Sharon Hudgins

Sharon Hudgins is the author of 4 non-fiction books, including award-winning books about Spain and Russia. More than 700 of her articles on travel, food, and culture have been published in magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, and on the Web, including National Geographic Traveler, Saveur, Gastronomica, German Life, The World & I, Russian Life, and several culinary encyclopedias.

In addition to lecturing as a National Geographic Expert on tours to Russia, Mongolia, and Central Europe, she has led tours around the Black Sea, across the Mediterranean, and across the Atlantic. Her career has also encompassed working as a university professor, freelance journalist, book and magazine editor, filmmaker, and photographer. Currently she is the food columnist for German Life magazine and the food editor of European Traveler website.

Sharon brings an international perspective to all of her work. She has lived in 10 countries and traveled in 50 countries around the world. For nearly two decades she taught in the University of Maryland's overseas programs in Germany, Spain, Greece, Japan, Korea, and Siberia. She holds university degrees in Russian and East European Studies, Political Science, and Radio-Television Film.

Western Europe is one of her favorite parts of the globe. She has lived in 8 European countries, and traveled extensively throughout 40 countries on that continent. She has a special interest in ethnography and culinary history, including the foods, festivals, folklore of many European regions.