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….

My laptop in the beach cabana. A target for thieves.

We all lock our hotel room doors and make copies of our passports as precautions, but how many of us think about the “digital dangers” of traveling?

Nearly everyone travels with a smartphone or laptop, making the possibility of  loss, theft, data interception and hard drive damage legitimate threats to personal data like photos, financial records and even medical information.

Even if you aren’t tech savvy, there are simple tools that can help keep your digital life safe on the road, like data backup solutions and VPN services.

Here are some tools to consider:

CrashPlan+ (https://crashplan.com)

A “set it and forget it” backup solution, CrashPlan encrypts and then backs up all of your files to a secure online server. If your laptop gets damaged, lost or stolen, you can access all files through the mobile app, or securely log in through another computer. It’s also a great tool for backing up and then accessing travel documents – itineraries, passport scans, insurance, important contact information, etc.

proXPN (https://proxpn.com)

A virtual private network (VPN) is a great way to ensure online activity and personal information stays private. Open Wi-Fi networks in hotels and cafes make you easy prey, and proXPN can ensure that no one intercepts your connection and steals your personal information – whether you are using your laptop or smartphone.

 

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Marybeth Bond