Sharon Hudgins is an award-winning author, a former university professor, and a professional journalist and speaker. A seasoned traveler with a sense of adventure, she has lived in 10 countries on three continents, traveled through 60 countries across the globe, and logged more than 45,000 miles on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. After completing a bachelor's degree in government at the University of Texas, she earned graduate degrees at the University of Michigan (political science and strategic studies) and the University of Texas (radio, television, and film). She has taught at several major universities, including 18 years for the University of Maryland's education programs in Germany, Spain, Greece, Japan, Korea, and Russia.

Sharon is the author of five nonfiction books and editor of several others, including Food on the Move: Dining on the Legendary Railway Journeys of the World and a cookbook about the regional cuisines of Spain. As a journalist and independent scholar, she has published more than 1,000 articles on history, travel, culture, and food, in magazines, newspapers, academic journals, and books, including several entries in Oxford encyclopedias. Since 2006 she has also been a lecturer on more than 50 tours to eastern and western Europe, Alaska, Japan, and Russia, including expedition cruises to the North Pacific. She enjoys lecturing on subjects as diverse as European history, cuisines, and holidays; native people of the circumpolar north; and the life and lore of reindeer.