Days after wrangling a degree in biology from the University of Virginia, Julian Smith found himself hopelessly entangled in a self-publishing venture that resulted nine months later in the one-pound, eight-ounce On Your Own in El Salvador, the first in-depth guide to the country. Moon Handbooks Ecuador came two years later.

Tired of sounding like a third-grader with grammar issues, Julian returned to Virginia, where everyone kept saying the same thing: Didn’t you graduate already? After completing Moon Handbooks Virginia, he contributed to The Washington Post, National Geographic Traveler, Road Trip USA, Online Travel Planning for Dummies, and other publications. He has somehow earned a Masters’ degree in Wildlife Ecology in the meantime, eating smoked salmon and studying grizzly bears on the coast of British Columbia.

For more travel writing, photography, updates, and assorted oddities, stop by his website, www.juliansmith.com. Julian lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.