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.

Sandra Wu is a digital nomad who enjoys helping promising startups find their voice. She has a "can-do" attitude that has led her on a journey across the world. As an adventurer, entrepreneur and blogger, Sandra challenges the status quo and is constantly on the look out for innovative solutions. She aspires to share her creative vision with the world and help others realize their potential and pursue their own dreams. Having lived in Beijing, Toronto, London, Budapest and Hong Kong, she is always excited to see what the world has to offer!

Sally uncovered her passion for travel in 2001 when she left Australia for the first time, and spent two years working and travelling in the UK and Europe. Her passport has since been adorned with stamps from over 50 countries, and she has lived in Canada, taught English in South Korea, and most recently, spent over a year in France, following her dream to return to Paris. Sally is passionate about photography, and also started a blog last year to chronicle her adventures in Paris, general musings, and photography. Teaching English may now be on the horizon again, with Asia beckoning once more. Sally’s other interests including reading inspiring books, health and well-being, and she is a self-confessed quote addict!

Moriah is an avid traveler and teacher of English as a second/foreign language. She has spent time volunteering, studying, living and working abroad in Sri Lanka, India and Japan and has visited over 20 countries and counting. In her free time, she enjoys discovering new places, cooking, cuddling cats and picking up foreign languages. Moriah also maintains a travel blog, which she updates as often as possible.

As a Third Culture Kid, Chelsea Co, who comes from Filipino, Chinese, Spanish, American descent, was born in New York City, but spent a majority of her existence in Hong Kong and the Philippines. She headed back stateside to earn a degree in journalism, with a concentration in photography, at the State University of New York and as soon as she graduated she was off to adventure the world. She's spent the last two years researching whale sharks in the Philippines, teaching flying trapeze in Indonesia, managing a kite surfing school in Australia, and saving sea turtles in Malaysia- needless to say, she simply can't slow down!