About me
Some say I’m Lonely Planet’s longest serving author. I’ve been at it pretty much full-time since 1985. I still love learning about the world, exploring and researching strange places and cultures, and attempting to provide a helpful rundown on them for other travellers.
Born and bred in the Ribble Valley (Lancashire and Yorkshire), northern England. Got a Cambridge University degree in English and Philosophy then became a newspaper and magazine journalist, writing and editing for publications ranging from the Clitheroe Advertiser to London’s Guardian and Times and Hong Kong’s Far Eastern Economic Review. Combined all that with as much travelling as possible, then a friend suggested I ask a young guidebook company called Lonely Planet for a job.
LP commissioned me to update its Sri Lanka guide in 1985 and since then I’ve done 70 or 80 guidebook projects in all continents except (so far) Africa and Antarctica, many of them as coordinating author. They include all 11 editions of Mexico since 1986; all 9 editions of Spain; all 7 editions of Andalucia; LP’s one and only guide to the USSR (1991); Central Asia editions 1, 4 and 5; Georgia Armenia & Azerbaijan editions 3 & 4; Russia & Belarus editions 1 & 4; Baltic States edition 1; Sri Lanka editions 4 & 5; India editions 14 & 15; Indonesia editions 2, 9 & 10; Guatemala edition 2; Belize edition 2; Mexico City editions 1 & 2; Brazil editions 5 & 7; and Australia edition 3.
I’ve lived in southern Spain since 1994.
- Full Name John Noble
- Country United Kingdom
- Languages English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Russian, Portuguese, in approximate order of proficiency
- Favourite Places Indonesia, Georgia (the country), northern England
- Interests The world
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