I landed up in the world of travel-writing almost by accident. Having completed a doctorate in English, I was all set to become a university lecturer. But academia didn't quite have the ingredients to quench my wanderlust, so I started looking for something completely different. And here I am: 10 years in the travel game. I still do a bit of teaching and write books on travel in my free time, but Getaway keeps me pretty busy. The job has taken me to some weird and wonderful places: sailing down the Niger to Timbuktu, learning to salsa in Cuba, crossing the Gobi Desert to Kyrgystan or cruising the Kenyan Coast in a dhow. It's a disruptive and nomadic lifestyle, but I wouldn't change it for the world.