Karla lives in Chicago, where she has been testing bar stools and cheering on the Cubs (the city's hopeless north-side baseball team) for the past 16 years. She writes travel features for newspapers, books, magazines and radio, and has contributed to National Geographic Traveler, National Public Radio, the Chicago Tribune and Time Out Chicago, among many others. It's a long way from the early days, when she wrote about gravel for a construction magazine and got to trek to places like Fredonia, Kansas.
For Lonely Planet she has authored or coauthored Vancouver, Chicago, USA and Don't Let the World Pass You By: 52 Reasons to Have a Passport, as well as content for LonelyPlanet.com.
When she's not chained to her desk, Karla is a rabid traveler who might be found anywhere from the misty heights of Machu Picchu to the dripping jungles of Angkor Wat, from the cumin-colored dunes of the Sahara to that tasty donut shop down the road. Her itineraries have roamed through North, Central, and South America; Eastern and Western Europe; the Middle East; Asia; Africa; and Australia.
Karla speaks fluent English and confident Spanish ? so confident, in fact, that she didn't even carry a dictionary the last time she visited South America. She tromped around telling everyone she was an 'escritoria,' which she thought was the word for 'writer.' Alas, now that she's home, she's found out it means 'desk.'
Partner-for-life Eric is her sidekick in domestic and international adventure. He's the ultimate traveling companion, who never says no and pays for it by having to endure everything from bus crashes in the Vietnamese highlands to Civil War reenactments in northern Illinois.
Best travel tip: Bring a small, battery-operated radio to tune in to local music. Favorite place: Lhasa, Tibet.
Books Authored
Don't Let the World Pass You By!
52 Reasons to Have a Passport
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island Travel Guide
USA Travel Guide
Canada Travel Guide
Chicago City Guide
