Born in South Carolina, Shann Fountain Alipour has been traveling all of her life. She studied abroad in both Spain and Germany and has visited 35 countries - many of them before age 21. She speaks Spanish, Croatian, and rapidly declining French.

After graduating from Sweet Briar College, Shann owned a multilingual staffing company, tried her hand at corporate gifts, and taught Spanish (with occasional travel sabbaticals in between) before becoming a writer. She was a frequent contributor to Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler and her articles have also appeared in Hemispheres, Four Seasons Hotels magazine, and several other publications.

Shann began visiting Eastern Europe in 1992, immediately falling in love with Croatia. She traveled to the region 16 times before moving there in 2004. She lived in Zagreb until 2010 but continues to visit regularly, especially in the summers. She loves discovering the wine regions of Croatia and Slovenia, being at any island on Croatia's coast, eating Istrian truffle cheese, and spending time with local friends, both old and new. She moved to San Francisco in 2010 and lives with her husband and children who are also travel aficionados.