REVIEW Misadventures create plot of vacation guide

'Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals' pursues danger and love.
By THERESA M. HEGEL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
"Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals: Adventures in Love and Danger," by Wendy Dale (Three Rivers Press, $13).
When most people go on vacations, they seek out sun-soaked beaches or secluded cabins in the woods -- peaceful places that are perfect for relaxation.
And if they want a little excitement, perhaps they'll buy a ticket to the nearest amusement park and hop on a roller coaster.
Author Wendy Dale, on the other hand, chooses travel destinations based on how dangerous they are and/or how illegal they are for U.S. citizens to visit. She's dodged bombs on the southern border of Lebanon, shopped on the black market in Cuba and spent quite a bit of time visiting prisons in Costa Rica.
"Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals" is a hilarious documentation of Dale's misadventures in various foreign countries. Mixing dry asides and inspired wackiness, her writing style is reminiscent of the late Douglas Adams'. Since his name appears in her dedication, it is safe to assume his works had a strong influence on Dale's writing.
At the beginning of the book, Dale is laboring unhappily as a corporate writer at a company full of aeronautical engineers, whose best attempts at humor are repetitive cracks about how you'd have be a rocket scientist to do their job.
When her parents inform her that they are selling their car and house and moving to Honduras with her teenage brother, Dale is shaken up to say the least.
Real life insights
After a Christmas spent in Honduras with her family, Dale is inspired to set out on a globetrotting quest to reclaim the freedom of her missed adolescence. Dale discovers the difference between "real life" and traveling.
In real life, she has to live with the consequences of her actions and has to deal with the pain of being dumped, but anything bad that happened while on vacation ended the moment she boarded her return flight.
"Every time I showed up at a travel agency, I was buying myself another ticket to irresponsibility," Dale writes.
Of course, this all collapses when she meets a man with intriguing blue eyes and interesting stories while visiting a prison in Costa Rica. She falls for him, believes that he is innocent and invests all her time and efforts to clearing his name.
Dale spends a good portion of her narrative trying to convince readers of her high intelligence, even as she describes herself doing stupid things. She proves that there can be a big difference between book and street smarts.
Although she sometimes comes off as arrogant, self-centered and more than a little misguided, Dale's wit and talent as a writer are never in question. Plus, it's always fun to read about someone discussing exciting exploits in exotic locales.
With "Avoiding Prison," Dale not only produces humorous and compelling travel writing but also embarks on a voyage of self-discovery. Though Dale begins her journeys intending to revel in immaturity, she emerges a more mature and insightful woman.
hegel@vindy.com