About our bloggers

Clayton Truscott
Clayton has spent the last eight years studying, travelling and working odd jobs. During this time, he cut his teeth as a writer penning articles for magazines, newspapers and websites. He spends most of his free time writing stories about surfing and imaginary people. In 2009 he published a book of his best ones so far, called Notes From a Night Bus. One day he plans to make a living doing this. He now lives in Cape Town and continues to write, surf and daydream a lot.

Frances Bailey
Frances has always been interested in the written word. From the great classics to the cereal box, everything is worth a read - even if only for the purpose of pointing out a few typos. She found her way into a life in the online sphere after a stint in consumer magazine publishing and teaching English as a foreign language. One of her ambitions is to go to the circus when she grows up.

Gugulethu Hlekwayo
'G' has recently exited the ivory towers (where he left behind a lucrative career as a hard hitting student journalist) and started writing for us. He would like to say he enjoys long walks on the beach, but hasn't seen a beach in months - despite living in Cape Town. He would also like to say he reads good literature but is more likely to be seen with a comic book. He one day hopes to realise his dual dreams of opening a Hamburger Muffin™ restaurant and getting his mother to read his blog.

Dan Baker
Dan graduated University in 2010 and came aboard our blogging team shortly after. He brought with him a wealth of writing experience garnered from his time studying and so it was only a natural progression for him to begin to write with us. Outside of the blogosphere he is a keen sportsmen, traveller and socialite and it is clear throughout his work that these traits continue to influence his writing strongly.

Matthew Wilke
As a youngster growing up watching Rambo, Rocky and many other Stallone films it comes as no surprise that Matt wanted to pursue a career in something action-packed like the military (what's really surprising is the fact he grew up watching Stallone and is still capable of speaking, reading and writing in English...) After several years in boarding school, Matt decided to not go through the rigours of being told when to make his bed and chose to rather take his wild imagination and train as a copywriter. Matt now loves to marry his fascination with history, battles, cultures and travel in his writing and will often find an overlooked fact about a destination and give it the attention he feels it deserves.

If you'd like to speak to the Essential Travel writers feel free to get in touch. We'd love to hear from you!