ABOUT

WHO AM I?

A Londoner for 10 years, the pandemic brought me home to Northumberland: from the most populated county to the least. It felt natural to be back in the outdoors, even on the most bracing wet and windy days. At the same time, I began freelancing.

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In 2021, I'd returned from a summer in Portugal, when my school friend spontaneously invited me to the Isle of Arran, off Scotland's west coast. Only a few hours' drive and a CalMac ferry from us, the trip was close to home but a world away. I learned how to go off-grid, my innocent questions such as 'how do you wash?' (in the lake) and 'what's this shovel for?' (well... let's not go into that), opening my eyes to a different, wilder, way of travel.

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Craving another adventure, I ‘moved into my car’. With a mixture of car-camping and staying in bothies - rudimentary shelters for hikers - I spent weeks exploring remote corners of Cumbria, Northumberland and the Scottish lowlands. 

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Soon after, I flew to Nepal alone and with not much in my backpack, bought a load of harsh-weather gear in Kathmandu, and headed into the mountains. I completed the Annapurna Circuit, Mardi Himal, Khopra Ridge and Everest Base Camp treks, and hiked with guides through the Chitwan jungle. With a taste for long journeys on foot, this autumn I trekked the new High Scardus trail, through Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia.

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Time in remote places has put me more in tune with the environment and wildlife, so I gravitate towards stories of conservation and eco-tourism. I’m also looking forward to working on the RSPB reserve of Coquet Island, in Northumberland, as a seabird habitat volunteer.

WORK HISTORY

Before my leap into freelancing, I was an editor at Rough Guides travel books and before that, staff on the Daily Mail travel desk. I temped as a full-time commissioning editor for six weeks at Culture Trip in May/June 2021.

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ARTICLES

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My writing has appeared in: National Geographic Traveller, the Times, VICE, the i, Radio Times, FUSED, Time Out, Grazia, loveEXPLORING, You & Your Wedding, the Arbuturian, the Travel Trade Gazette (TTG), the Mail on Sunday and the Independent among others.

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BOOKS

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I'm the author of the 2021 Insight Guides travel book: Explore Canada.

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Coffee table hardbacks: I contributed entries to Rough Guides'100 Best Places in the USA and co-edited Make the Most of Your Time on Earth.

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I have edited too many guidebooks to mention – a few of my favourites are: Insight Guides Alaska, Insight Guides Spain, Rough Guide to the Scottish Highlands & Islands, Rough Guide to Canada, Rough Guide to the USA and the Rough Guide to Australia.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

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I am passionate about visual storytelling and love to match pictures with words - you can see some of my images on Instagram and in my photo story from Everest Base Camp.