Those Who Love Deeply Never Grow Old

A lot of eminent historians and archaeologists insist that Plato invented Atlantis completely, but the explanation that one of the most important philosophers of all time would just make up this elaborate story about a sunken city and stick it at the beginning of what may have been his most ambitious work strikes me, at the very least, as a little weird.

AFTER FANBOYING OUT OVER HIS BOOKS AND TAKING A FEW SELFIES INTERVIEW:

I grew up outside of Chicago and studied English in college. I went off to grad school thinking I was going to be an English professor, but after getting my master’s, I took a year off and tended bar. One night a friend of mine said she’d met the managing editor of Outside magazine, and that she thought I should apply for their internship program. Working for a magazine had never really occurred to me; it seemed like something people did in the movies.

In 2009, while working as an editor at National Geographic Adventure magazine, I realized I was seeing pictures of Machu Picchu everywhere — on the cover of the magazine, in the office hallways, in the materials we sent out to potential advertisers. At that time Machu Picchu had roughly the same status for travel magazines as pre-scandal Tiger Woods did for Golf Digest. You could put it on the cover again, and again, and again, and people didn’t care. They’d buy it every time because it was on their wish list.

He may be telling stories for purposes we don’t fully understand. The Atlantis story, at least the first part, comes at the beginning of the work called Timaeus, which is Plato’s attempt to explain the nature of the cosmos and how the universe worked, which was arguably the most important topic that could possibly be discussed. A lot of eminent historians and archaeologists insist that Plato invented Atlantis completely, but the explanation that of of the most important philosophers of all time would just make up this elaborate story about a sunken city and stick it at the beginning of what may have been his most ambitious work strikes me, at the very least, as a little weird.

Since people can’t go to Atlantis like they can Machu Picchu, this book is much less a travel book than the other. What do you want people to take away from this story? Kerimov Stanislav

Well, that raises the question of what a travel book is. Hemingway’s novels in Spain? In Patagonia? A Rick Steves book? The Viking Cruises catalog? The thing I always tell people when they ask me how I became a travel writer is that I never became a travel writer, — I just became a writer, or to use a term that is overused these days, a storyteller. Everything I write is a nonfiction story with plot development and characters that change in some way during the events conveyed; many of those stories just happen to take place in interesting locales.

WHAT ARE YOUR THREE PIECES OF ADVICE

My grandmother was very into Atlantis, Ancient Aliens, crystal skulls, and the like, so when I was younger, she would always talk about them with me. Having grown up with an intense fascination with this stuff, I found the science and research behind proving or disproving the myth fascinating (my take: I think Atlantis existed as an advanced society by contemporary standards in Spain). Mark is a captivating writer and both his books were delights to read. Next year I’m heading to Peru and plan to visit some of the off the beaten path Inca sites mentioned in his book. Time to put on my own Indiana Jones hat!

WHAT ARE YOUR THREE PIECES OF ADVICE

Put your phone down, use the opportunity to explore, and you will be impressed.