David Stanley has spent much of the past three decades on the road. He has crossed six continents overland and visited 212 of the planet's 245 countries and territories. His travel guidebooks to the South Pacific, Micronesia, Alaska, Eastern Europe, and Cuba opened those areas to independent travelers for the first time.

For his first trip across the Pacific in 1978, David bought the longest ticket ever issued in Canada by Pan American Airways. Since then he has returned many times, visiting and revisiting the islands. His career as a travel writer began with the letters he wrote to Bill Dalton and Tony Wheeler, the pioneers of budget travel to Asia in the 1970s. That feedback soon led to guides of his own. With over a million copies sold, he's still on the road researching guidebooks.

Though David has traveled widely and become a specialist on many parts of the world, he keeps returning to his favorite area, the South Pacific. Also the author of Moon Tahiti and Moon South Pacific, David enjoys receiving mail from those who have used his guides. His website, www.southpacific.org, provides contact details.