All Who Wander with Anne Taylor Hartzell

Richard + The Art of Living Dangerously: Trailblazing with Passion + Purpose

Episode Summary

In 2022, Richard Bangs was named one of the hundred great explorers of the last 100 years. This is the story of how Richard found his way as a river guide in the Grand Canyon, to navigating the wild rivers in Ethiopia in 1973, to co-founding Sobek Expeditions (Now MT Sobek), taking countless business leaders, actors, and prominent figures on adventures around the world. Richard is always at the forefront of what is new and next in travel and technology and he is also one of the founding executive members of Expedia, travel storytelling app Steller, author of more than 20 books, director and producer of many films and TV shows including IMAX film mystery of the Nile and the PBS television series, Richard bangs Adventures with Purpose.

Episode Notes

In 2022, Richard Bangs was named one of the hundred great explorers of the last 100 years. This is the story of how Richard found his way as a river guide in the Grand Canyon, to navigating the wild rivers in Ethiopia in 1973, to co-founding Sobek Expeditions (Now MT Sobek), taking countless business leaders, actors, and prominent figures on adventures around the world. Richard is always at the forefront of what is new and next in travel and technology and he is also one of the founding executive members of Expedia, travel storytelling app Steller, author of more than 20 books, director and producer of many films and TV shows including IMAX film mystery of the Nile and the PBS television series, Richard bangs Adventures with Purpose.

MT Sobek https://www.mtsobek.com/

His new book: The Art of Living Dangerously: True Stories from a Life on the Edge (out November 7, 2023

In 1973, Richard Bangs founded Sobek Expeditions, the original and now the largest adventure travel company in the world, with over a million clients guided since its beginning. But this is not just a story of an unusual company, one that profoundly transformed the way we travel and experience the world. It presents true stories, both perilous and awe-inspiring, from the full array of adventure travel: trekking, climbing, sailing, diving, adventure cruising, kayaking, back-country skiing, mountaineering, biking, cultural immersions, canyoneering, and more. Sobek pioneered scores of adventures, from trekking in the Himalayas, to cruising the Galapagos and Antarctica, to first descents of some eighty rivers around the world. The author personally led thirty-five first river descents, capsizing on six continents (a unique, albeit dubious, distinction), and organized and led the first trips into North Korea, Libya, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, New Guinea, Iran, and even China back in 1978. Sobek clients have included Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mick Jagger, Barry Diller, and Daryl Hannah. It is the shadow company behind National Geographic Adventures, New York Times Active Journeys, and Smithsonian Expeditions. This book traces fifty years of adventure travel and how it has evolved through times of war and peace, terrorism, the rise of the internet, the pandemic, and the first virtual expeditions.

Stellar App: https://steller.co/