Brian Thacker is a travel author based in Melbourne (when he's not gallivanting around the world). After many years working as an art director in advertising, Thacker worked as a tour leader escorting busloads of drunk Aussies around Europe. That 'experience' became his first best-selling book, Rule No. 5: No Sex on the Bus (2001). Since then, the author has written five other books including Planes, Trains and Elephants (2002), The Naked Man Festival (2004), I'm Not Eating Any of That Foreign Muck (2005), Where's Wallis? (2006) and Sleeping Around (2009). His work is also being featured in the forthcoming ASTW Anthology of Australian Travel Stories. In addition, Thacker contributed to the 2010/11 Lonely Planet South East Asia on a Shoestring guidebook, describing his travels using the original Lonely Planet guidebook. His books have also been translated into German, Thai, Mandarin and Slovenian. Aside from being an author, Thacker is a regular speaker at writer's festivals around the country and overseas, and runs travel-writing workshops across Australia. He is also the host of a weekly travel show with Steve Vizard on MTR1377. Thacker's accolades include the Australian Society of Travel Writer's 2009 Travel Book of the Year for Sleeping Around and inclusion into the Top 10 Travel Books of All-Time in the 'Traveller Blog' of the Sydney Morning Herald/The Age for Rule No.5 No Sex on the Bus.