Meet Richard Bangs

Richard Bangs has often been called the father of modern adventure travel, having spent more than 30 years as an explorer and communicator, pioneering “virtual expeditions” on the World Wide Web and leading first descents of 35 rivers around the world.

Full name: Richard Johnston Bangs
Birthday: August 24 |  Current home: Marina del Rey, CA | Hometown: Washington, DC | Status: Married | Children: Walker (b. 1994), Jasper (b. 2007)

Contact: richard at richardbangs-dot-com

Richard Bangs wears many hats. Like that Aussie-style Panama (by way of Indiana) he sported in the 1980s. Or the thread-bare, sun-bleached, mud-stained cap he favored in the 70s, when he was out exploring rivers we never heard of. In the 1990s he snapped on various helmets, headphones, and harnesses, trying on the latest technology until he found the right fit.

Lately, come to think of it, I haven’t seen him much in a hat, or a helmet. But he continues to evolve with the times,  expanding his network of friends into an internet of possiblities.

Just what he’s always done.

– Christian Kallen
Colleague and co-author

Explorer
Richard Bangs has often been called the father of modern adventure travel. He has spent 30 years as an explorer, leading first descents of 35 rivers around the globe, including the Yangtze in China and the Zambezi in Southern Africa. During that period he founded Sobek Expeditions, the first multi-national river running company and the pioneering outfitter for global active wilderness travel.

Author and Producer
Richard has published more than 1000 magazine articles, 19 books, a score of documentaries, several CD-ROMs, and all manner of digital media. He has lectured at the Smithsonian, the National Geographic Society, the Explorers Club and many other notable venues. He writes a semi-regular feature for HuffingtonPost.com, occasionally freelances for other print and online publications, and produces and hosts “Richard Bangs’ Adventures with Purpose, as seen on national public television.

Entrepreneur
In the early 1990s Sobek merged with Mountain Travel to become Mountain Travel-Sobek (mtsobek.com), then as now a leader in international adventure and eco-travel. He began TerraQuest, one of the first online travel projects, and went on to Microsoft as founder and editor-in-chief of Mungo Park, a pioneering interactive publishing effort. He was part of the founding executive team of Expedia.com, and served as its Editor-at-Large. He was creator and publisher of Expedia Travels Magazine (published in partnership with Ziff-Davis), executive producer of Expedia Radio, and founder and executive director of Expedia Cafes.

He has also served as president of Outward Bound; created the “Well Traveled” series for Slate.com; was founding editor and executive producer of MSNBC’s “Great Escapes”; and produced “Richard Bangs Adventures” for Yahoo!  He lives in Santa Monica, Calif., with his family. You can reach him by email here.