Active and Adventure Travel Experts

Karen Berger has earned her reputation as a hiking expert with footsteps—literally millions of them. Seventeen thousand miles. Six continents. And hundreds of stories. She has hiked America's "Triple Crown" of hiking trails: the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide trails, and has walked across England, Scotland, France, Holland, Beligum, and the Netherlands, as well as trekked in New Zealand, Nepal, and East Africa. As a...

Nathan Borchelt has been writing about travel for the last ten years for such publications as The Washington Post, Outside, and Backpacker, splitting his obsessions between skiing, cycling, backpacking, hiking, scuba diving, and almost anything else. He's dived Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Roátan, Bonaire, Grenada, and Grand Cayman; skied in Japan; hiked the game trails of South Africa's Imfolozi National Park; biked through...

Deke Castleman is the author of eight editions of Compass Las Vegas, six editions of Nevada Handbook, one edition of Compass Nevada, and one edition of Utah and Nevada Camping. He lives in Reno and has been traveling around and writing about Nevada for more than 20 years.

Toby Gohn is typically found hiking the footpaths of Virginia, but has backpacked and hiked from Patagonia to the Cascades, Himalayas to the Andes. As a freelancer, he has contributed his experience on the trails to GORP.com and Away.com. His crowning achievement is a successful lightweight through-hike of the Appalachian Trail. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Mike Kautz is a Mainer, writer, and photographer who spends his winters in Montana and his summers in Maine. Mike grew up along the Maine-New Hampshire border and learned to hike, bike, climb, ski, hunt, and paddle in the foothills of the White Mountains. He is currently at work on a book of non-fiction about his home state.

Karen Kefauver is a freelance journalist based in Santa Cruz, California. Since 1996, she has specialized in writing articles about adventure travel and endurance sports with an emphasis on road biking and mountain biking tours. A former triathlete and competitive cyclist, Karen is always ready to hike, bike, kayak, skydive, or riverboard in an exciting destination. With a background as a print journalist and regular contributor to the San...

Though he cut his adventure teeth in the Wisconsin and Minnesota northwoods, Brian Kevin lives, writes, and plays in Missoula, Montana. He's the author of the Compass American Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, forthcoming from Fodor's in 2009. When he's nesting, Brian skips the adventure thing altogether and writes about books and music for magazines such as Paste, Plenty, and High Country...

Rockies native Kim Lipker is a writer, mom, and an outdoor enthusiast based in the beautiful town of Fort Collins, Colorado. The Rocky Mountains are her home, but her heart also belongs to Hawaii, where she has traveled extensively. Her children are sixth-generation natives of Colorado, and they've traveled right along with mom. Everyone made their maiden voyage to Hawaii early—before their first birthdays.

Kim has a fond...

Steve Metzger is the author of the first six editions of Moon Handbooks New Mexico (Avalon Travel Publishing) and the first five editions of Moon Handbooks Colorado (Avalon Travel Publishing), as well as Day Trips Sacramento (Globe-Pequot Press). He has published more than 200 magazine and newspaper articles in a wide range of national and international publications.

Johnny Molloy is a writer and adventurer based in Johnson City, Tennessee. A native Tennessean, he was born in Memphis and moved to Knoxville in 1980 to attend the University of Tennessee. It was in Knoxville, where he developed his love of the natural world that has since become the primary focus his life.

It all started on a backpacking foray into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That first trip, though a disaster,...

Jeremy Pataky lives, writes, and works as a hiking and climbing guide in Alaska. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana. ...

It did not snow enough for Adam Polinski this past winter, nor was it cold enough, so it was a lousy season for cross-country skiing and ice-climbing. But now's the time for canoeing, fishing, and bouldering, and he couldn't be happier. Although he didn't make it to the Catskills or Adirondacks this winter, Adam hopes to climb at Seneca this summer, and hike on North Fork Mountain.

In recent years, Adam coordinated and led the...

A native of Houston, Texas, Laurie Roddy has been writing for more than 25 years on everything from computers to the outdoors. She ran her own company, Roddy Communications, Inc. for 11 years after working as a technical writer for Compaq Computer Corporation for 10 years. She now freelances for several Houston-area magazines and recently completed the book 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Houston. Her main interests and current writing career...

With two young children now in tow, Alistair Wearmouth's travel perspective has shifted from digging out the best backpacker hostel in Kathmandu to coping strategies for toddlers on a transatlantic flight. A writer and editor based in Washington, D.C., his world travels have taken him through Europe, India, Nepal, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Canadian Rockies, and beyond. He has written for publications including Backpacker, The Washington Post, and Smithsonian.com.

Back in college, Bill Weir always figured he'd settle down in a career and live happily ever after. Then he discovered traveling. He dreamed of exploring the world, saved up some money, and quit his job. It was the best decision he ever made.

In 1976 he took off on his bicycle, "Bessie," and rode across the United States. That led to more trips, including a bicycle expedition around the world. Correspondence with authors of the...