Here's the truth: I am not an adventurer, an explorer, or a swashbuckling, machete-wielding, cheating-death-on-a-daily-basis action hero. You won't find me climbing K2 or skateboarding across the Sahara or, well, doing much that will actually impress you. And I'm okay with that. I prefer to keep my limbs intact and my tales of near-death experiences to a minimum.

I specialize in the offbeat, not “off the beaten path.” Sometimes that means following the tourist masses to try to figure out what they're so excited about, as in my trip to Hemingway's house in Key West (where the cats, not the writer, are the main attraction). And, yes, sometimes it means venturing farther afield, to places no rational person would visit, such as a remote North Sea island where I went to witness (from a safe distance) a traditional game that is part rugby, part riot. Either way, I aim to dig past the obvious, find the unexpected story, and tell it in a way that is both insightful and irreverent.

My travel stories and essays have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, World Hum (the Travel Channel's online magazine), The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Vita.mn, among many others, and anthologized in the Lonely Planet book A Moveable Feast: Live-Changing Food Encounters Around the World. To read some clips, click here.

I am based in Minneapolis, which I am convinced is one of the great cities of the world. Honestly. Come visit, you'll understand.

For more information, visit my web site. Actually, you're already here. But click here to go the the part about me, as opposed to the part about the book.