Paul Carter (1969-) grew up in Aberdeen, Scotland before emigrating to Australia with him Mum at the age of 15. Years spent working on oil rigs gave him the perfect material as an insider on which to write his first two hiliarous stories. Make sure you keep an eye out for Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, as according to his website, this is being adapted to a feature length film. More information on Carter can be found on his website at www.paulcarterauthor.com.

Tim Butcher (1967-) is an English journalist and author whose travel books combine personal (typically, semi-hazardous) adventure with history. He usually seeks out not your normal travel destinations and is able to put his previous experience as war correspondent to great use. Butcher has a website with more information at www.tim-butcher.com.

Bill Bryson (1951-) needs no introduction as the father of modern day humurous travel writing. His non-travel books are just as equally popular, so make sure you also read his excellent science book, A Short History of Everything and his memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. You can find out more about Bryson on his website at www.billbrysonbooks.com (which will redirect you to a Penguin Books landing page) and he is also on Facebook at @BillBrysonAuthor.

Joe Bennett (1957-) is an English born writer and journalist who emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 29. He is a prolific writer with a keen wit and views the world very much through his own lens. 

Peter Allison is an Australian writer who is best known for his books about his safari guiding experiences in Africa. His books tend to a collection of short stories ("campside fire yarns"), which are relayed with a lot of humour. All his books, to date, have dealt with wildlife experiences. Allison is on Facebook and posts some pretty cool photos at @peterallisonsafari.

Mark Adams is best known for his adventure travel book Turn Right at Machu Picchu. His travel writing is characterised by loads of research (seriously, check out the notes at the back of his books) and his style very much reflects his reporting and editing background. Adams' books to date fall into the travel, adventure and history buckets and his work also appears in numerous national publications. More information about him can be found at www.markadamsbooks.com.