Liz Shemaria is a founding editor at Hidden Compass, award-winning journalist, and third-generation Northern Californian who has trekked solo in Himalaya, interviewed artists in military-ruled Burma, and once rode an overnight train across Egypt on her birthday. She has contributed to more than a dozen publications and organizations including Human Rights Watch, BBC Travel, AFAR, Roads & Kingdoms, and Fodor’s. Studying at the University of California, Berkeley, she earned an undergraduate degree in art history and a master’s degree in journalism with an emphasis on international reporting and new media. During late nights in the newsroom, she discovered that spontaneous dance parties are essential to her creative process. She lives in Italy, where she has learned to roll her Rs and never order a cappuccino after breakfast.