<p> Renée Alexander grew up in North Carolina, where there are more pigs than people. Perhaps that's why she thinks everything tastes better with bacon. This intrepid traveler has chased solar eclipses in Australia and Indonesia, driven an auto-rickshaw across India, and made mezcal in Mexico. She currently lives in San Francisco, where she runs a boutique public relations firm and writes about food, booze, travel, and culture for Vice, Vice Munchies, Saveur, The Atlantic, Bay Area Bites, and 7x7 magazine. Her hobby is collecting tropical illnesses, including dengue fever. </p>