Matthew Richard Poole, a native Californian, has authored more than two dozen travel guides to California, Hawaii, and abroad. Before becoming a full-time travel writer and photographer, he worked as an English tutor in Prague, a ski instructor in the Swiss Alps, and a scuba instructor in Maui and Thailand. His other titles include Frommer's California, Frommer's San Francisco, Frommer's Irreverent Guide to San Francisco, Frommer's San Francisco Free & Dirt Cheap, and Frommer's Portable Disneyland. Matthew is also Publisher & Co-founder of LocalGetaways.com, and you can follow his travel tweets at www.twitter.com/GetawayGuru.