Stories
Frankfurt Bookfair
I recently returned from the Frankfurt Bookfair. With over 4,000 exhibitors from around the world spread through six multi-story halls, it's the world's largest trade fair for book publishers. And what an event! Aside from a couple of meetings, I spent an entire day...
New coffee table book
My first Canadian Rockies coffee table book was published 15 years ago by Summerthought Publishing. This year, the company published a new version of the book, with new photos and captions. It is designed as a souvenir of the Canadian Rockies, featuring photos of the...
Moon Newfoundland and Labrador: New edition
On 1 April 2025, the newest edition of my Newfoundland and Labrador guidebook by Moon Travel Guides was published. It was busy schedule researching this newest edition as the province has seen a surprising number of changes (for the better) in recent years as it...
My Favourite Canadian Restaurants
As a former academy member of Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants I've had a chance to eat at many great dining rooms around the world, but, for me at least, the most renowned restaurants don't always equate to the most memorable dining experiences. This was...
New edition of DK Eyewitness New Zealand
I wrote and updated multiple editions of Moon New Zealand, which required a tremendous amount of on-the-ground research to make sure readers had the very best recommendations for what to see, where to stay, and what to eat. For DK Eyewitness New Zealand, the focus is...
Jasper Wildfire
Seeing firsthand the devastation caused by the July wildfire that destroyed almost a third of the town of Jasper is shocking, and talking with our Jasper friends whose lives have been upended is heartbreaking. But I spent a couple of days in Jasper earlier this fall...
New editions 2024
Most of the research I did for guidebooks published in late 2024 was done through the spring and summer of 2024, including trips to all Atlantic Canada provinces. A new edition of Best of Glacier, Banff and Jasper National Parks was published in March 2024 (2nd...
New edition of DK Eyewitness Canada
I've updated and edited multiple editions of DK Eyewitness Canada over the last 15 years. For the most recent edition, I updated the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Newfoundland chapters as well as te front and back section chapter. The new edition was...
Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society
It was a memorable experience this week in Ottawa to have been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, joining a list of Canada’s most intrepid explorers, geographers, writers, astronauts, actors, and former Prime Ministers as inductees. From...
New Nova Scotia Lodgings
For my most recent update of the Moon Atlantic Canada guidebook (publication in 2024) it was great to see a new wave of lodgings in the region, especially in Nova Scotia. As recently as a decade ago, choices were limited to familiar city hotels, roadside motels, bed...
Moon Handbook Reviews
I've worked for most major guidebook publishers, and each series has its sell points, but the Moon guides have always stood out to me for their stellar reputation as go-to guides for travelers that are serious about learning more about the destinations they visit....
50th Anniversary of Moon Guides
It was a memorable weekend in San Francisco helping Moon Guides celebrate 50 years of guidebook publishing. A testament to Moon's stellar reputation was the attendance of guidebook publishers from as far away as Europe and Asia, dozens of guidebook writers, and over a...
New Edition of Moon Victoria and Vancouver Island
I spent a big part of last summer out on the west coast researching the newest edition of the Moon Victoria and Vancouver Island book, including family trips to the far north that included a few days at Telegraph Cove Resort, which we all love for the renovated...
DK Eyewitness Canada
Published by London-based Dorling Kindersley, The Eyewitness series is renowned for its photographic coverage of destinations around the world. I've worked as an updater and editor on multiple editions of DK Eyewitness Canada, and many of my photos have been used over...
New Moon Editions 2022
Although travel restrictions to Canada were lifted earlier this year, International travellers have not returned to pre-pandemic numbers. That said, Banff was as busy as ever this summer with local and domestic travellers filling hotels, restaurants, campgrounds, and...
Buying and selling photographs in 2022
Buying and selling photographs in 2022 has changed greatly. It wasn't that long ago that I was selling golf course and rodeo photos through a major stock agency, paying Agpix for a daily email want list, and relying on Cradoc software for photo pricing. How things...
Moon Best of Glacier, Banff & Jasper
Avalon Travel has been publishing books in their new "Best of Parks" series for a few years, but all titles have been to U.S. parks. I was approached by the company last year to co-author a new book in the series that would combine Glacier National Park with Banff and...
Baedeker’s Canada, 1894
A few years ago, I became interested in finding a copy of the first guidebook written to Canada, and reading firsthand what the author had written about my hometown of Banff, which was a popular tourist destination along the Canadian Pacific Railway as early as the...
New Moon editions, 2021
Although travel to Atlantic Canada remains restricted, Avalon Travel went ahead with their scheduling for my Atlantic Canada updates, with the three books I updated in 2020 going ahead with 2021 publication. The only difference to past years is that rather than being...
Flying During COVID
I cancelled all work-related travel for this year, but our family also wanted some ocean time, so we decided to head out to Vancouver Island and stay in a self-contained property, thereby minimizing risk to ourselves or others. Driving would have entailed food and gas...
New Moon Editions, 2020
Due to the pandemic, tourism in 2020 in the Canadian Rockies is shaping up very differently than usual. I am assuming that visitors will not be allowed to enter Canada for much of this year, meaning that the millions of tourists from the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the...
COVID 19 Banff
Riding out Covid 19 in Banff is no different to doing so anywhere else in the world. But there is a big difference for the town itself. As a tourist resort that attracts millions of visitors annually, most of the residents rely on the tourism industry for an income,...
The Evolution of Moon Guidebook Covers
Since the first edition of Moon Alberta was published in 1995 (right), the design of Moon covers has evolved greatly. At that time, Moon was the only major guidebook company that did not use a corporate colour on their covers, and every cover featured a different...
Million Mile Kids
Between my work as a travel writer, family vacations, and trips home to Australia, I had assumed a few years back that by the time our two children graduated high school they would be "million milers" through the Air Canada Million Mile Program, which gives those that...
New Moon Edition, 2019
As the proud new owners of a mapping company (gemtrek.com), 2018 was very busy for us. But sales of Moon Atlantic Canada had been very strong over the last year, so I was asked to write an update for spring 2019 publication. It was mostly updating prices and keep...
History of Moon Guidebooks
For over four decades, Moon guidebooks have been trusted companions for independent travelers the world over. But the books have evolved greatly–beginning with photocopied notes sold at Australian hippy markets to slick, full colour books distributed worldwide. One...
Key West Book
Key West Travel had been purchasing my Canadian Rockies coffeetable book for each of their guests for many years and recently approached me about developing a custom book designed especially for Key West guests. The end result is a smaller trim size that the regular...
Lake Louise History Book
I've been researching and writing a book on the history of Lake Louise for the past couple of years. Much has been written about the beauty of Lake Louise, but no one has to this point published a book devoted to local history. Much has been written about the Fairmont...
100 Books
I may have missed one or two, but Images of Banff, which was published this spring, is the 100th book I have authored, coauthored, or contributed to. (In this case I took the photos and wrote the text). There is a movement toward smaller soft cover coffeetable books,...
New Moon Editions, 2018
It was a busy 2017 research season for me, with manuscripts for four new editions coming due in September: Moon British Columbia, Moon Vancouver Island, Moon Canadian Rockies, and Moon Banff National Park. Living in the region allows me to spread my research out over...