Maribel Steel is a published author, writer and inspirational speaker. She is legally blind and loves to travel using a white cane with bike bell attached. Currently she writes about vision loss for Verywell network and VisionAware (American Foundation for the Blind).

Laura Fraser is the bestselling author of the travel memoir An Italian Affair, as well as All Over the Map. She has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times, Oprah Magazine, Vogue, Sunset, More, Elle, Marie Claire, Gourmet, Salon.com. She’s also the co-founder and editorial director of Shebooks.net, which publishes short e-books by women.

Linda Lappin is the author of The Soul of Place: A Creative Writing Workbook: Ideas and Exercises for Conjuring the Genius Loci (Travelers’ Tales 2015). Her work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, the Literary Review, Prairie Schooner, Rain Taxi, and the Writers’ Chronicle, among others. She is a lecturer in English language and literature at the Sapienza University of Rome.

Tim Neville is a correspondent for Outside, Ski and Skiing magazines and a frequent contributor to the New York Times travel section. His work has been featured in Best American Travel Writing, Best American Sports Writing and other anthologies. He has reported from seven continents, loves languages, and lives in Bend, Oregon, with his wife and daughter.

Sally Shivnan’s travel writing has been featured in anthologies such as The Best American Travel Writing, as well as in The Washington Post, Miami Herald, Nature Conservancy Magazine, Washingtonian, Saturday Evening Post, railstotrails.org, baltimore.org and many other publications and websites. Her short story collection Piranhas & Quicksand & Love is due to be published in fall 2016.

Robert Moor is an award-winning essayist and journalist living in British Columbia. His first book, On Trails: An Exploration, was published in July 2016. His writing has appeared in Harper’s, New York Magazine, GQ, and many other publications.

Marcia DeSanctis is the author of 100 Places in France Every Woman Should Go, a book of essays on where to go in France and why. A frequent contributor to Vogue and Town & Country, she has also written for Marie Claire, National Geographic Traveler, BBC Travel, Tin House, and The New York Times. She is the recipient of four Lowell Thomas Awards for excellence in travel journalism.

Todd Pitock’s work has appeared in wide-ranging publications, among them National Geographic Traveler, Discover, The Atlantic, Nautilus, and the New York Times, and he has been anthologized and noted in Best American Travel Writing, Best American Science and Nature Writing, and other anthologies. He’s a three-time Lowell Thomas Award winner, including Travel Journalist of the Year in 2015.

Phil Cousineau is a freelance writer, documentary filmmaker, independent scholar, and creativity consultant. His thirty-plus published works include several bestsellers, such as The Art of Pilgrimage, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work, Stoking the Creative Fires, Wordcatcher, and Burning the Midnight Oil.

Since her first taste of Europe at the age of twenty-one, Evita Robinson has been to over twenty countries and lived on three different continents, including France, Japan, and Thailand. She is the creator of the NomadnessTV web series and the founder of the Nomadness Travel Tribe.

Costas Christ is Editor At Large for National Geographic Traveler and a member of the National Geographic Editorial Council. His articles and essays have appeared in some of the world’s leading publications, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, International Herald Tribune, and Sunday Times of London.