Tamara Sheward is a six foot-something Australian journalist with a penchant for travel, tattoos and trouble. Raised in New Jersey with half-Russian and half-English roots, Tamara blames her grandfather – who literally ran away with the gypsies – for the fact that she hasn’t stopped travelling since. She’s smuggled herself into Chechnya, streaked at the Irish Rugby World Cup and has written a book about her reckless adventures across Indochina. Tamara writes travel articles for Sydney Morning Herald and is the sub-editor of Australian music magazine jmag. She believes she has what it takes to become a fully-fledged Lonely Planet guidebook writer.