Her Funny Bones Travel
Melinda Palacio -- January 11, 2008
Rachel S. Thurston was born with wanderlust and a gift for being both funny and entertaining. She's managed to market her unique voice under her various roles as a travel writer, outdoor and river guide, humor writer, photographer, and rock star. Her fans know her as the lead singer of King Bee, a retro rock n roll band. Although her forte is writing about exotic places around the world, her latest book venture is about the communities in her own backyard, The Beautiful Santa Ynez Valley.
The Santa Barbara resident of seven years was thrilled when her former photography teacher, Chuck Place, asked her to join him and write the text for a new book on the Santa Ynez Valley. As a writer, she was both excited about the opportunity to work on a book and the chance to learn more about her surroundings. "I get really restless with writing that doesn't teach me something," said Thurston. She thought she had gleaned plenty about the area during her four years as a guide to the Santa Ynez Valley, but she only scratched the surface of the area's rich roots.
"I had no idea of the layers of history, and that's what I like about writing. I learned about pirates on the coast and why you have this random layout of towns due to the stagecoach stops and the railroad. There's almost a little bit of heartbreak in each of the towns because they missed out on the trains and bypassed the 101 highway. However, it's allowed the valley to maintain the flavor and culture that's sustaining the county's wine industry."
Serendipity brought the outdoor and river guide to Santa Barbara. After a nomadic existence, filled with tents, adventure, and tupperware, Thurston wanted to focus on her writing. After her first winter, she fell in love with Santa Barbara and began interning at The Independent, a weekly paper. She took lots of classes and met Chuck Place through a photography course at Santa Barbara's Adult Ed Program.
Two years ago, she received her Masters in Professional Writing from USC and has since seen her work published in several places, including the Los Angeles Times, Santa Barbara Magazine, and two of the best-selling travel anthologies, What Color Is Your Jockstrap? and More Sand in My Bra. The world traveler has also developed a niche for portraiture, especially photographs of mothers and their babies. She delights in writing and taking photos, but her absolute favorite activity is combining storytelling, music and images in nifty travel slideshows, some available on her blog.
The young author continues to take off to places far beyond Santa Barbara. Both her parents instilled in their daughter a love for writing and travel. In her Indiana hometown, Zionsville, most of the kids she grew up with took family trips to Disney World, while she and her parents ventured to exotic places such as Botswana. Recently, Rachel's mother "Mama Chihuahua" has become her favorite travel partner and the subject of some of Thurston's travel essays. Mother and daughter have bonded over eating roasted cockroaches in Cambodia and trekking through India and China. "She's the best travel partner I've ever had," admits Thurston. "Every trip reveals something new about my mother." This month the two are headed to Morocco. Thurston is very excited to include her partner, Steve. "It's been my dream to go to Morocco for as long as I can remember."
Considering her many jobs, it's hard to believe that Thurston has been the lead singer of a band for the past six years, and has a new book under her belt, The Beautiful Santa Ynez Valley. She is truly grateful to the town that has fostered her storybook career. "All of my creative dreams continue to be fulfilled in Santa Barbara," said the 34-year-old writer.
"I feel a good sense of community. It's a place that's felt most like home. My biggest challenge is creating balance between all the things I love."
Read more about Rachel S. Thurston's adventures.