Biography

I am the author of Moon Handbooks to Argentina, Buenos Aires, Chile and Patagonia, and the National Geographic Traveler guidebook to Argentina. I have also contributed to print and online publications including Business Traveler, CNN.com, National Geographic Traveler, Latin Trade and the San Francisco Chronicle. I spend four to five months every year traveling in southernmost South America, where I own an apartment in Buenos Aires and my own car in Chile. I have traveled through every Argentine province and Chilean region, and lived more than year in the Falkland Islands. I am familiar with Uruguay, and have also visited Antarctica.

In the course of doing so, I have spent extended periods in the region's prime fishing areas, including Argentina's subtropical Río Paraná (resembling the Mississippi), the Andean lakes districts of northern Argentine and Chilean Patagonia, and more remote areas such as Chile's Aisén region and Argentina's Tierra del Fuego, not to mention the Falklands. I have extensive experience with travel and tourism services here, and can help plan efficient itineraries and make contact with providers.

I was born in North Dakota (Fargo, in fact!), grew up in Washington State, and earned a PhD in Geography from the University of California at Berkeley; I now reside in nearby Oakland, California. I have taught at Berkeley, George Washington University, the University of California at Santa Cruz and California State University East Bay (Hayward). From 1990 to 2000, I dedicated myself to Lonely Planet guidebooks on southern South America and some other destinations, before switching to Moon Handbooks and other freelance outlets.