Neala McCarten

Born in New York City Neala McCarten has wandered through life often asking, “Who would I be if I didn’t know who I am? After finally deciding that she was, at heart, a travel writer she quit her job, sold her house in the suburbs, said goodbye to the life she had been living, and headed to the Land of Enchantment. She wrote her first book Offbeat New Mexico: Places of Unexpected History, Art, and Culture to share her enthusiasm and love for New Mexico. Then came Free in the USA as she wanted to share all the FREE ADMISSION places she had discovered along the way. But the lure of family was strong. And family had migrated to Florida. In 2018, she packed up and headed for the Sunshine State. Although she moved there for family, she found she loved Daytona Beach, and the whole complicated, fascinating, diverse Sunshine State. So, she wrote "Offbeat Florida: The nature, history, culture, and quirk of the Sunshine State" introducing readers to a Florida they didn’t know existed.