User:(WT-en) Ian middleton-travel writer

Author’s Bio:

Ian Middleton is a freelance travel writer and photographer from the UK. He is the author of three travel narrative books and co-author of one travel guide to ancient Ireland, MYSTERIOUS WORLD: IRELAND.

Ian has also written for several publications, including Mysterious World, Backpacker Ireland, Walking World Ireland, Take your Car UK, Hackwriters, Romar Traveler, Travel With a Challenge, The Expeditioneer, and the Slovenia Times and Basingstoke Gazette newspapers. Ian's photography has been published in Mysterious World: Ireland, Masa Acher magazine, Bradt Travel Guides and the Slovenia Times newspaper.

For more information visit his website:

ABOUT ME:

Over the past six years I have travelled through Australia, Mexico, North America, Spain, Ireland, South America, Cuba, New Zealand and Slovenia. In 1997 I started working on a series of travel books charting my adventures in these countries. They tell of my experiences and of the colourful characters I met along the way. The reason I started writing these books was to show people just how much fun and adventurous travelling can be, and how it is not as dangerous as many might perceive. I also wanted to show that travelling alone need not be as lonely as you might think. These books are a perfect example of that. Another reason is that I have a terrible memory, and so at least this way when I'm old and grey, sitting in my rocking chair with my pipe, slippers and incontinence pants, I'll be able to read my books and think, blimey did I do that?

To the End of the World and Back was the first of these books to be published. In the summer of 2003 I hiked solo for 280 miles across Ireland, from Wexford to Donegal, in aid asthma research. Visit the walk for asthma link for more info and an article I wrote about it.

In keeping with the emerging interest in ebooks, My third title is an e-book story of my second ever long solo journey. It tells of how, as a novice traveller, I set off on an amazingly profound and comical four-month journey around the whole of Mexico. My two paperbacks, To the End of the World and Back and Hot Footing Around the Emerald Isle have also been released as e-books complete with over a hundred full colour photographs from each journey, and Hot Footing now also contains 18 new articles from return journeys to the Emerald Isle.

My latest paperback is a collaboration with Douglas Elwell called Mysterious World: Ireland, a lavishly illustrated history book/travel guide focusing on the history and ancient mysteries of Ireland. Learn about the fairies, giants, leprechauns, ancient kings and the many Celtic deities that have all left their indelible mark upon Ireland's culture and traditions. Find out where many of the country's ancient megalithic structures, fairy trees, raths and other sacred places lie, and read what the archeologists and tour guides won't tell you, the legends and folklore behind them. For example, if you take the tour of Newgrange, the guide will not tell you that according to Celtic mythology this, the greatest of all the burial mounds of Ireland, was once the fairy palace of the Dagda, the father god of the Tuatha de Danann, a magical race who once inhabited Ireland and were defeated by the Celts and driven from the land into the underworld to become known as the Sidhe (fairy folk) of Ireland.

Personal info:

I am 35 years old and unmarried. However, for years I was on the lookout for an attractive woman to accompany me to social functions, as the inflatable doll was becoming a bit old and worn and had the embarrassing habit of falling face-first into its dinner. My search came to an end a few years ago when I met, Nika, a beautiful girl from Slovenia who stole my heart, shares my passion for travel and has somehow managed to put up with me ever since. We divide out time between England and Slovenia.

My first loves are travelling, comedy and music. The first two I do extremely well with my writing and backpacking. The third I try to do when I can. I play a bit of guitar and sing on occassions, when I think no one is listening - I suppose I could be a famous musician, if I had any talent. I’d go on but I wouldn’t want the suicides of countless people on my concience.

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