About

A Brief Bio

I’m Richard Humphries, a teacher, traveler and writer. After university, I set out to see the world. To name but a few experiences, I traveled the old hippie trail from Europe to India, crossed the Sahara, traveled up the Nile in a rust-bucket barge ferry, and hitchhiked to Alaska. The African ones are described in detail in my latest book, Slow Boats and Petrified Goats: Africa Overland Travel Memories.

It became time for a career and, in my case, that was teaching. I earned two master’s degrees, one in teaching English as a foreign language and the second in international conflict resolution.

For many years, I worked full-time at Japanese universities where I taught English-language, critical thinking and media-literacy skills. I also did freelance writing and photography for Japanese English-language publications, with travel, culture, conflict and human rights being common themes.

When not writing, I enjoy snapping photos, traveling and hiking. In 2015, I thru-hiked the Appalachian trail. I’ve also I walked Spain’s Camino de Santiago, and trekked to Everest base camp in Nepal in January 2019.