Pocket Austin : Lonely Planet

Amy C Balfour

Amy practiced law in Virginia before moving to Los Angeles to try to break in as a screenwriter. If you listen carefully, you can still hear the horrified screams of her parents echoing through the space-time continuum. After a stint as a writer's assistant on Law & Order: SVU, she jumped into freelance writing, focusing on travel, food, and the outdoors. She has hiked, biked, and paddled across Southern California, the Southwest, New England, and the South. Her top picks for U.S. adventure include the cables of Half Dome, the South Kaibab Trail to Phantom Ranch, the road to the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, the Gauley River during dam release, and the doorbell at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. Amy has authored or co-authored more than 60 books for Lonely Planet, including Arizona, Los Angeles Encounter, Los Angeles & Southern California, Caribbean Islands, Discover Maui, Hawaii, Florida & The South's Best Trips, New England's Best Trips, New Orleans, Southwest USA, Texas, and USA. She has also written for Backpacker, BBC.com, hipcamp.com, Horizon Guides, theknot.com, Lonely Planet Magazine, Redbook, Sierra, Southern Flavor, Vegetarian Times, and Women's Health. Amy's essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Southern Living, the Washington Post, and the travel anthologies Go Your Own Way and The Thong Also Rises. She thanks you for reading this far.