Contributing Editor Judith Anshin has occasionally written feature articles for ITN since October 2004. Judith started traveling internationally in 1968. As a new bride, she convinced her husband to quit his job, cash out his retirement system money and travel around the world. They were gone for five years and came home only because of family pressure. During those years, she started travel writing, selling various articles wherever she could, accompanied by her husband’s photography. Once settled at home again, they took international trips every 18 to 24 months, saving up vacation time to travel for 30 to 45 days at a stretch. She continued selling travel articles and photos to various publications. Judith was a civil litigator from the late '70s to the late '80s and a law professor from 1990 to 2001 before retiring. In 1977, she was in the first group of American tourists to be allowed into China. (Until then, only members of special-interest groups could visit from the US.) Revisiting China in 1986, she saw how quickly it was changing, and she decided she wanted to experience China before it became too Westernized. Upon returning home, she found jobs for all her employees, arranged for a house sitter and moved to Kunming. She spoke Mandarin, and for two years, from 1987 to 1989, she taught law and English and also traveled in China extensively. In 2003 she took over as organizer and leader of the No Reservations Travel Club in Sacramento, California. She still holds that position, and the club now has about 400 people on its e-mail list. Judith says she is especially interested in cultural travel and visiting ruins and ancient temples. She feels a connection to the artisans, workmen and even slaves who often spent their entire lives building the things she now can touch and enjoy. In writing about her travels, she hopes to pass on that living art to her readers, who will pass it on to others in a vast continuum.