Living on a remote coral atoll for five years with no phone, plumbing and limited solar electricity prevented Celeste from getting an early start in her writing career - although it sounds idyllic, washing laundry by hand, digging your own well and sustenance fishing takes a big chunk out of one's day. She now lives in a small village on Tahiti, complete with flushing toilet and an Internet connection, and her travel articles have magically crossed the seas to appear in newspapers and magazines including the LA Times and Islands Magazine. She has contributed to around 40 Lonely Planet guidebooks and her award winning travel narratives have been published in Travelers' Tales anthologies. Having travelled to some 40 countries, Celeste speaks fluent French as well as conversational Spanish, Thai and Indonesian. In her spare time she can be found singing with a French Tahitian choral group, Tahitian dancing or distance swimming in Tahiti's spectacular lagoon. You can find Celeste on the web at www.celestebrash.com or read her blog at htpp://coconutradio.blogspot.com.

China Williams grew up in the pretty Southern town of Aiken, South Carolina, with romantic tales of her parent's past in California, the state of her birth, and their 1960s backpacking trip through Europe. Surrounded by this family lore and a name too strange for the Bible Belt, China was destined to leave her small town as soon as possible. Her first far-flung escape was to Germany through a high-school exchange program. She attended college in Annapolis, Maryland, a state below the fabled Mason-Dixon line but north of the sweet-iced tea line. After earning a degree in philosophy, she worked for a small geology magazine in Washington, DC, during Marion Barry's encore, post-prison mayoral tenure. Like a lot of gen-X-ers, China escaped to Asia to teach English in northeastern Thailand, an easy country to fall in love with. She backpacked through Southeast Asia as much of former Indochina was opening up to tourism. Returning to the United States, China settled in San Francisco, got married and worked as an editor with Lonely Planet. Later she became a freelance writer, commuting across the Pacific Ocean for twice yearly trips to Bangkok for various Lonely Planet assignments. She now lives in the subdued suburbs of Maryland with her husband and son.

Brandon Presser was born in Ottawa, Canada, and has lived in Paris, Tokyo, and New York City. Called a “rough-and-tough adventurer” by Entertainment Weekly, he has visited over 130 countries, and his travel writing has been featured in numerous publications including Bloomberg, Harper’s Bazaar, Condé Nast Traveler and Lonely Planet. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Mark Beales is an award-winning, best-selling author.

After receiving a scholarship to study journalism, Mark worked as a reporter in England for 13 years.

In 2004 Mark moved to Thailand, where he began a new career in teaching. Mark has dragged his backpack to more than 40 countries, writing for Lonely Planet, Insight Guides and others. His work has also been published by CNN, The Guardian and The Bangkok Post. He is currently Principal of an international school in Japan.

For more, visit www.markbeales.com

Greg Bloom (b. 1969) is a Manila-based travel writer and editor. He specializes in writing guidebooks about Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. Over the years he has been detained by authorities in Uzbekistan, taken a shlagbaum to the head in Kyiv, jumped out of helicopters atop volcanoes in Kamchatka, hit 100km/h in a Latvian bobsled, flown out the back of a jeepney in Puerto Princesa, and survived a bus crash on the back roads of Bicol on the Philippine island of Luzon - mostly in the service of Lonely Planet.

Greg dabbled in careers as diverse as Christmas tree salesman, ski bum, PR flak and New York City bike messenger before moving to Ukraine in 1997 and settling into a career as a journalist. He was editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Post, an English-language weekly, from 1999 to 2003. Since 2004 he has divided his time between Cambodia (Phnom Penh and Siem Reap) and Manila. His travel articles have appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post, the Toronto Globe & Mail and Action Asia, among other publications.

You can read about his travels at www.mytripjournal.com/bloomblogs. Greg also leads trips in the Philippines and Cambodia through his adventure-tour company, Bearcat Travel (facebook.com/bearcattravel).

Melbourne-based Shawn Low is Lonely Planet's Asia-Pacific Travel Editor. He is a regular contributor to the award-winning Lonely Planet Magazine (UK edition) and blogs for www.lonelyplanet.com and www.news.com.au. He has authored Lonely Planet guides to Singapore, Southeast Asia and China, and written for print publications such as Marie Claire Singapore.

Shawn has provided commentary on travel news and events in the media, including CNN International, Seven Sunrise, Ten News, ABC Radio, 2UE, 3AW and the Australian Radio Network.

Shawn was also the presenter and main subject of the China episode of National Geographic and Lonely Planet TV's Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled, which has aired internationally and was nominated for two Asian TV awards.

Find him on www.shawnlow.com and on twitter @shawnlow (twitter.com/shawnlow)

Watch a trailer for his show here: www.lonelyplanet.com/roadslesstravelled/china.cfm