About Marybeth, National Geographic Author, Writer

Curious Explorer. Award-winning author.

Gutsy Traveler: A woman, like travel expert Marybeth Bond, stands among purple flowers, raising her arms and smiling in front of a wooden building in bright sunlight.
Polar bear tracking and snorkeling with beluga whales in the northern Canadian Arctic.

Marybeth knows travel. She has hiked, biked, dived, danced and trekked across all seven continents – from the depths of the Flores Sea near Komodo Island to the summit of Kilimanjaro.

More recently, she tracked polar bears and snorkeled with beluga whales in the Canadian Arctic, then kayaked among icebergs in Antarctica.

Somewhere in between, four years of studying in Paris earned her two degrees – and a taste for good wine and strong cheeses.

Twelve books (three with National Geographic), countless travel articles, and numerous TV and radio appearances have built her devoted fanbase. She won the esteemed Lowell Thomas, Gold Award for the Best Travel Book of the Year from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.

Woman on cliff in front of a monastery in Bhutan
Yesterday’s Video below. A decade or more later. Is Marybeth still GUTSY? Here in Bhutan.
Marybeth in Antarctica with penguins, snowy mountains, and water—just the kind of moment travel expert Marybeth Bond would capture in a travel video.
Kayaking and camping near penguins in Antarctica.

Yesterday….

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Floating Market in the morning at Inle lake, Shan state, Myanmar
Bagan city downtown skyline cityscape of Myanmar at sunset

When I  traveled to “Burma”   for the first time, an iron-fisted militant government ruled and people were suffering from the horrors of one of the longest running civil wars in history. Myanmar has been slowly emerging from a prolonged era of isolation and repression with new freedoms of expression, a new Constitution and elections.

I was enchanted by the ancient Buddhist temples, fruit-filled rainforests, rich rivers, and friendly Buddhist people. If you go, I’m sure you will love the country and people too.

Returning recently, it is hard to believe that the country I visited in the 1980’s ever existed.  Myanmar has taken major strides to turn from a military dictatorship to a fledgling democracy and it’s now emerging from the shadows as one of the hot travel destinations for 2013.

Controversy has not disappeared, however. Among several concerns is the sectarian strife between Buddhists and Muslims in the region. But despite some peoples’ trepidations, support for travel to Myanmar is increasing and the country has even launched plans to lure in more tourists. Don’t wait. Go now! 

You can plan it all and go on your own (click here) or travel with an internationally recognized luxury tour operator like Classic Journeys . Click here.

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Travel with the locals in vans like this, or go with a tour operator and zip around in air conditioned vehicles.
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Smiles greet you from young and old.
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A typical scene on a rural road.

Marybeth Bond