The beginning.

This is where I am right now: I am already a contributer for Rough Guides, having done several projects for them since 2007 - in the Baltics, in Spain, in Russia, in Chile. In 2008 I was lucky, because I got the opportunity to rewrite the Chile chapter for the South America budget guide from scratch, which led to my working on half of the Chile country guide.

In 2009, I was luckier still, when I met Lonely Planet's requirements and was welcomed into their ranks. I still haven't had any luck with my pitches, though I'm hopeful about an Eastern European or Caribbean assignment later on this year. I've pitched for everything I could; all I can do now is wait.

In February 2010, while loitering by the Trailblazer guide stall at a travel show in London, I ended up meeting Bryn Thomas, the founder of Trailblazer and author of the original guide to the trans-Siberian railway, which remains the best current guide. He mentioned that he wanted to update it this year; I offered my services; he thought about it and decided it'd be a good idea, and now I've got that project to look forward to. Meeting up next week to discuss details.

With Rough Guides, the next step would be to become a royaltied author by writing my own guidebook. I've already pitched the Rough Guide to the trans-Siberian railway, but I won't be able to do it until 2012 because of my involvement with Trailblazer, so the next one I have in mind is the Rough Guide to Ukraine. Not only is my family from there, but I have worked and travelled there, I speak the language (well, Russian) and I have the unique perspective both of someone who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, and that of a Western visitor. I understand the country and its mentality. Then there's also the Rough Guide to First Time Eastern Europe; the one to just Europe already exists, so it either needs to be extended, or I could do a separate one.

Apart from guidebook work, I want to expland into other areas: I want to do some travel-related magazine articles and I'm currently working on a book - a tribute to a friend who died last year - mostly a travelogue about Chile, but with snippets both from his life and from mine. So far it's very fragmented and I'm not entirely sure of the structure, but I trust it will come together eventually. Finally, I've just been commissioned a 2,500 word article on Robinson Crusoe Island - Chile's remotest territory - by Real Travel magazine; luckily, I'd gotten into the habit of writing up my travels in great detail a few years ago, so all I need to do is whittle down the 5,554 words I already have and give them shape and direction.