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Tony Kelly
I took up travel writing in 1991 after three years as a volunteer English teacher in China and Sudan. Since then I have written or contributed to more than a dozen guidebooks, and written for 12 UK national newspapers and a growing number of websites and magazines.
As the author of guidebooks to Mallorca, Menorca and Gran Canaria, I specialise in taking the most popular Spanish tourist destinations and finding something different to say about them. My love affair with Mallorca began in 1995 when I was commissioned to write about a walking holiday in the Tramuntana mountains. Three months later I returned to write my first guidebook, AA Essential Mallorca, and I have been unable to keep away from the island ever since. In ten subsequent visits I have slept in monasteries and five-star hotels, taken part in a mass overnight pilgrimage and even taken my family for a traditional Mediterranean beach holiday. In 2000 I was awarded a diploma by the Mallorca Tourism Board for my writing 'reflecting the true spirit and diverse nature of Mallorca'.
My interest in Spain has also taken me in the last five years to Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, La Rioja and Ibiza. And I don't only write about Spain! My other credits include guidebooks to Portugal, London and New York City, a book of walks in Suffolk, and articles on everything from cycling in Cuba to snow-shoeing in the French Pyrenees and dry-stone walling in the Yorkshire Dales. My passion for food and drink has taken me from the whisky distilleries of Islay to the apple orchards of Normandy and the sherry bodegas of Jerez to an Asian cookery course in Leicester, while my love of world music has led to far too many late nights in the salsa clubs of Cuba, the fado clubs of Lisbon and the flamenco bars of Seville. |
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Current projects
I am currently engaged in researching and updating material for some of my
guidebooks on Mallorca. My recent trips to Mallorca have focussed on
agrotourism, staying in monasteries, modern art in Palma and the renaissance
of Mallorcan
wine.
Upcoming family trips include learning to ski in Bulgaria with my eight-year-old
son (January 2004). The two of us have also become experts on theme parks,
having visited Alton Towers, Disneyland Paris, Futuroscope and the theme
parks of Orlando, Florida in the past year.
Other recent travels include walking and golfing in the French Alps, a visit to the male-only monastic republic of Mount Athos in Greece, wolf-tracking in Poland and an emotional return to Sudan, camping out in the desert beside pyramids, temples and sand dunes.
