Laurie Weed is a passionate traveler and hapless romantic whose stories have appeared in four of the Best Women’s Travel Writing collections. A freelance copywriter by day, she also writes for magazines, guidebooks and newspapers, and co-authors “World Watch,” a weekly column for the Chicago Tribune.

Martha Ezell has worked as an educator, social worker, mortgage broker, apple-picker, artist's assistant, and documentary filmmaker. Her short films include "Taking Up Space: Socrates Sculpture Park," "A Visit to the Elephant Seals of Año Nuevo," and "Szechuan Summer." She currently works at Sonoma State University in academic technology. She's happiest when she's near the ocean and has recently learned to surf near her home in Sonoma County. This is her first published writing.

Kristin Zibell is an award-winning travel writer and travel blogger, and online strategist. She authors the popular travel blog Take Your Big Trip to inspire would-be travelers to live their travel dreams. A regular speaker on career sabbaticals, travel blogging, and web design, her work has been featured in Best Women’s Travel Writing, Bay Area Travel Writer’s Stories from Around the Globe, BootsNAll, Meet Plan Go!, and Nomadic Matt. When not traveling locally around San Francisco, she is always planning her next big trip.

Marcy Gordon’s narrative travel writing has appeared online for World Hum and in many Travelers’ Tales anthologies including More Sand in My Bra, 30 Days in Italy and Best Women’s Travel Writing 2012, 2011 and 2010. She is editor ofLeave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana: Funny Travel Stories from the Road. She also writes Come for the Wine, a popular blog that features wine tourism destinations around the world.