Marybeth loves to write and she 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.
Award-winning author
Twelve books (three with National Geographic), countless travel articles, and numerous TV and radio appearances have built her devoted fanbase.
The Oprah Winfrey Show invited her to discuss her book “Gutsy Women,” and the New York Times Travel section ran a full-page interview with her. Her first book, “A Woman’s World”, was a best-seller and won the Lowell Thomas Gold Medal for Best Travel Book of the Year from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.
Mountain climbing is behind her now, but the gutsiness never left. In her late 50s, she and her daughter biked 3,115 miles across the USA, Pacific to Atlantic, for adventure, a good challenge, and a great cause. Their blog and sponsors raised $52,000 for the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
Arctic and Antarctic adventures
Recently, Marybeth tracked polar bears and swam with beluga whales in the Canadian Arctic, and kayaked through icebergs in Antarctica.
Marybeth has appeared on more than 250 television and radio shows, including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS Morning News, and National Public Radio. She also acted as the “Smart Traveler” radio host for the nationally syndicated Outside Radio show and as the travel expert/columnist for the Travel Channel on ivillage.com. Her work has also appeared in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Elle, Cosmopolitan, More Magazine, First for Women, and others. She has been a contributing editor at TravelGirl Magazine for 12 years.
Marybeth was on the cover of Outside Magazine, featuring her story of “How to Make the Great Escape” and how she found romance in Kathmandu” (he ended up her husband). She also hosted her own syndicated travel radio show for the magazine.
In another life…
In a past life, Marybeth was a successful businesswoman with Xerox and Honeywell. However, her insatiable taste for adventure could not be quelled, so she quit her job in San Francisco and spent two years traveling the world alone.
Marybeth has lived with nomads in the Thar Desert of India, Sherpa families in Nepal, Karen tribes in Thailand, the “Black Thai” hill tribes in Vietnam, gamelan musicians in Bali, Gaelic dairy farmers on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland, and Navajo sheep farmers on tribal lands in the American Southwest.