Greg Bloom

Greg Bloom (b. 1969) is a Manila-based travel writer and editor. He specializes in writing guidebooks about Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. Over the years he has been detained by authorities in Uzbekistan, taken a shlagbaum to the head in Kyiv, jumped out of helicopters atop volcanoes in Kamchatka, hit 100km/h in a Latvian bobsled, flown out the back of a jeepney in Puerto Princesa, and survived a bus crash on the back roads of Bicol on the Philippine island of Luzon - mostly in the service of Lonely Planet.

Greg dabbled in careers as diverse as Christmas tree salesman, ski bum, PR flak and New York City bike messenger before moving to Ukraine in 1997 and settling into a career as a journalist. He was editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Post, an English-language weekly, from 1999 to 2003. Since 2004 he has divided his time between Cambodia (Phnom Penh and Siem Reap) and Manila. His travel articles have appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post, the Toronto Globe & Mail and Action Asia, among other publications.

You can read about his travels at www.mytripjournal.com/bloomblogs. Greg also leads trips in the Philippines and Cambodia through his adventure-tour company, Bearcat Travel (facebook.com/bearcattravel).