Kirsten Noelle Hubbard is a travel writer based in San Diego, as close to Latin America as she can possibly get. By day she enjoys the California sunshine, but by night she dreams of white sand Belizean beaches and volcano-ringed Guatemala lakes.
Clockwise from the upper left, that's Kirsten with Bryson in Utila, Honduras; ziplining in Monteverde, Costa Rica; with Michelle in Caye Caulker, Belize; and by Lake Atitlan in Panajachel, Guatemala.
In 2004, Kirsten spent two months in Central America, crisscrossing borders, bouncing from coast to coast, savoring the exquisite scenery and warmly hospitable people, and the magic of the region has never left her. She's traveled through Central America many times since -- including a trip to Belize for her destination wedding in 2008 -- and has stayed in region's most luxurious resorts, as well as the grungiest backpacker hostels.
Along with her position at About.com, Kirsten's travel writing has appeared in publications like Luxveria, Destination Weddings and Honeymoons, Luxury Latin America, up! Magazine, Bellissima, bizMe and Pology. Previously, she served as Editor in Chief for DiscoverSD.com, Managing Editor for Pacific Beach magazine, and was a columnist with AOL City Guide.
Kirsten also writes young adult novels, and is agented by Michelle Andelman of Lynn C. Franklin Associates. Her debut, LIKE MANDARIN, sold to Random House/Delacorte in a two-book deal.
Kirsten graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a B.A. in Literature and Writing, a degree which served as a springboard into the travel writing industry. Besides Central America, she has traveled in Mexico, Southeast Asia, Europe, and all over the United States.
The travel bug bit me back in college. Now I'm a true addict - what I like to call perpetually peripatetic. Luckily, my career as a freelance travel writer allows me the freedom to indulge in my globetrotting addiction. Although I have traveled many places, my heart remains in Central America. No region in the world boasts so much diversity in so small a space as Central America, especially at so affordable a price.