OUR STORY A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

Greg Benchwick is an internationally acclaimed travel writer and children's author. His work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Lonely Planet, Conde Naste and more than 50 newspapers, websites and magazines worldwide. He has authored over 40 travel books and coffee table books for Lonely Planet and the Fodor's guide. When he’s not adventuring around the globe, or making up stories about passenger pigeons, Greg writes speeches and human interest stories for the United Nations on conservation, education and climate change. Over the past 10 years with the United Nations, Greg has served as the coordinating author on a number of publications on climate change and conservation. He is an expert on travel, international development, food, wine, Latin America, sustainable travel and adventure sports, and has also contributed as an authoritative expert for such media outlets as Newsweek, The Washington Post, BBC Radio, Rick Steve’s Radio and Let’s Travel Radio. In his free time, Greg writes short stories, children's books and screenplays, and adventures around the American West with his eight-year-old daughter and their 100-pound Newfoundland.