About Me
Born in London, I'm a British travel writer based in the UK & USA. I first trained as a news reporter and with a keen interest in history, geography, politics and the visual arts as well as literature, I am able to provide an approach to travel that is serious, creative and meaningful. Having lived in the Middle East for 10 years and so far travelling to over 100 countries, I am particularly interested in cross-cultural understanding and the neuroscience of human movement, migration and settlement, how these combine, and their challenges and benefits to the individual and wider society.
I gained a first class degree in English Language and Literature from Manchester University and was awarded a British Academy research award to obtain an MA in Critical Theory from the University of Sussex in 2000. With a career in journalism already underway, after completing The Daily Telegraph's one-year graduate training scheme, I worked on the newspaper's travel desk for 7 years. Following a 9-month career break spent backpacking through Southeast Asia and studying Arabic in Tunis, in 2008 I moved to Abu Dhabi to help launch The National, the emirate's first English language newspaper, and then edited its travel section. In 2011 I launched the Middle East edition of Ultratravel Middle East, a sister publication to The Daily Telegraph's large-format Ultratravel magazine. Whilst based in the UAE I travelled to countries including Yemen, Syria and Iraq and completed a National Geographic course in travel and wildlife photography. Since 2019 I have been based in Portland, Oregon, USA. Thanks to my father, I also hold an Irish passport.
“You can make anything by writing.”
C. S. Lewis