Zielbauer founded Roadmonkey and coined the phrase "adventure philanthropy"[3][4][5] in 2008, while still a reporter at The New York Times. Roadmonkey has been called "a new kind of travel"[6] because of its intent to blend off-the-path adventure with hands-on volunteer projects that benefit people and communities in need. O: The Oprah Magazine, writing about Zielbauer, called him "a guy we like"[7] because it said Roadmonkey seeks to "combine physically challenging expeditions with humanitarian efforts."
At The New York Times, Zielbauer worked primarily for the Metro desk, where he covered the New York City jail system and reported on the intersection or organized labor and organized crime.[8] During periods in 2006 and 2007, he covered the war in Iraq[9] and the aftermath of the September 2007 killings of civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square by Blackwater military contractors.[10] In 2007, Zielbauer became The Times' beat reporter on the military justice system,[11] covering high-profile military prosecutions[12][13] of alleged war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Zielbauer's extensive coverage of the 2005 Haditha killings in Iraq generated criticism from some conservatives.
From 2000 to 2003, Zielbauer was The Times' Connecticut bureau chief,[14] covering politics and the state's lesser known corners.
Zielbauer's series on privatized prison medical care focused on the practices and performance of Prison Health Services Inc., the Tennessee company (now doing business as PHS Correctional Healthcare, a subsidiary of Corizon, Inc.) that provided care to jail inmates on Rikers Island.
Zielbauer began his journalism career in 1992 at the City News Bureau of Chicago, covering homicides, fires and, on the overnight shift, the Chicago Police Department. He left the wire service in late 1993 to embark on a 4-month, 1200-mile solo cycling trek from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he wrote a front-page article[15] for Crain's Chicago Business about American businesses in Vietnam preparing for the end of the U.S. economic embargo. From 1994 to 1995 Zielbauer was a staff reporter for the Orange County Register, covering Orange County's large immigrant Vietnamese community. While in graduate journalism school in New York City, Zielbauer worked part-time as a researcher for the committee to Protect Journalists. From 1997 to 1998, he was the environment reporter for The Times-Union of Albany, NY, and wrote about pollution threats to the Hudson River.
Zielbauer frequently writes about self-leadership and has been a speaker at thought-leadership conferences including Summit Series and the KIN Global Conference.
Education and awards
Upon graduating[21] from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism with honors in 1996, Zielbauer was awarded a Fulbright Young Journalist scholarship to spend a year in Germany. Based in Berlin, he filed numerous articles for Newsday on European affairs, including the 1995 large-scale student-led protests in Belgrade, Serbia, against then-president Slobodan Milošević.
For his 2005 investigative series on Prison Health Services Inc., Zielbauer won the New York State Associated Press award for Depth Reporting and World Hunger Year's annual Harry Chapin Award[22] for reporting on poverty-related issues.
Early life
Zielbauer grew up in Aurora, Ill., the first member of his German-Hungarian family born in the United States.
^Baer, Adam (September 30, 2009). "NYT Iraq Reporter Quits, Becomes "Roadmonkey"". The Faster Times. Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011. You call Roadmonkey a travel company that offers "adventure philanthropy." What does that term mean to you?
^Wilkinson, Brook (July 8, 2009). "Volunteer with Roadmonkey in Vietnam". Conde Nast's Concierge.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011. "Adventure philanthropy": That's the idea behind Roadmonkey, a new tour operator that combines physical feats with volunteer work.
^Nanos, Janelle (Apr 22, 2010). "Tours of a Lifetime: Hike Kilimanjaro with Roadmonkey". NationalGeographic.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011. The unique tours, which are included in National Geographic Traveler's Tours of a Lifetime issue this year, are a combination of athleticism and do-gooderism that he's branded "adventure philanthropy."
^Gladstone, Brooke; Garfield, Bob (May 11, 2007). "On The Media"(transcript). National Public Radio. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
^Marte, Jonnelle (November 19, 2009). "'Voluntourism' Trips'". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
^"Columbia Journalism School E-News". Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. July 5, 2006. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011.