Christopher P. Baker (born 15 June 1955) is a professional

travel writer The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern per ...

and

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

, adventure motorcyclist, tour leader, and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

expert, and the 2008 Lowell Thomas Award 'Travel Journalist of the Year.' He is a contributor to magazines and other publications worldwide, and is the author of travel guidebooks for publishers such as

Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarke ...

Moon Publications Moon is a travel guidebook publisher founded in 1973 in Chico, California. The company started with travel guides to Asia and later also published guides to the Americas. The company is now based in Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a cit ...

, and National Geographic. He is best known for his award-winning literary

travelog The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern perio ...

, ''Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba''. Baker has appeared on dozens of radio and TV outlets as a

expert, including on CCTV,

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, Fox News Channel,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, and ''Travel with Rick Steves,''. He is a public speaker and has twice addressed National Geographic ''Live!'' He is currently partnered with actor-singer

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943) is an American-British actor and singer. He is known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television series ''Starsky & Hutch'' from 1975 to 1979; Joshua Bolt on ' ...

in producing a cinematic documentary about the restoration of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

's 1955 Chrysler New Yorker convertible, in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. He is also well known as an adventure moto-journalist specializing in travel reports on international motorcycling for such publications as ''Adventure Motorcyclist,'' ''CNN Travel,'' ''Motorcyclist,'' ''National Geographic Traveler,'' and ''Robb Report.''

Education

Baker was educated at Rastrick Grammar School, in Brighouse, Calderdale,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. In 1976 he received a BA (Honours) in

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, during which time he participated in a university exchange program at

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Poland; and in two Sahara research expeditions. The following year he attended the graduate Centre for Latin American Studies, at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, where he received a Masters following his thesis on

agrarian reform Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land ...

and guerrilla insurrection in Colombia. In 1977, he returned to the University of London, received a teaching diploma from the

Institute of Education IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to ...

in 1978, and spent brief periods teaching at schools in London between periods of travel in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and North America. His first travel article appeared in the ''Brighouse Echo'' as dispatches from the United States. He also published articles on agrarian reform for '' Land&Liberty'', the publication of the Henry George Foundation of Great Britain.

Career

In 1980, Baker relocated to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where he received a

Scripps Howard Foundation The Scripps Howard Fund is a public charity that supports philanthropic causes important to the E. W. Scripps Company, an American media conglomerate which owns television stations, cable television networks, and other media outlets. The goal of ...

Scholarship to attend the

UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is a graduate professional school on the campus of University of California, Berkeley. It is among the top graduate journalism schools in the United States, and is designed to produce journalists wi ...

. He instead married a travel agent, Kristen Birner, and started work for Adventure Center, a wholesaler and retailer of international adventure travel. His principal duties included marketing plus brochure production. In 1981 he led a travel agent familiarization trip to New Zealand, resulting in publication of his first travel story in the US for ''TravelAge West.'' He launched his career as a

and photographer in 1982 and initially specialized in international adventure travel. His articles included first-person reports on such activities as

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

in Bali,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, and natural history cruising in the Galapagos Islands. In 1984 he became a contributing editor for ''International Travel News'', specializing in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

. That year he also planned his first group tour to Britain and for the next six years operated tours to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

under British Pride Tours. In 1989 and 1990 he operated shopping tours to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

with former fashion model Kim Mason. He continued to organize and manage trips to Britain until 1990, following which he dedicated himself exclusively to his travel writing and photography career. He was a founding member of the Bay Area Travel Writers. in 1982. Baker's self-syndicated stories appeared in newspapers throughout the United States and Canada, including front-page stories in the ''Baltimore Sun'', ''Boston Globe,'' ''Chicago Tribune,'' ''The Los Angeles Times'', ''Miami Herald,'' ''New York Post'', ''San Francisco Examiner,'' and ''Toronto Globe & Mail''. His other credits have included stories in more than 200 magazines, including ''BBC World,'' ''

Geographical Magazine ''Geographical'' (formerly ''The Geographical Magazine'') is the magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), a key associate and supporter of many famous expeditions, including those of Charles Darwin, ...

'' ( Royal Geographical Society), ''Elle,'' ''National Wildlife'', ''Newsweek International,'' and the ''South China Morning Post'', and dozens of airline in-flight magazines. He was a regular contributor to ''Caribbean Travel & Life'', winning many awards for his self-illustrated stories. He was also in demand as a commercial copy-writer in the specialist travel industry. His skills as a commercial writer earned him three national awards for best catalogs for the adventure travel company Backroads. In 1989, Baker was admitted to the Society of American Travel Writers. That year he was also commissioned to write his first

guidebook A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...

, resulting in publication of the ''Costa Rica Handbook'' (now ''Moon Costa Rica''). His guidebook won the Independent Book Publishers Association 1996 Benjamin Franklin Award. Baker's first

guidebook, on

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, was followed by Lonely Planet's guidebook to ''The Bahamas & Turks & Caicos''). and by the ''Cuba Handbook'' (now ''Moon Cuba'' During the 1990s and early millennium years he taught travel writing and photography classes for

The Learning Annex The Learning Annex is an American education company based in New York City. It was founded in 1980 by Bill Zanker in his New York City studio apartment with a $5,000 investment. It is considered the largest adult education company in North Ame ...

, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and in 2006 was inducted as a permanent faculty member in the prestigious annual SATW Institute for Travel Writing & Photography. In 1996, Baker shipped his BMW R100GS motorcycle to

and rode 7,000 miles (11,000 km) around the island. The journey resulted in publication of numerous magazine articles, plus ''Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba'' (National Geographic Adventure Press, 2001), a literary

that won both the

Lowell Thomas Award Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescree ...

as 'Travel Book of the Year' and the North American Travel Journalists Association's 'Grand Prize.' The judges of the Lowell Thomas Award, offered by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, said: ''"This is a wonderful adventure book… a meditation on philosophy, politics, and the possibilities of physical love. It has the depth of a novel and the feeling of a great love story."'' Baker has since authored more than two dozen other books, including ''Moon Spotlight Havana'', and a self-illustrated coffee-table book ''Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles'', plus guidebooks to Costa Rica, Colombia,

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

in the ''National Geographic Traveler'' series;, as well as numerous books for

. He has also contributed chapters to such anthologies as ''Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame'', ''Motorcycle Messengers: Tales from the Road by Writers who Ride'', ''Travelers Tales: Cuba'' and ''Travelers Tales: Food'', plus ''Voyages: The Romance of Cruising'' and ''World Travel: A Guide to International Ecojourneys''. Baker continues to write and photograph for publications around the globe. He is a regular contributor to such publications as ''National Geographic Traveler'' and ''Robb Report'', as well as such Internet sites as

CNN Travel CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by t ...

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, an American online travel shopping company based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacat ...

, and Luxury Latin America. His many awards include being named 'Travel Journalist of the Year' by the Jamaica Tourist Board (1998, Marcia Vickery-Wallace Memorial Award); the Caribbean Tourism Organization (2005); and the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation (2008). Baker is also a professional photographer and has illustrated scores of books and magazine articles. His work was formerly represented by Lonely Planet Images photo stock agency, and is today represented by Getty Images and

Alamy Alamy (registered as Alamy Limited) is a British privately owned stock photography agency launched in September 1999. Its headquarters are in Milton Park, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It has a development and operations centre at ...

. He is also a National Geographic contributing photographer and has photographed travel books on Colombia and Costa Rica on assignment for National Geographic. He has led photo workshops to Costa Rica and

for National Geographic Expeditions and Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. Baker is considered a

expert and has been acclaimed by National Geographic as "one of the world's leading authorities on Cuba travel and culture." He has visited Cuba more than 100 times and in October 2003 met with Fidel Castro at the Palacio de Convenciones in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. He is familiar with the island's culture, society, history, politics, and economics, and since 2011 has led more than 60 tours to Cuba on behalf of National Geographic Expeditions, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, and MotoDiscovery, a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

-based adventure motorcycle tour company. In 2013 he led the first group motorcycle tours of Cuba for U.S. citizens since the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, and specializes in arranging and leading customized group motorcycle tours of Cuba. He has also led tours to Colombia, Costa Rica, and

on behalf of National Geographic Expeditions. He is also known as an adventure motorcycle journalist and has written and photographed for such motorcycle publications as ''Adventure Motorcyclist,'' ''BMW Motorcycle Magazine,'' ''Motorcyclist,'' ''Motorrad & Reisen,'' and ''Rider.'' He speaks frequently about adventure motorcycling at such venues as the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America annual reunion and Horizons Unlimited. In April/May 2015 Baker toured

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

to test ride the 2015 Indian Roadmaster on behalf of Indian Motorcycle Company, reporting for magazines such as ''Rider'' and ''Robb Report.'' In April 2011, Baker was the first foreign journalist to photograph and report the existence of

's long-lost and recently rediscovered 1955 Chrysler New Yorker convertible, in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. In 2012 Baker partnered with actor-singer

to produce a cinematic documentary about the restoration of Hemingway's Chrysler. The documentary, in which Baker plays a fixer, translator and sidekick to

, is being produced by

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-based Red Earth Studio. Baker is a frequent public speaker, specializing in Cuba. He has addressed the National Press Club, National Geographic ''Live!,'' and

World Affairs Councils of America The World Affairs Councils of America is a network of 93 autonomous and nonpartisan councils across 40 states. History The World Affairs Councils of America was founded in 1918. It is the largest nonprofit international affairs organization in ...

, among others. His is also a former faculty member of Cunard Line and

Holland America Line Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operate ...

, acting as guest speaker and port-of-call lecturer aboard ships cruising the Caribbean and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

seaboard. He has also been the keynote speaker at the North American Travel Journalist Association's national convention (2010) and TBEX Travel Bloggers Exchange (2012) Baker has been profiled in

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

and ''Geographical Magazine'' and has been interviewed about Cuba on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, CCTV,

, Fox News Channel,

, and dozens of other radio & TV outlets. He makes regular appearances on ''Travel with Rick Steves,'' a travel radio show hosted by

Rick Steves Richard John Steves Jr. (born May 10, 1955), known professionally as Rick Steves, is an American travel writer, author, activist, and television personality. His travel philosophy encourages people to explore less-touristy areas of destination ...

Personal life

Baker was born in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wak ...

, England. He currently lives in Palm Springs, California.

Bibliography

* ''Back Roads California'' (Dorling Kindersley) * ''Bahamas and Turks & Caicos'' (Lonely Planet) * ''Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles'' (Interlink) * ''Eyewitness Top 10 Cuba'' (Dorling Kindersley) * ''Eyewitness Top 10 California Wine Country'' (Dorling Kindersley) * ''Eyewitness Top 10 Puerto Rico'' (Dorling Kindersley) * ''Eyewitness Travel Guide Caribbean'' (Dorling Kindersley), co-authored * ''Eyewitness Travel Guide to Costa Rica'' (Dorling Kindersley) * ''Great Destinations: Palm Springs and Desert Resorts'' (Countryman Press) * ''Great Destinations: Panama'' (Countryman Press) * ''Great Destinations: Puerto Rico'' (Countryman Press) * ''Jamaica'' (Lonely Planet) * ''Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castros' Cuba'' (National Geographic Adventure Press) * ''Moon Costa Rica'' (Avalon Travel Publishing) * ''Moon Cuba'' (Avalon Travel Publishing) * ''Moon Spotlight Havana'' (Avalon Travel Publishing) * ''National Geographic Traveler Colombia'' (National Geographic Society) * ''National Geographic Traveler Costa Rica'' (National Geographic Society) * ''National Geographic Traveler Cuba'' (National Geographic Society) * ''National Geographic Traveler Dominican Republic'' (National Geographic Society) * ''National Geographic Traveler Panama'' (National Geographic Society) * ''Illustrated Guide to Jamaica'' (NTC Publishing/Thomas Cook Publishing) * ''Trav'bug California'' (Prentice Hall; with Judy Wade) * ''Travelers Companion Guide to Costa Rica'' (Globe Pequot, 3rd ed.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Christopher Paul 1955 births Living people American travel writers American male non-fiction writers British travel writers Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the UCL Institute of Education People from Brighouse Writers from Palm Springs, California People educated at Rastrick High School