Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer (1954-) is an extremely well known journalist and author known for writing outdoors/adventure travel books. His most well known book is Into the Wild, which was made into a film starring Emile Hirsch. Prior to this reaching the big screen, he was most likely known by the traveller classic Into Thin Air. Krakauer's website is accessible at www.jonkrakauer.com.

Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini (1965-) was born in Kabul, Afghanistan but now lives in the United States. He has written three uber-popular novels, which all are based, at least partly, in his country of birth. His most popular novel, The Kite Runner, has been made into a movie with plans also for A Thousand Splendid Suns to do likewise. Hosseini's website is available at www.khaledhosseini.com.

Henry Hemming

Henry Hemming (1979-) is an English born author best known for his non-fiction piece of work, The Ingenious Mr Pyke: Inventor, Fugitive, Spy. He has written a number of other non-fiction pieces, and to date Misadventures in the Middle East remains his only travel book. Hemming's website can be found at www.henryhemming.com.

Alex Garland

I'm not sure if there's a backpacker alive who hasn't read Alex Garland's famous novel, The Beach. In addition to writing fiction and screenplays, Garland (1970-) is also a film producer and director. Of late he has focused on the science fiction genre and recently wrote and directed the Oscar winning film Ex Machina.

Keith Foskett

Keith Foskett is a English born hiker and indie writer who has written books on three of the most famous through hikes:  El Camino de Santiago in Spain, America's Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail in the United States. He also has a great website which can be found online at www.keithfoskett.com.

Jung Chang

Jung Chang (1952-) is a Chinese-born writer living in the United Kingdom who is best known for her hugely successful family autobiography, Wild Swans which was banned in mainland China. Chang focuses on Chinese historical/cultural books and isn't afraid of putting out door stoppers - one is over 400 pages, with the other two being longer than 700 pages long! More information on Chang can be found on her website at www.jungchang.net.