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Matt Phillips
With an Irish engineer/poet as a father and English schoolteacher with a penchant for outrunning police in Venezuela as a mother, Matt was bound for a life of fun, adventure and grammar. He was born in Canada and spent his days growing up just south of Vancouver in the 'Land of the Sun God' (Tsawwassen, British Columbia).
So how did Matt land the coolest job ever? While out in his kayak and exploring the glorious waters off Vancouver, he spotted the most sublime sailboat he'd ever seen. Soon his plan was hatched, and the next time the 123-foot yacht entered English Bay he eagerly launched his kayak armed with a rather unique CV. The creative mixture of words, string, bowline knots and a tennis ball not only made it a memorable CV, but also an airworthy one! It successfully flew out of the kayak and eventually landed in the hands of the sailboat's owner. A week later and Matt was being paid to sail!
Oh...you want to know how he became an Lonely Planet author? It started by Matt walking away from riches of gold and his underground career (literally) as a professional mine geologist to wander for the better part of three years through 21 African nations, seven Asian countries and western Europe. His stories home, whether about sharing campfires with hungry hyenas in Zimbabwe, crossing the Sahara and dodging Mauritanian land mines in Mr Harry ('82 Land Rover) or running barefoot under Hanoi's dark skies while playing street games with local children (the accuracy of his mighty Birkenstock throw is still legendary in Vietnam!) managed to convince his friends and family that he should take up a career in writing. Matt was not so easily convinced, but eventually sent off an imaginative résumé (sans string, bowline knots and tennis ball) to Lonely Planet's Melbourne office. The rest shall we say is history.
Since joining Lonely Planet, Matt has researched and written on Canada, India, Cambodia (for Southeast Asia on a shoestring) and Kenya; next up are Niger and Ethiopia. If you want to have a laugh (usually at his expense) and some insight into traveling in India or Cambodia, have a peek at his popular Indian and Cambodian travel blogs on LonelyPlanet.com. Matt's freelance travel writing has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News and Oregonian.
Matt and his girlfriend George currently call London, England home.
His favourite place to travel is Ethiopia and his most valuable tip is 'leave the iPod at home and spend your time on buses chatting to locals'.
