Born in South Carolina, Shann Fountain Culo has been traveling all of her life. She studied abroad in both Spain and Germany and has visited 26 countries—many of them before age 21. She speaks Spanish, Croatian, and rapidly declining French.

After graduating from Sweet Briar College, Shann owned a multilingual staffing company, tried her hand at corporate gifts, and taught Spanish (with occasional travel sabbaticals in between) before becoming a writer. Now a full-time freelance writer, she is a frequent contributor to Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler, and her articles have also appeared in Hemispheres, Four Seasons Hotels Magazine, and several other publications.

Shann began visiting Eastern Europe in 1992, immediately falling in love with Croatia—and a tall Croatian as well. She made 16 Croatia trips in all, many of them for months at a time, until finally moving there in 2004. She lives in Zagreb, Croatia, with her husband (the tall Croatian) and their two young children. Writing this book, she fell in love with the region all over again, and became a wine connoisseur and an expert in traveling with kids. She enjoyed getting to know Slovenia in more detail and making several new friends along the way. Shann spends her time writing, gardening, hiking, drinking coffee, and standing in line. That’s Rule #4 of living in Croatia: Get used to bureaucracy.