Audrey Fielding is the lead author and editor of SALENTO BY 5. She is a former U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer (Peru 64-66). She has worked as a classroom teacher and literacy coach in San Francisco and the Bay Area, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Peru and Namibia. She has authored personal and professional essays, co-edited two books on academic literacy, and facilitated the development of a set of readers for young Namibian learners. When not traveling, she is at home in San Francisco studying Italian, watching birds and writing. As "The Traveler," Audrey captures the enchantment of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, the whisper of wind in the olive groves and the tastes of earthy greens, ear-shaped pasta, and bowls of steaming mussels. As editor/writer, Audrey was introduced to Italy via a teaching sabbatical in 1992. Serendipitous events brought her to Salento in 2003 and ever since, she has returned yearly to an apartment facing the sea.