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About Richard Bangs

http://www.richardbangs.com/

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.

Far and Away, Flat Out, The West’s Best Road Trip

June 8, 2016 by Richard BangsLeave a Comment

It feels like we’re driving to the edge of the world where the water falls off. Infinity is just ahead. To the right are mountains that arc up from the basement of time. On the left, a dry lakebed now glassed with salt. This is the driest state in the country, not so surprising, but it is also the most mountainous, with some 300 ranges. If you look at a satellite photo of earth at night one of the brightest pixels is Las Vegas in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: North America · Tagged: America, Animal Rescue, Architecture, Art, Bakeries, Beer, Bicycle, Canyon, Casino, Castle, Caves, Coffee, Colorado, Desert, Drinking, Fashion, Film, France, Freeways, Grand Canyon

The Hardest Place in the World to Visit

May 7, 2016 by Richard Bangs3 Comments

The covering has the disconcerting effect of obnubilating as well as illuminating the woman behind it. Shrouded in black niqab and ankle-length abaya, she floats towards me. Behind, her friends are firing salvos of cell-phone photos, as though we foreigners are exotic beasts in a zoo. She stops, and through her veil, in perfect English, asks, “Where are you from?” “California.” “What city?” “Los Angeles.” “What part?” … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Middle East · Tagged: Adventure Travel, Africa, Africa Safari, Airport, Animal Rescue, Arabic, Art, Beach, Beer, California, Canyon, Cell Phone, Coffee, Culinary travel, Culture, Dancing, Desert, Drinking, Egypt, England

Here Be Dragons: The “Sacred Terror” of the Alps of Switzerland

January 19, 2016 by Richard Bangs1 Comment

"Placed on this planet since yesterday, and only for a day, we can only hope to glimpse the knowledge that we will probably never attain." -Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, 1796 Dateline: Mount Pilates, Switzerland I've penned a few books that have been placed in the category of "wilderness travel." But perhaps the first to stock this shelf was the eighteenth-century mountaineer Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who wrote in his opus, Voyages … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Europe · Tagged: Animal Rescue, England, Europe, Farming, Food and Wine, History, Italy, Journey, Lifestyle, London, Monks, Mountain Climbing, Romantic, Scuba Diving, Ski Trip, Switzerland, Virginia, Walking tour, Whitewater Rafting, Wildlife

“It’s Djiboutiful!”(And the Hottest New Destination)

December 1, 2015 by Richard Bangs2 Comments

When our rafts were bitten by crocodiles or hippos, complications ensued we hadn't imagined. We were in Ethiopia making a series of first descents down big rivers that fall off the Abyssinian Plateau: The Omo, Baro, Blue Nile, and the Awash. We called our little expedition Sobek, after the ancient Egyptian crocodile god, hoping the homage would ensure safe passage. But, another challenge reared its head, one unanticipated. When we … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Africa · Tagged: Africa, Airport, Animal Rescue, Arabic, Beach, Beer, Canyon, Caribbean, Culture, Desert, Drinking, Ethiopia, Europe, Fashion, Festival, Grand Canyon, Hiking, History, Hot springs, Japan

Why I’m going to Burma (Myanmar)

September 27, 2015 by Richard Bangs4 Comments

When word got out I was thinking of taking a group to Burma this November, I received this email: Dear Mr. Bangs: I strongly advise you to drop travel to Burma. The treatment of the Rohingy minority is so appalling that I feel that no one should be visiting that country... This is not the first cease and desist-style communication I’ve received about travel to a destination whose politics are at odds with our own. When I received a permit … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asia · Tagged: Africa, America, Burma, China, Cuba, Culture, History, Iran, Japan, Korea, Music, Restaurants, South Africa, Technology

Most Scenic Drive in the World? Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way!

August 2, 2015 by Richard Bangs2 Comments

This is a story about brilliant branding. It’s about Ireland, but it begins in Chile. In the early 90s one had to head to the far south of South America to sample the tasty, thick, snow-white fillets of a large, deep-water cod called the Patagonian toothfish . No eatery in the U.S. wanted to serve a fish with that name. But when marketers came up with the alluring but meaningless name, “Chilean sea bass,” the fish was on its way to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Europe · Tagged: America, Animal Rescue, Antiques, Architecture, Beach, Bicycle, California, Canyon, Caribbean, Castle, Caves, Celebrity, Chile, Coffee, Colorado, Cruising, Culture, Dancing, Drinking, Egypt

Illinois Improbable: A Story of Upending Expectations

July 5, 2015 by Richard Bangs2 Comments

When I was a high-school student in Bethesda, Maryland, and beginning to think about college, my parents sat me down and set a parameter: they would only allow a school within 1000 miles of our home, with the idea that I would be more likely to visit over holidays if within that range. My elder sister had already picked a school, Knox College, in Galesburg, Illinois, and now it was my turn. I pulled out a map, cut a string keyed to 1000 miles, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: North America · Tagged: Africa, America, Animal Rescue, Architecture, Arizona, Art, Beer, Boston, Canals, Canyon, Caribbean, Chicago, Christmas, Coffee, Colorado, Dessert, Drinking, England, Flowers, Food and Wine

Cyclepaths in Cuba

May 31, 2015 by Richard Bangs2 Comments

My father, usually a quiet man, burst through the door and hustled the family in front of the television set. He said we were on the verge of something terrible and we needed to see and understand. It was October 22, 1962. My father, a career officer at the C.I.A., seemed distressed with things he knew that others did not. We then watched in horror as John Kennedy described the Russian missiles west of Havana, capable of reaching our home in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Caribbean · Tagged: Africa, Airport, America, Animal Rescue, Architecture, Art, Asia, Baseball, Beer, Bicycle, Bridges, Bus Travel, Caribbean, Caves, China, Cruising, Cuba, Culture, Drinking, Europe

Confessions of the First Travel Blogger

March 22, 2015 by Richard Bangs3 Comments

One of these claims to be “The Most Interesting Blogger in the World” I was surprised when I picked up a copy USAToday and saw an item that cited me as “The first travel blogger.” I doubt it, though I was early to the game, not long after Al Gore invented the Internet. In 1993 the term “blogger” didn’t exist, so what I was posting was a real-time serialized account of my travels. If that qualifies, then perhaps the first travel blogger was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Other · Tagged: Adventure Travel, Africa, Antarctica, Argentina, Beach, Bicycle, Chile, Cruising, Ethiopia, Himalayas, Internet, Mountain Climbing, Music, New York City, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, River Rafting, Scuba Diving, Ski Trip, Sonoma

A Taste of Proper Fun: Bermuda

March 10, 2015 by Richard BangsLeave a Comment

Like many who have survived into adulthood, I wince when I look back and recall some of the youthful antics I partook under the name of fun. Like a lad who graduates from cheap flavored whiskey to fine wine, I today prefer my fun with a dash of panache, a subtle aroma, and a delightfully delicate nose. So, of course, it is a treat to discover Bermuda, the place that practically invented proper fun, and which now embodies it. The demure … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Caribbean · Tagged: Adventure Travel, Airport, Animal Rescue, Art, Beach, Beer, Bermuda, Caribbean, Castle, Caves, China, Culinary travel, Culture, Dessert, Drinking, England, Fashion, Food and Wine, Georgia, Golf

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