British-born, New York-based Mark Ellwood has lived out of a suitcase for most of his life.

After studying at Cambridge University in England, he spent several years as tour director leading art tours around cities like Florence, Rome and Paris. After moving to New York, he joined the freelance team at Rough Guides US, and began zigzagging around the country, researching destinations as diverse as Key West and Niagara Falls; on the way, among other things, he's learnt what really goes into shoo- fly pie and spent a weekend in an all-psychic town (and yes, they did know he was coming because he called).

In addition to contributing to the Rough Guides series, Mark is a full time freelance journalist writing about fashion, travel and lifestyle. His work appears regularly in for the New York Times magazine, Travel + Leisure, The New York Daily News and the Financial Times among others. In recent features, he examined why Versace opening hotels while Ralph Lauren just selling vacations (short answer: Ralph smarter) to where & when men first slipped into a speedo (Sydney, 1961). Mark past year travel schedule has included a visit to Mayakoba, the Mayan Riviera canal-crossed answer to Venice; a turn as a judge at the Cocktail World Cup in Queenstown, New Zealand; braving Tahiti honeymoonland on a solo research trip; and a wet winter day on the rollercoasters at Disneyland Paris.

He the co-author of Rough Guides to Florida, California and San Francisco & the Bay Area. Solo, he written the Rough Guide to Miami & South Florida and Directions: San Francisco.