London-Irish by birth and upbringing, Sean’s writing life began with books on English literature. Following an offer that couldn’t be refused – the writing of a travel guide to Malaysia – this segued into another life. Teaching in south-east Asia at the time, Sean jumped at the opportunity to explore peninsular Malaysia, climb Mt Kinabalu, encounter nomadic Penan people in Sarawak and get close up to orang-utans in Sabah.
Smitten with the travel bug, what followed was the writing of more guides covering many parts of the world – from Belfast to Beijing – and for a variety of publishers: Lonely Planet, Footprint, Thomas Cook, Michelin and others.
Writing about food followed naturally and, returning to London from south-east Asia, Sean wrote food reviews of Asian restaurants for The Good Food Guide.
Now writing about food from around the world, Sean has yet to feel like the person who said they would rather chew a French rubber tyre than eat at a Michelin-star restaurant. At the same time and in its own way – from a yatai in Fukuoka to a pop-up in Paddington – street food is just as appealing.
Sean now writes about travel, food and photography for newspapers and magazines. Curiosity for new destinations and different cuisines remains undiminished, despite the world becoming a smaller place. Travel and interesting places to eat are for me like sleep was for Macbeth: ‘Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course / Chief nourisher in life’s feast.’