Samantha is one of Australia’s few female motoring journalists, a television presenter, professional driver and driver trainer. She joins our team as our expert motoring writer. Cars are her life, livelihood and passion – a love that begun at the age of five with a golf buggy-powered Mighty Boy called ‘The Brat’. Fast forward a few years and Samantha now has her own all-girl rally team and with her navigator Claire Ryan has won a national title, and recently became the first woman to win a national rally outright in Australia. In this issue, Samantha test drives the Lotus Exige 260S Final Edition at Chuckwalla Raceway in the deserts past Palm Springs.

John is a cruise writer/editor for many magazines, papers and websites. His early career was as a producer/director in the Australian and American film and television industry and he also worked in advertising for J. Walter Thompson and McCann Erickson as group head of TV. In the US, John worked for 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures as a producer and was co-creator of a top network show. Later switching to hotel and casino management, he was an executive with Caesars Entertainment and a VP with Playboy in the USA, responsible for worldwide PR and marketing. In recent years he set up government training programs and taught hospitality and media studies. John’s passion for travel writing and photography sees him cruising and writing year round.

Laura was born in 1973 in a small seaside Italian town. Her family migrated to Australia in 1986, where she developed an extreme fondness of warm temperatures. After a trivial yet cataclysmic ‘a-ha’ moment in 2004, Laura left behind all that was familiar, safe and warm and embarked on a six-year stint as an overland tour guide. Her travels saw her discover South America (over and over again) and venture into the black depths of Africa, from where she emerged tanned and happy. A year-long stint through the Middle East cemented her belief that she is inherently tropical, and has spurred her onto the next adventure: a motorbike trip from Europe to Australia. Crossing Siberia in winter is most definitely not in her agenda…yet.

Jess is a private investor who had the misfortune of starting her trading adventure in July 2008. She is currently trading shares and using CFDs to trade selected commodity and equity indices and intraday FX. The markets are her tool of choice to create a life worth living, so a lot of her time is devoted to learning about the markets and, as an extension, herself. She is also a fledgling property investor, having completed two projects – a renovation and a new build – and is currently on the brink of a new reno/subdivision project. She is fascinated with investing and everything that goes with it, and loves sponging inspiration and knowledge from various mentors and experts in their fields. Jessica is a contributor to Your Trading Edge Magazine and writes a blog that explores the emotional and psychological impact of trading. You can subscribe for free at www.roguetraderette.com

Greg was born travelling. Growing up in the highlands of Papua New Guinea where his parents were missionaries, he then spent much of his unusually long adolescence traipsing around Asia where he mastered several languages. While in theory completing an impressive honours degree at the University of Melbourne, most of his time was actually spent in some of the most obscure parts of the world learning about people and places that would be of no use whatsoever. Luckily, several years in China equipped him with the language skills, networks and knowledge to manufacture and import useful things which served to keep him in the lifestyle to which he had become accustomed. He now enjoys writing of his exploits, consulting to companies that need a hand doing business in China, and dragging unsuspecting victims (often his wife and two-year-old son) to new frontiers. His favourite parts of the world include Western China, Mongolia, Pakistan, Morocco and France.

Christopher was born in the year 1980 in the sleepy town of Edgeley, Greater Manchester. Originally a marine biologist, Christopher spent the early part of his adulthood jumping from job to job, often taking on completely different roles. Although frequent career changes allowed him to visit various parts of the UK, Christopher was unsettled and yearned for adventure. With a mind filled with exploration, and a name far too exotic to remain in England, Christopher began to travel the world. Since then, working on a Bolivian pig farm, travelling across Africa and experiencing Christmas in the Australian sun are just a few of his many accomplished adventures. Now completely hooked on travelling, the adventure doesn’t show any signs of stopping, with a trip to Sao Paolo on the cards.