On reaching that time of life when he finally had a choice, Mark Newham had no hesitation. No more winters for him. Escaping somewhere warmer and sunnier for the worst months of the year was now standard winter operating procedure. Every year. For the entire winter. For the rest of his life.

The only question was where. It had to be a place that ticked all the boxes as a winter refuge he could happily flee to year after year without breaking the bank.

After a lifetime on the road as an international journalist Newham already had a long list of candidates. Places he'd either already been on short term assignments or had been suggested by those met along the way. All he needed do was check out the highest ranking for long term stay acceptability. Shouldn't take too long, he thought. A couple of years? Three, maybe?

Try twenty. And even then not one of the thirty-something original contenders on six continents had achieved a perfect winter bolthole criteria list score. While every one had its pluses, there was always something. Some flaw in the facade you only saw when staying longer than the average tourist.

He wasn't alone in seeing them. Fellow certain age snow-dodgers encountered in the course of his quest reported similar findings and the general consensus was that here was something the regular range of travel guidebooks should be devoting a lot more space to. Winter refuge suitability ratings would have saved this rapidly expanding community of sanctuary-seekers a great deal of time and trouble.

With guidebook publishers looking unlikely to consider catering for this growing need in the near term, Newham decided to take matters into his own hands and draw on two decades of 'research' to produce a warts-and-all travel advisory/memoir on how (not) to find that perfect sanctuary from winter.

'SNOW-DODGING FOR UMPTEENAGERS' is the result, now widely available in paperback and e-book formats worldwide.

Full details at: http://www.moriartimedia.com/SDU_summary.htm