Lisa Giglio

I'm an expatriated Southern Californian who’s been living in London for the last two and a half years. I’ve always loved to travel and moving here was the first big step in what I hope to be a lifelong journey around the world, learning about and living in different international cities. My most recent travels took me to Thailand, Australia and Nepal, and was a mad adventure uncovering some incredible sights and ending with an excruciating trek into the Himalayas. It has cemented my feelings that Asia, especially the Southeast, is the best bargain for intrepid travelers looking for the trip of a lifetime every time they enter the region.

As far as hobbies go, my favorites are writing and reading in the bath, which I can do for hours. I've loved to read from a very young age and was encouraged to try out different authors and I find I've amassed a wealth of knowledge about the many genres within American literature. A brief study of English Literature at University has helped round out my reading library and my current crusade is to bring lesser known American authors to the attention of those readers who aren’t familiar with them here in the UK, of which there are many.

To pay the rent I've worked on and off in bars for years. It's a great job that allows you to interact with so many different kinds of people in a liberating setting: it's a writer's dream, stories on tap! I've worked in every kind of environment, from traditional pubs with beer-soaked carpets to swanky cocktail bars with esoteric menus that read like Greek. I've learned to know and love the many incarnations that the grape, the hop, the potato, the pear, the apple and other fruits and grains take that bring so much joy to so many people. I’m no expert mixologist but I can make a great Bloody Mary and I really enjoy tasting the new and different flavor combinations that seem to pop up in London bars every week. It’s cocktail heaven!

Accreditation-wise, I’m an honors graduate in the field of Corporate Communications, a member of Psi Beta and was first published at the age of 15 in a poetry anthology released within the United States. My last project was creating original copy for an enormous soon-to-be-launched luxury and lifestyle website that, at last count, encompassed over 10,000 pages, the focus of which was researching and reporting on the world’s most alluring travel destinations. It was a massive amount of work, but I’ve gained an intimate knowledge of some of the hidden treasures of the globe, which I can’t wait to share!