Valerie grew up in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami Beach area. She began her career writing for magazines and newspapers and later bought Southern California Guide, a magazine distributed in major hotels and resorts. Adding a worldwide travel section to the guide gave her a great excuse to travel and share her experiences with readers.

Her immediate family includes three sons and one grandson who is studying at UC Santa Barbara, where he is a member of a band and teaches surfing. His sister is a freshman at Dartmouth, where she captains the men’s rowing team and is a talented writer.

Valerie loves to be on the go and enjoys theater, all kinds of music (from opera to rock), and, of course, travel. Taking UCLA Osher Extended Learning classes happily keeps her brain at work. Her philosophy is, “Enjoy yourself… it’s later than you think.”