Michael Hodson was an attorney in the United States until he sold everything and left at the end of 2008 in an attempt to circlet globe without using a single airplane. Sixteen months, six continents, and fifty-four countries later, he succeeded and just kept going. He has been permanently traveling, writing, and taking photographs around the world ever since.

Derek Smith, a teacher and writer, lives in Seattle, Wash. where he wanders the North Cascades and writes about education, faith, gender, travel, and place. He has traveled Mexico, Canada, and Thailand. Most recently he hiked the Kalalau Trail along Kauai’s Na Pali Coast. This fall, winter, and spring he will backpack through Central America.

Smith has blogged for www.magicalteaching.com and Renton Patch. He was recently published in When God Makes Lemonade: True Stories That Amaze and Encourage (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2013) and Response Magazine (Seattle University, 2012). A blog post on An Urban Teacher’s Education received 6,000 unique hits.

Smith has taught high school English for twelve years and has worked with students to produce award-winning newspapers, magazines, and books. A Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Special Recognition Adviser and WJEA’s Journalism Adviser of the Year, Smith speaks at journalism and education conventions around the country.

Naomi has always had a fascination in languages and travel, having taken a gap year to Russia, South America, France and Italy to brush up her languages as well as choosing to study French and Spanish at university to take advantage of the year abroad. During her year abroad, she interned for 6 months in Paris before volunteering in Medellin, Colombia and travelling around South America. In her spare time, she writes for her blog and spreads word to as many people as humanly possible about how amazing Colombia is.

Tessa is a 24-year-old writer, traveler, and adventurer hailing from Seattle, Washington. Her first trip abroad to Thailand and India, a study abroad focused on volunteering and sustainability,  opened the gates of exploration and she hasn't slowed down yet. She has worked with ' untouchables' in India, scuba dived in Thailand, backpacked through South East Asia, and studied permaculture on a WWOOFing farm in Hana, Maui. She has a bachelor's in Creative Writing from Western Washington University and hopes to one day write the next great American novel.

Flora Baker is a writer, travel blogger and avid volunteer. Over the last six years, she has lived in Florence and San Francisco, worked in India and Iceland, volunteered in Nepal and Lithuania, and more recently, spent eighteen months attempting to become fluent in Spanish while journeying around South America. 

After stints as a Colombian journalist, Bolivian artificial limb maker and Brazilian builder, Flora returned to London where she is now pursuing a Masters degree and chronicling her adventures online at Flora the Explorer. Her writing has appeared in The Huffington Post, Matador Network and National Geographic Traveler.