Robin Esrock ( ; born 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a travel writer, bestselling author and international television personality. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Esrock has written articles for major international publications, including the Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, Gulf News, South China Morning Post, Cape Town Argus, Sydney Morning Herald, Vancouver Sun, Dallas Morning News and the Toronto Star. Esrock was a regular columnist for the Globe & Mail, MSN, the Vancouver Sun and Outpost Magazine. Other publication credits include Mental Floss, Red Bull's The Red Bulletin and National Geographic. Esrock is co-host of the 40-part TV series Word Travels. Filmed in 36 countries, Word Travels follows the lives of two working travel writers. Word Travels is broadcast on Travel Channel International, National Geographic Adventure in Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and Europe, OutsideTV and HalogenTV in the US, and on OLN, F/X and City in Canada. Word Travels was filmed between 2007 and 2009. Esrock met his co-host and fellow travel writer Julia Dimon while backpacking in Köyceğiz, Turkey. Esrock is also the co-creator, co-developer, associate producer and co-writer of Word Travels. In 2012, production commenced on the OLN TV series Get Stuffed, based on an original idea by Esrock. Prior to his career as a travel writer, Esrock worked in the music industry for SL Feldman & Associates. His career shift was the result of a bike accident that left him with a broken kneecap and a $20,000 insurance settlement. Using this money, he backpacked around the world, writing a column for the Vancouver Sun and maintaining his website. Esrock has reportedly travelled to over 100 countries on seven continents. He is also a public speaker, has hosted various online magazine shows and appears as a regular travel expert on Vancouver's Breakfast Television. Esrock has also been featured as a travel expert in Forbes Travel, Travel + Leisure, and interviewed in several Canadian and Australian media outlets. In 2013, he won the Destination Canada award for Best Online Video at the Go Media Marketplace Awards in Winnipeg. In March 2012, Esrock was master of ceremonies at the 108th Annual Explorer's Club Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Esrock presented awards to Explorer's Club members including palaeontologist Philip J. Currie, marine toxicologist Susan Shaw, and biologist Richard Ellis. Esrock also spoke about the lessons of travel at TEDx Vancouver, selected by Yahoo as one of TED's