Multi-award-winning travel writer, journalist and author Aaron Millar is a native of Brighton but a resident of Colorado about which he has written for Essentially America. A contributor to numerous major UK publications and to CNN he is the The Times of London’s North American travel specialist and National Geographic Traveller’s USA columnist as well as the author of two books: 50 Greatest Wonders of the World and 50 Greatest National Parks of the World. In 2014 and 2017 he was named British Guild of Travel Writers Travel Writer of the Year, in 2017 the US Travel Association’s Best Destination Writer and for four years (2014,2016, 2017 and 2018) was winner of the Visit USA’s Best National Newspaper Feature award.
A native of Scotland now based in London, Neil Murray, is not only the freelance sub-editor of Essentially America and a regular contributor to the magazine but has also edited several Phoenix International Publishing travel guides, including the ones on the Great Lakes USA, California and the Capital Region USA. A former journalist with the London Daily Mirror and a regular contributor to the Scottish Sunday Mail, he won the prestigious first (2008) annual Travel Industry Association Discover America Travel Writer award for the best US Travel Destination article, The March of the Murals, which appeared in Essentially America in 2007. In 2017, he was voted Travel Writer of the Year by the Visit USA UK Association for his body of work on the USA. In 2018 he has been travelling to US destinations from the East to West Coasts researching features for Essentially America and other publications.
From road trips across the country to horseback riding in the wilderness of the Rockies, London-based American Kathy Arnold has been exploring the USA since childhood. An acknowledged expert on New England and Florida, frequent Essentially America contributor Kathy focuses on all-American experiences, from empty beaches and home-made ice cream to welcoming B&Bs and inns. The results are also published in national newspapers, magazines and popular guide books. A former BBC broadcaster, she has collected numerous awards, including the Visit USA Travel Writer of the Year award (2016) for her continued commitment to the USA travel industry. Still on her wish list? Cycling in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and finding great cafés and pubs along the way!
