I’ve been an avid reader since I was a kid and gravitate towards books about adventure. Growing up, I devoured everything by Dr. Seuss and books like Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Reading books like these captured my imagination for adventure, which is why I was excited to interview kid’s adventure author, storyteller and travel writer, Steve Bramucci.
Growing up in Oregon, Steve had an active imagination and a deep love of the outdoors and books, but struggled with his attention span. The times he was able to focus most was while reading a book or playing outside.
Today, Steve’s been able to focus his passion for the outdoors and books into a career as a kid’s adventure author, and a travel and food writer for national publications like Uproxx (where he’s the travel, adventure and food editor) and National Geographic. On assignment, he’s rowed down the Mekong Delta on a traditional Vietnamese boat called a x’ampan, traveled into the Australian Outback with Aboriginal elders and driven himself through East Africa on safari.
When I met Steve over a decade ago in Laguna Beach and we were both trying to make it as freelance adventure writers, he told me he was going to become a famous children’s book author. Just a few years ago, Bloomsbury published his first novel, The Danger Gang and the Pirates of Borneo! Its sequel, The Danger Gang and the Isle of Feral Beasts!, launched a year later.
Steve and I met up this past February at an elementary school in Irvine, California, where Steve was giving a presentation to a few hundred third through fifth grade students about his books and encounters with Komodo Dragons. His talk kept the kids enthralled for a full hour, telling jokes that made them scream with laughter, and stories that will likely inspire adventures of their own. If you’ve ever wanted to write a book, or work with kids, he shares great advice about what he did to live out his wildest ideas.
Listen to this episode if:
- You want to be a writer.
- You love adventure and travel stories.
- You’ve ever struggled with ADD.
- You love kids, have kids or want to get them outside.