Of all the extraordinary journeys that award-winning travel writer Mark Chesnut has experienced in his career, perhaps, none has been more profound than the one that led him right back home. In his debut memoir, Prepare for Departure, Chesnut unfolds a map of his movingly memorable (and thoroughly amusing) life as a self-described "misfit son" being raised by his single mother. He chronicles their final journey together as they grapple with a devastating illness in the way he knows best – with heart and humor. UAlbany Magazine sat down with Chesnut for the trip of a lifetime.

[Editor's Note: Answers have been edited and condensed for clarity and space considerations.]

Q: What was your journey from UAlbany to your travel writing career?

A: I was willing to stay in Albany after graduation because I love Albany, but I didn't have a job. My best friend from high school had moved to New York City and said, "You can crash on my couch until you find a job." I moved there and I started getting jobs in publishing as an editor and writer. I worked for a small group of weekly free community newspapers, but my passion had always been travel, ever since I was little, which is the focus of the book. So, on the side, I started doing freelance travel writing. I did a travel column with no pay for a small newspaper in Manhattan. Gradually, I used my freelance work to steer my full-time career. Eventually, I got a job as an editor and writer at a travel publishing company. That same company, after almost nine years, laid me off, but kept me on as a freelancer. I've been with them for 30 years, so it's worked out really well.

Q: How does travel writing compare to memoir writing?  

A: It is really different. There are travel essays that are somewhat creative, but in general, I tend to write more hotel reviews or destination guides that are factual. My goal is to communicate facts that will help you to plan your next vacation better and make better travel choices.  With the book, it's more about transmitting emotions and telling a story from beginning to end. It's been a really interesting journey. I hadn't done this type of creative non-fiction before, so it took longer as a result. But it's been a really interesting challenge and very rewarding to hear how people relate to it personally.

Q: How would you characterize your relationship with your mother, Eunice?

A: We had an interesting relationship that was almost always positive. She was a smart and funny woman and really tried to give me space to explore my own interests, which I truly appreciate. She tried not to judge. She did have trouble feeling comfortable with the fact that I was gay, and of course I wasn’t always the perfect son, so like any relationship, ours wasn’t perfect. But overall we got along very well, and her sense of humor, which she got from her father, was one of the greatest gifts she gave me. Plus, she gave me a typewriter and the travel bug, so it all worked out pretty well.  

Q: Humor is a big part of your book.  Why did you decide to use it and where does your sense of humor come from?

A: The humor in the book is very much my everyday humor because I'm easily bored by reality. I tend to invent things that are funny just to entertain myself. I've always imitated people. Since I grew up with family in the North and the South, I imitate different accents. My best friend in seventh grade and I worshipped flight attendants. We thought they were the coolest, the way they strutted down the concourse in the airports. Some of them were kind of snotty and that just made them cooler. So, we would imitate them on abandoned school buses in the fields near my house. It's all just part of who I am.  My humor comes from my mother and grandfather mostly. I learned to not take reality too seriously. In some of the more difficult moments in the book that deal with illness or not fitting in, humor stills plays a big part because if you can't laugh at something horrible that's happening to you, then what's the point?  

Q: In keeping with the travel theme, what is the final destination for Mark Chesnut?

A: Wow, you're good. I don't know what my final destination is, which I think that's how it should be. I have things that I'd like to do in my life, but I am also flexible. I'm open to anything. The last chapter of this book ends in the parking area of State Quad [at UAlbany]. That represents the end of one era and the beginning of the next era. Some of my college friends that I lived with here in Albany, they're saying, "So the next book has to be about Albany." It's interesting to come back to places from your past. It makes you remember the thoughts at that point in your life, right? So maybe it will be.

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