope eight months later and that was I think the beginning of the changes that happened in the 80s Poland really was at the Forefront of the change in Eastern Europe well som other things is that if perhap things had worked differently I would not be talking with Tom swick travel writer but maybe Tom swick International Spy ah yes well yeah I had a six months work visa I got a job teaching English in Warsaw where my girlfriend at the time now my wife lived and I had a six-month work vis and it when it was about to end we went to apply for an extension and we tried a couple times it got refused but my wife my girlfriend Hanya said well try again it's always you know you know make it something different it might be in a better mood well th time they took me upstairs alone usually Tanya came to interpret because of my polish at that point was not very good they took me upstairs to a room where a man sat behind the desk with nothing on it by the telephone and he said you want an extension of your visa and I said yes he said well if you help us we can you and my thought in movies this isn't happening to me and it was I mean he basically wanted me to come once a week and tell him what people were saying and I you di dn't want to get involved in that he also said my honey couldn' this so you know it just was not a good idea as much as I wanted to stay so I said no and I had to leave the country within three days from my Visa expired [Music] travel writer so makes a good travel writer what made you a good travel writer well I think uh it's not just traveling it's I think a really good travel right there learns the trade by living in a place and that's that's all that was always my plan I I lived in France for a year I ended up living in Poland for two and a half years I lived in Greece afte to leave Poland I went to Greece for the winter I think by living in a re ally get to know it well and you learn the culture and then you learn certain things that help you as when you become a travel Rider and you're just in the place for a short time you some of those lessons you learned as a expat to your your work as a travel righ there your writing really shares wisdom and emotional connection and from where you sit do you think that we lose this when we travel because I if you look around you're seeing pe Instagram moment or or traveling throug an entire country for the first time through their phone yeah it's become very easy to access information about places I've always thought the information's overrated um overrated yeah I mean you need obviously you need information about hotels and I never get restaurant information from guidebooks I always ask people when I'm there I love reading just travel books about places but novels set in the place I'm because novels give you atmo they also give you insight and I think those two things are more import information getting insight into a place that's how you really learn about it and discover what it's all about an emotional connection you know when you're in a place not just sites but meeting the people ex perience with a local doing something do that's I think the best travel experience to get some of this information from from a novel I I find that fantastic other than Poland a favorite destination that left a lasting impression on you well Portugal stands out in a way Portugal is where I just I learned how to be a travel writer because it w first assignment for the Sun Sentinel what's the writing advice received ah that was at the Ti mes my first job and I was a feature writer they didn't have a Travel section and in New Jersey there's called Great Adventure it's a theme pa so I was assigned to go right about the opening of Great Adventure somebody did this every year and I was heading out one photographers kind of a cocky youn looked at me and said so you're going to write the same old great adventure st and I heard that and I thought no you know it it it showed me that yeah there's this kind of formula for writing these stories and so wherever I go on the Simon now I hear that voice in my head are you going to write the same o story about and the answer i something that you would tell your younger self I just say stick with it and persevere you'll get there stick with it the new Memoir which is going to be released in the fall is falling into place a story of love Poland and the making of a travel writer Thomas swick what a wonderful story thank you so much for being here thanks for having me in I'm Anne bocock please join me on the next between the covers foreign