The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Dark Tourism & The People You Meet
With Halloween coming up travel expert Onanta Forbes will join me on this week's show to share some spooky travel ideas and spooky destinations to visit not just this time of year but at anytime. Plus, I think we can all recall someone we've met while traveling so podcast host and author Melissa Rodway will stop by to talk about her new book called "The People You Meet: Luxury, Leeches, Love, and Lao-Lao With a Host of Interesting Characters in Southeast Asia".
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. I'm your host, Randy Sharman. With Halloween coming up, travel expert Onata Forbes will join me in a few seconds to share some spooky travel ideas and spooky destinations to visit, not just to visit this time of year, but at any time through the year. And then travel writer and author Melissa Rodway is going to join us. Her latest book is called The People You Meet: Luxury, Leeches, Love, and Lao Lau, with a host of interesting characters in Southeast Asia. Yeah, I know it's a long title, but I'm sure we can all relate, as I think we can all recall someone who we've met while traveling and maybe even kept that relationship and made it a lifelong friendship. So it should be an interesting chat. But first, let's kick things off chatting with travel expert Onanta Forbes, who joins us each week to discuss some of the travel news and travel trends. You can follow her adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and ex at Onanta Forbes. OnataForbes.com is her website. Hello, Onata.
SPEAKER_00:Hi, how are you?
SPEAKER_03:I'm good, thank you. Halloween coming up. So we're gonna talk about spooky stories, destinations, hotels, dark tourism. Let's talk about the concept of dark tourism. I know neither one of us are psychologists, but I always find it fascinating that uh people are so into uh haunted things, dark tourism, that sort of thing, uh, and like to be scared.
SPEAKER_00:I know. I can't believe people like to be scared. Um but dark tourism is another travel term that seems to have evolved over the years, and it refers to travel to places historically and culturally associated with death, tragedy, or just the spookiness of it all. So it could be about exploring sites where somber or eerie events have occurred, such as battlefields or haunted locations, prisons, or disaster zones. Um, and it's not always a uh tie to Halloween, but this season or the season of Halloween often sparks interest in it because it taps on into themes of fear or mortality and the supernatural. So um, you know how it relates, it's like the atmosphere. So it's the curiosity about something mysterious, haunted, or tragic, making it more emotionally charged and atmospheric and storytelling. Because it um there's uh there's a lot of sites that offer guided tours with ghost stories, historical tragedies or folklores that are attacked attached to uh death, uh, you know, which aligns perfectly with Halloween storytelling. And then just um just while Halloween is like all about the candy and the parties and the costume, um, so the Dart Tourism invites people to look at human behavior, so like a deeper side of the the uh the season. And there's lots of places that you could go for um to visit such destinations. Great for Halloween themed trip, uh trips, but not necessary. Um, and one I visited because I was totally interested in it, um, was Salem in Massachusetts, famous for the Salem witch trials. It offers haunted um walking tours, witch museums, and Halloween festivals all October long. And it was, it was, it's a pretty town, but it's also, you know, added to the fact of the history of it, um, was very interesting. Another one that I went on was in Edinburgh, um, you know, known for its underground vaults, Great Friars Um or Greyfriars Kirk Yard, uh, ghost tours exploring um centuries of plague and executions and hauntings, and it was really good because you know when you arrive in um Europe, like it's early in the day, so you gotta figure out something to do. And it was just perfectly atmospheric because it was rainy and grizzly and foggy, loved it. And here's one that I know it's on your bucket list: Transylvania, Romania, and that's the land of Dracula where you can visit Brand Castle associated with Lad the Impaler. Um, there's you know great medieval villages, it all adds to the spooky ambience. Um, another one, and not far from home, like in the US, is New Orleans. New Orleans is fun for many things, but it's also renowned for its voodoo culture, um, like haunted cemeteries, um, St. Louis Cemetery number one and um historic ghost tours in the French quarter. And it's interesting because when you do go on a cemetery tour and um experience or explore the voodoo culture, you see different offerings on different grave sites that are related to voodoo culture, I guess it for the lack of a better word. And um, yeah, so also um in Japan, also really a hot spot this um this year to go and visit, there's a forest. It's um it's a place of really natural beauty and clo uh quiet reflection, but it's also known as a suicide forest, and it's located at the base Yeah, the base of Mount Fuji. And you know, when we talk about different places, um you have to think about planning um for a trip to that place because you have to be respectful, and because uh many dark sites commemorate real suffering, so we have to treat them as memorials and not attractions, and um to book early because a lot of these theme tours fill up fast because, as you said at the beginning of our conversation, there's lots of people that are interested in in um this sort of thing. Um, mix light and dark, so pair eerie explorations with cultural or nature activities to balance the emotional tone of your trip, and it's a good way to learn local legends, so understanding the forklore enhances the experience because you gotta know about the history, right? Because that's why we travel. We want to know about the destination.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. Well, just getting back to the the dark tourism thing, to me, there's like two types, and you touched on it too, is uh is there's the historic uh sites, uh you know, I'm thinking of Auschwitz and Chernobyl, those places where actual events took place and real people died. And then there's like I call it the Hollywood type of dark tourism, and I wouldn't even well, maybe it's not even dark tourism, but where you want to get scared, but it's in a safe environment. Uh Universal in um Orlando has a great Halloween-themed uh uh few nights that you can go and and and scare yourself sort of thing. And I I would even put Transylvania in the in the Hollywood type because it's the it's the Hollywood Dracula that makes the the area of Transylvania famous, really, right? Otherwise it's just another another castle. But those are the two types of things, and and uh and I I remember uh hearing a psychologist talk about this and and and it goes back to the whole uh feeling of being scared, but you know you're safe, right? There's nothing nothing's gonna happen to you, you know, kind of thing. And I was I was looking at uh the Travel and Leisure uh magazine website, uh travelandleisure.com, and they have 13 you know scary places. And there was uh Virginia City is on their list, and I've been to Virginia City, and we did a tour of a place that was so-called haunted, and they have some really good spooky uh stories there of actual events and things like that. So that's that that was one. And then uh Esteys Park in Colorado is where the Stanley Hotel is. I haven't been to the Stanley Hotel, but I have interviewed people from the Stanley Hotel, and it's famous for the movie Shining.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, the Shining.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so there's there's another Hollywood attachment there. Uh and we were doing the interview, and right in the middle of the interview, his phone cuts out and just goes.
SPEAKER_01:Oh no.
SPEAKER_03:So I had to get him back on the line, and it's like, I think the ghosts were kind of listening in there. So it was it was kind of a funny thing. But but yeah, I I there is this fascination um for on the one side of the historic uh events that happened uh in in back in time, and then and the sort of the fun parts where you go to Universal and and see the the the monsters and and the things like that.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah. You have to take it as it is. If you believe, it'll you know, you believe. That's the thing. But it it also gives you a wonderful opportunity to explore near and far. Um interesting um little tidbit was uh they were saying, like, you know, Ireland is the makes sense to begin um the your your Dart tourism because it's r widely regarded as the birthplace of Halloween, which I thought was quite interesting. Um and just um Halloween is um is is is probably more of a North American tradition, but when you you know we're talking about Dracula, Ireland is actually the homeland of Bram Stoker, whose early years inspired his creation of Dracula. So all these little tidbits that come out. But you don't have to go far to go, you know, to experience haunted um and historic hotel experiences. You can go to Banff at the Banff Springs Hotel, you know, close by in Calgary, there's historic Ingle uh Inglewood, um filled with his heritage buildings and haunted pubs. You can go on self-guided and um guided ghost tours uh to explore all these uh the history about it. So in spirit. So you know, we don't have to go far to to get the get into things, and um it's just fun. Yeah, keep it for fun. Well, spark any incidents.
SPEAKER_03:Well, this is true, and and uh no matter where you live, I'm sure there's a haunted house or a haunted hotel or or something to that effect uh that's uh nearby that you can uh go and and and explore. One other that came up on that travel and leisure list was the the Queen Mary, which I would love to tour. Uh uh fascination with ships and trains and that kind of thing, and I think that would be where you can actually stay. And another one that's not on this list that just popped in my head is um the Lizzie Borden house, which I've interviewed people there too, and uh I don't know if I you can stay overnight if you wanted to. I don't know if I'd want to do that. Uh that's tempting fate to me.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah, that'd be amazing. But yeah, I like you say, if you believe, you might have fun at this, but uh yeah, proceed with caution.
SPEAKER_03:Always uh oh look it's it's a fun time to to explore um destinations and the dark tourism thing is is very fascinating all year round. Doesn't have to be Halloween, does it?
SPEAKER_00:No, not at all. And uh as you say, Hollywood will inspire you for future trips somewhere because they're always coming out with something scary.
SPEAKER_03:Mm-hmm. Uh Onanta Forbes is a travel expert. You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and X at Onanta Forbes. Onantaforbes.com is her website. Uh good chatting, Onanta. Happy Halloween.
SPEAKER_00:That's it. Get lots of candy.
SPEAKER_03:This is the Informed Traveler Podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, theinformedraveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast. You can also email me too with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at the informed traveler.org. And you can check out our social media pages too at facebook.com slash informed traveler, Instagram at informed traveler, or on X at Informed Traveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and reels through our visits through the past year and posts from other adventures. Plus, you can now sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our October issue is available. Just go to our website, the informedtraveler.org. Click on the newsletter button, it'll take you right there. Or better yet, you can subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox each month. Well, I think we can all recall someone we've met while traveling and maybe even kept that relationship going and made it into a lifelong friendship. It's one of the great things about travel. So joining us now to discuss that concept is Melissa Rodway. She is the host of Fly Travel Radio and author of her new book, The People You Meet: Luxury Leeches, Love, and Lao Lau with a host of interesting characters in Southeast Asia. That is quite a title. Uh, thanks for doing this, Melissa. Welcome to the uh program.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you very much, Randy. Yes, a title indeed, and uh, you know, tells you everything you need to know right there.
SPEAKER_03:Well, we'll ask you about your book uh in a in a few seconds here, but I just want to learn more about Fly Travel Radio. Your website is flyroadway.com where people can go on and find more about it. But uh tell me just a little bit about your website and and uh fly travel radio in general and how you got in this crazy business.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. Um so yes, thanks for having me. And uh yeah, Fly Travel Radio was a radio show that I created and hosted, and I was a one-woman band there, so I did it all, as I'm sure you can relate. So I started that at a community radio station at the University of Toronto. I can't even remember when. I'm going to say maybe it was like, I don't know, 2014 or something like that, 2013, 2014. Um, so yeah, so it was a show that I did um where I interviewed people that uh participated in adventure travel. So it would be anything from, for example, a guy, his name is Mario Rigby. He uh is actually from Toronto and spent like two and a half years walking literally across Africa. Um, another guy I interviewed rode his bike home from China to Toronto, which also took two years. Uh, there would be a woman on there from England I interviewed a couple times. She um recreates hikes and uh yeah, mainly hikes that women did back in 1800s, early 1900s that people wouldn't even know about, and she wears like she somehow manages to find the clothing that they would have had at that time of life, and there's no modern day equipment. So it was always people doing really amazing, interesting things. And of course, I also love to travel, but it was rarely about me, it was just about you know what people were doing off the path. So I did that for many, many years. I did over 180 episodes, and um and I loved it. I don't love all the behind-the-scenes work, as I'm sure you can relate. Meeting people is awesome and just learning about stories and you know, people get into some really interesting things. Uh, so I did that for many years, and then I took a year off in 2023, and um I did some traveling again, and then after that, I uh I guess, yeah, after that I decided to put this book out that we'll talk about later. That took me about a year and a half to get it edited and out the door. So that's kind of my trajectory, or sorry, that's what I've been doing for the last few years. And that leads us to uh to being here today.
SPEAKER_03:Nice. Well, the title of your book got me kind of thinking about all the interesting people that uh that I've met in my journeys, and I suppose everyone can relate. Uh, I guess that's that's the fun part of travel is the people that you meet, is it not?
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I think truly it's the best part of travel. You'll always look back fondly at a of a place or a country or a situation, but I think it's the people that make it even that more special. I I I do, you know, I travel with groups, I travel sometimes on my own. And I'm gonna tell you that um it's never when I'm alone, am I like, wow, that was an amazing memory. Like being totally I mean, there are moments in there, but for me, the my fondest memories of travel is always when I think back about people I was with or random people that came across my path, or the good laughs that you had, or amazing conversations, or bonding over like a hike, or you know, yeah, yeah, that's what makes or breaks it for me anyway. I think it's very common for most people, really.
SPEAKER_03:I think so too. I think it's something we all do. I just don't think we'd sort of do it consciously. It's not like, okay, I'm gonna set out and meet 10 people today or something to that effect, right? It's it's it's just sort of human nature, and and I guess it's it it varies to certain degrees of the people you meet and for how long you meet and the reason why you meet, right?
SPEAKER_02:Totally. And I think um I think the thing that I love about the people that you meet traveling is that I'm gonna say nine times out of ten, these are not people that you would normally probably hang out with in your regular everyday life. And I think that's the beauty of meeting people when you're away is that all the sort of guardrails go down and um you're meeting people that share something that you share, which is also very uncommon in your regular life. You can sort of already step out onto a platform with these people that um there's a connectivity there, right? Like you don't have to explain about your passion for travel, or you can already start telling stories. I mean, I think any traveler knows in their regular life that nobody cares, nobody wants to really hear about your trip after 30 seconds, their eyes glaze over if they're not an adventurous person. So I think the beauty of being on the road is like you're with your people, and you can like instantly, you know, head out and do whatever it is you have to do. It doesn't mean that you like everybody that you meet on the road, but you certainly have this thing in common that you just don't have with other people, and there's a real freedom in that, I think.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's a good point. Like you don't necessarily have to be best buddies or become longtime friends, it could be for the period of uh the the point in time that you're in a specific destination or there for a specific reason.
SPEAKER_02:Totally. And I think, yeah, like that's a good point. I think people have this vision that when you're traveling, you know, everyone you meet is, you know, there's just a romantic notion of travel, and it's like anywhere. Like some people you like them, some people you're like, I am over this, and like. But um, but I think you know, there's one thing about travel that I do think is worth mentioning. It's this. Um, it's like you look out for people, you know. Like I remember being on a few trips with people that oh, I don't think that I was like their biggest fan or they were mine. But there's still a like, you know, a collective, like let's, you know, everyone gets home safe, or we're not no man gets left behind.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I think that's really a nice thing about travel too, once you meet up with some people, and it doesn't matter, you know, you can have people you like or you don't like, but you're sort of looking after each other, and that's a beautiful thing about meeting strangers as well. I do like that. Yeah, but uh yeah, it is a certainly an interesting dynamic when you meet people out on the road, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03:Well, and uh yeah, you're all in the same boat for lack of a better term. Um you know, like even if you're a little bit shy, the person you're with may not be shy, and maybe they'll instigate uh a conversation with you uh that you had no uh you didn't think that was gonna happen.
SPEAKER_02:Totally. And there's always something to talk about. I mean, if you've gone even on a couple of trips, right then and there you have like a base conversation, you know, where have you been? Where are you going next? Where's your favorite part of the world? Blah, blah, blah. You know, they're easy conversations for the most part. Um, so yeah, it's fun. It's I mean, you can meet some wildly crazy people on the road too that are just like, whoa, but I suspect there might be uh one or two of those in your book.
SPEAKER_03:The title is The People You Meet: Luxury, Leeches, Love, and Lao Lao. I'm gonna have to ask you what Lao Lao is, if I pronounce that correctly, uh, with a host of interesting characters in Southeast Asia. Interesting is an interesting word because it doesn't necessarily mean that you may like them.
SPEAKER_02:No, and if you read this book, you will find that I am a very honest person. So um I will tell you exactly how I feel about the people that I met on this trip. Most of them I did like very much, but yes, you're gonna always meet people that um are different and unique. I mean, one of the characters in this book um is a woman that I met in um, oh gosh, I can't even remember where I was. I think I was in Lao, actually. And um she was like much older. I think I was 35 at the time of this story, so I'm older now, and that's another part of the story where uh I'll get into how it came to be. But, anyways, I was 35 at the time and I was traveling with a partner, and we ran into like a few other people that sort of we c we created this little family for a little bit. And one of the people in this little family was like probably I don't know, she was in her 60s, close to 70, traveling on her own. And um, right then and there, like it doesn't matter like if you click with them or not, any woman traveling by themselves at that age is a legend, right? And she'd been on the road for a year, she'd been to India, she'd been to China, she'd been to really tough places to uh to navigate. And then she hooked up with us for a little bit. So right then and there, you're like, okay, you're a legend. And I mean, I I don't you don't know that I could even do that. Um, but she was crazy for lack of I know we're not supposed to that's politically incorrect or that's not the way we talk anymore, but come on, it was 2010 and that's the words that we were using at the time. Yeah. And um, just like you had no idea if she was taking anything seriously. One minute she'd be like laughing hysterically, the next minute you'd have beautiful, like fabulous conversations with her, the next minute she'd be passed out from drinking too much rum the next minute, like, you know, so yeah, people are just fascinating, right? Like, um, and what what um whatever her story was, I don't think we ever got it as to how she ended up there and why she was there and whatever. But but again, that was a really good example of somebody who drove me absolutely absolutely crazy, but you felt responsible a little bit for her, like to make sure that in our time with her, she was okay, she was getting back to her room, etc. And then, you know, when the time ends, you're like, all right, good luck to you. Like, see you later. Carry on. I mean, she made it that far. So, um, but yeah, I mean, there's some certainly some legends there. I traveled in um South America a couple of years ago, and there was a guy I did that like jeep tour through Bolivia, through the salt flats and the desert, and all that. And that is, I don't know if you've done that, but that is like tough slugging. It's the most beautiful scenery I'm sure I've ever seen, but it is not for the faint of heart. It's physically uncomfortable, and uh, it's a grueling like three or four days. And one of the guys that was in that was like this uh doctor from Australia. He was also like pushing 80 on his own doing all of this in another legend, right? And um, so instantly you're like, oh my god, and you just feel this need to hang out with them, and you know, he he he scared me a little bit. Like, I don't know if he knew what was going on half the time, and so you start feeling like you take responsibility for them a little bit, and then maybe that's on me. So I find these connections with older people, it's like bittersweet because it's like a little bit heartbreaking to watch them sometimes navigate certain things, but at the same time, you're like, good for you, you're out here. Like a lot of 25-year-olds wouldn't have done what some of these people are doing. So, yeah, fascinating people. I mean, not everyone I travel with is old. Let me uh let me like make that clear. But sometimes those are the people that stick out, right? Like the people that have like, you know, got a lot of uh miles on the old backpack.
SPEAKER_03:Mm-hmm. Well, yeah, your book is specific on one area, but it can really apply to um anywhere you go, no matter what, right? It's doesn't this isn't this is more about the people, not necessarily about the destination.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and this book, I mean, it's just it's not all about the people. I mean, that's the the title because really when I at the end of the day, I was like, yeah, these are the people, the situations, but um certainly, of course. I mean, you can go anywhere. I did a canoe trip up in northern Ontario, and the people I met on that for like a three or four-day venture, you know, there's a few characters in there. I think, you know, it takes a certain person to do these things. Like not everyone is watching Netflix and hanging out at home, although I have no problem doing that either. But um, you know, you there's people out there that want to have adventures and live their life differently, and um and they come in all shapes and sizes, and and that's the beauty of it. I remember being in Peru, and there was this woman there from England. I would never have been friends with her in regular life. There would have been no way that we probably would have even crossed paths. We had nothing in common. We like I she was um not at all an active person. I was super fit at that time. And and I think like, and not that that's the be all and end all, but there was just there would have been no way. And then you get thrown into like a situation and you're just like you become so attached to some of these people that again would not just not be a part of your regular world. And I think there's good lessons in that, right? Like it does remind you to like let go of biases and judgment and all of these things. I think that's what we like about travel. Like it's the people you meet, like kind of reminds you of your vulnerability and also of your authenticity. Like, I think when you're meeting people on the road, um, you can be a different person. Maybe you're your most authentic self. Maybe you're more authentic there than you are at home. Yeah, and they they bring out a side of you that you you don't always tap into when you're in the grind at home, you know?
SPEAKER_03:For sure. I would it's funny you mentioned that I was gonna ask you that. Uh do you think the the people you've met in your travels you would actually uh strike up a conversation with or friendship with uh in everyday life? And I'm chances are no, because we're all just sort of staring at our phones and you know, in our own little world when we're back at home, and and uh that's just the way life is. And and you're right, travel kind of opens up your whole uh character.
SPEAKER_02:Totally. And I think the whole phone thing is interesting. I mean, I'm 50, so my first trips, like in my 20s, um, you know, even in my early 30s, even this trip that I I wrote about, I mean, we didn't have cell phones, we didn't have GPS, we didn't have anything. And there's pros and cons to all of that. I'm the first person to say that you know, having a GPS when you're lost in a town or a city or anywhere is a beautiful thing these days. But I do recall about 10 years ago being uh on a hiking trip, um, the Tour de Mont Blanc, which is amazing, and everyone should do that if they like to be outside. And we were in this um, so that on that trip, you're hiking through France, Italy, and Switzerland in a in a circle there. And I remember one day being in a hut at lunchtime, like in Italy, eating the most beautiful food with the most incredible view, and everyone around the table had their phones out, and they were like, um, and I was I for and to me, like um yeah, that's the time to put your phone away. Like, that's the thing I still love about traveling, especially when you've met a cool group of people. It's like put that phone away and like go back to grassroots here. And I don't know, that I just find that very sad. And it's also like, yeah, like that was a group trip and your days are limited with these people. And it's like, what like let's enjoy each other because we'll probably never see each other again.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly.
SPEAKER_02:And like, really, you're gonna look at what's happening on Instagram? Like, give me a break. I just I struggle with that still to this day.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and you know, with that too, I think if you're gonna bring your phone out, maybe you should just use it for a language app. So language isn't even a barrier anymore because it isn't now. There are apps for that. And so if you're having uh if you think, oh, I I don't know the language of that person and vice versa, that can be conquered too.
SPEAKER_02:Totally. And that is a beautiful thing too. I mean, we take that for granted, right? I think when you're raised in an English speaking country, we're very privileged because a lot of the world speaks English and you forget um that that's not always the case. But wow, like what a development that is, you know, when you can translate and communicate, especially in dicey situations. It's just like, whoa, where was this a million years ago for us?
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. So what do you hope that people get out of the out of your book after they've read it? Like an inspiration to go to Southeast Asia or just just to you know let your guard down and and let people and just meet people and I think there's a lot of things like this.
SPEAKER_02:Is a book where whether you're a traveler or not, uh you'll get something out of this. So I think if you love to travel, it it will make you laugh because you'll be able to relate to a lot of the situations. Um I'm again, I speak very, very candidly. I will even complain about you know the things about travel that I don't like, which a lot of people who travel pretend that doesn't exist, but of course it does. Like there's highs and lows to travel, and we all need to admit that. So there's a lot of that in this book. So yeah, if you're an adventurous person, you'll dig that part. And if you've been to that part of the world, it will make you laugh because it's very just uh very rich in description. And I know people who have lived in Thailand or in those places, and they are like, Oh my goodness, I feel like I am right back to exactly where I was. So I think there's that. Um, I think that it can be inspiring, and it doesn't have to be about travel, it could inspire you to like get out and have your own adventure or to pursue something that you've always wanted to do and didn't have the guts to do. I think there's a bit of that in there. Um yeah, and certainly there's a lot of reflections about different people and how they come in and out of your life, and I think with that too, it's like you you meet people sometimes that you feel like you've known them your whole entire life, and they can for some reason or another they cross your path. And it's just sort of like letting them in and recognizing that and going with that moment and enjoying it. Um, but yeah, there's a lot in this book. It's funny. Um, you'll feel like you're on the journey with me. So if you don't want to go to that part of the world, then I've done it for you. Um, but yeah, I think there's you know, people read it really quickly, they love it. They say it's a page turner, and it's just it's a good laugh. Like, to be honest, it's very, very funny. If I can say that, it's funny.
SPEAKER_03:I have to ask, were the names changed of the of the people in the book to protect them?
SPEAKER_02:Uh 90% of the names were changed, yes. Yes, not mine, but um the main the other person, the main player in this, their name was changed, and uh yeah, most names were changed.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. What about a sequel now?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, people keep asking, and um I do. I have a lot of stories. Uh as I said, two years ago I took a year off, and um, and so I could easily write about all of that as well, but it's just time, you know. Uh selling this book is as much work as writing it. So if anyone is writing a book, let me tell you that once you're done, the work does not end. Um so, but yes, I would certainly love to. I love to write, I love to use my voice, and I do write in a style that makes people feel like they are right there with me. I'm talking directly to you. Um that's how I that's how my uh my voice is. So yes, I would certainly love to write another one. I just need to uh carve out the time.
SPEAKER_03:Nice. Well, the book is called The People You Meet Luxury, Leeches, Love and Laula with a host of interesting characters in Southeast Asia. You can find it on Melissa's website, flyroadway.com, and Rodway is R O D W A W A Y dot com. Uh, Melissa, it was a lot of fun chatting with you. Uh, I really appreciate your time.
SPEAKER_02:You too, Randy. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03:And that is our show for this week. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is Randy at theinformed traveler.org. And if you like what you heard, tell a friend. You can check out our website too at theinformtraveler.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveler.