Andrew Evans is an American travel writer, author and television host.

Early life and education

Evans was born in Texas and raised in Ohio. He began traveling internationally at the age of 16 when he moved to France on a

Rotary Youth Exchange Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) is a Rotary International student exchange program for students in secondary school. Since 1929, Rotary International has sent young people around the globe to experience new cultures. Currently, about 9,000 students ...

, and later to the Ukraine as a missionary for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. Evans was raised as a Mormon, but had struggles with expressing his gay identity at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. In an article for Outsports, Evans discussed the compulsory year of conversion therapy and "traumatic moments" BYU made him undergo in the late 90s as a student after he was caught kissing a man by his roommate. BYU told him he could be expelled or visit weekly with his bishop, turn in fellow gay students, cut off contact with any gay friends, and have frequent visits with a BYU therapist until he was heterosexual and "safe" for other students to be around. Included in the therapy was weekly dates with women as an additional attempt to change his attractions. He got his Master's degree at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

where he studied Geography and Russian Foreign Policy.

Career

Evans began working for

National Geographic Traveler ''National Geographic Traveler'' is a magazine published by NG Media in Armenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Latin America, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. The US ...

on a real-time digital story-telling assignment in 2009 on an assignment called "Bus to Antarctica". He traveled overland from

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

by bus and the last leg to Antarctica by boat. When Evans reached the island of

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

, he encountered a black emperor penguin, which was described to be as rare as "one in a zillion". It later became the namesake of his 2017 travel memoir ''The Black Penguin'', which expands upon his blog posts and tweets and includes insights from Evans about his struggles regarding family, religion, and sexuality, The memoir received a

Stonewall Book Award The Stonewall Book Award is a set of three literary awards that annually recognize "exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience" in English-language books published in the U.S. They are sponsored by the Rainbo ...

honor. He was given the moniker of National Geographic's "

digital nomad Digital nomads are people who travel freely while working remotely using technology and the internet. Such people generally have minimal material possessions and work remotely in temporary housing, hotels, cafes, public libraries, co-working spac ...

", as he continued on other assignments, and also contributed to the compilation book ''Four Seasons of Travel''.

Personal life

Evans is married to Brian. They live in Virginia's

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

near the Washington DC metro area.

Books

* ''The Black Penguin'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 2017),

Bradt Travel Guides Bradt Travel Guides is a publisher of travel guides founded in 1974 by Hilary Bradt and her husband George, who co-wrote the first Bradt Guide on a river barge on a tributary of the Amazon River, Amazon. Since then Bradt has grown into a leading ...

* (with Massimiliano Di Pasquale) ''Ukraine'' (Bradt/Globe Pequot, 2004–2013 (4th ed.)), * ''Iceland'' (Bradt/ Globe Pequot, 2009–2018 (4th ed.)), * ''Reykjavik: The Bradt e-Guide'' (Bradt/Globe Pequot, 2014–2017 (2nd ed.))

Television

Evans has hosted several travel shows on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

* 2017 Hidden Cities Revealed: Baku * 2015 A Peak Under the Hood of Innovation in Detroit. CNet ''2020 Turkey's Hidden Gems'' series: *"Land of Ancients" (2020) *"Lost Cities of Anatolia" (2020) *"Istanbul: East Meets West" (2020) ''World's Smart Cities'' series: * "

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

" (2014) * "

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

" (2014) * "

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

" (2015)

Awards and honors

Lowell Thomas Award Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen ...

Silver Award for Guidebooks from the Society of American Travel Writers, ''Iceland'', 2008 *

Stonewall Honor Books in Non-Fiction from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

, ''The Black Penguin'', 2018 * Walter Cronkite Award from Reach the World, 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Andrew Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American travel writers American television hosts American LGBT writers LGBT Latter Day Saints LGBT people from Texas LGBT people from Ohio Brigham Young University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford