Author/ Traveler/ Storyteller

Andrew Ellis Evans is an author, travel writer, and TV Host. Born in Texas and raised in Ohio, he has been wandering for much of his life.

As ‘Digital Nomad’, Andrew helped bring National Geographic online, sharing his spontaneous travel narrative in real time with millions of readers. His novel and personalized approach to social media earned him a loyal band of armchair travelers who followed his daily efforts in quests like his 500-mile hike across Jordan, or reaching the remotest Disappointment Islands, or riding public transportation from Washington, DC to Antarctica.

Andrew’s 12,000-mile overland journey formed the basis of his award-winning memoir, The Black Penguin. Beloved by book clubs, his personal tale of self-discovery and overland travel continues to inspire. Andrew’s long experience in Ukraine and Iceland led to his writing guidebooks to both countries. The new queer travel anthology Edge of the World opens with a chapter by Andrew.

The author has recently completed a novel. When not out exploring the world, he lives with his husband and dogs in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

WORK

  • The Black Penguin

    BOOKS

    Andrew is the author of five books, including award-winning guidebooks to Ukraine and Iceland. His memoir, The Black Penguin was named an Honor Book by the American Librarians Association.

    PUBLISHERS’ WEEKLY/ “In this endearing stunt memoir, travel writer Evans combines an improbable trek to Antarctica with his struggles surrounding religion, family, and sexuality. Backed by National Geographic, Evans embarked in 2010 on a bus journey from Washington, DC to the tip of South America, where he caught a ferry to Antarctica. This book expands on his tweets and blog posts to capture the highs and lows of nearly two months riding in buses. Sketchy border guards, close calls with violence and natural disasters, and intriguing characters fill vignettes that range from hair-raising to hilarious. In between these tales, he more impressionistically recounts his experiences growing up and being bullied for his nerdish effeminacy. He also tackles the clashes between his Mormon family and his homosexuality and pays homage to the long-lasting relationship with his husband without letting these overwhelm his travelogue. These two distinct halves hold together surprisingly well, thanks to Evans’s excellent writing and eye for detail. The work will appeal to fans of clever travel writing and those looking for LGBTQ memoirs that don’t fixate on the angst of coming out.”

    NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW/ “Another water bird changed the life of the Midwestern writer Andrew Evans. He captured video of a rare variety of penguin just as he was achieving his lifelong dream: traveling as a journalist to Antarctica. In THE BLACK PENGUIN (University of Wisconsin Press, $24.95), Evans interleaves three urgent personal quests: his expedition, his effort to convince his family to accept his homosexuality and his struggle for the right to marry the man he loved. As a Mormon growing up in rural Ohio, Evans knew he wasn’t like everyone else and so did the kids at school, who bullied him mercilessly. His only “shield of defense” was “a worn copy of National Geographic.” At 14, he wrote an earnest letter to the National Geographic Society, which responded in two months with encouragement. Many years later, after becoming an Eagle Scout, serving as a missionary in Ukraine and graduating from Brigham Young University, where he was forced to submit to “reparative” conversion therapy, Evans wrote to the magazine again, and this time he got an interview. It was the fall of 2009. “I want to go to Antarctica,” he told the editor. “I want to go overland—I want to take the bus.” What he was after, he explained, was to “take an old-fashioned expedition to the bottom of the world” but “to tell the story in real time, online.” The Black Penguin relays the ups and downs of that journey, but the terra incognita Evans claims is his own pride.”

  • Andrew On Screen

    TV

    Juxtaposing tech with travel, Andrew hosted a few episodes of “World’s Smartest Cities”, as well as several travel documentaries for National Geographic. His three-part series on Turkey was viewed by 250 million households in 63 countries.

    Andrew has appeared as a guest on The Travel Channel, The Early Show (CBS), Today Show (NBC), FOX News, and the French-Canadian TFO.

    Last time he checked, his YouTube Channel had over 12 million views.

    Where's Andrew?
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