Paul Curtis lived on the Isle of Wight for eight years, during which time he wrote the first edition of this book. He is a very keen national and international long-distance walker and cyclist, preferring to savour it all than to rush. Among many other adventures, he has cycled from Boston to San Diego, from New York City to New Orleans, from Calais to Malaga, and from Calais to Scalea, as well as hiking through the Swiss Alps, and from his Hampshire home to Sheffield. He has also designed a South of England figure of eight mega-walk, stretching from Dover to Lands End and centred on Windsor. He is a solo, romantic explorer in the Wainwright tradition and believes that guidebooks should first and foremost be about finding the most beautiful routes and providing precise, accurate descriptions.