Ken Budd has volunteered around the world, from China to Kenya to the West Bank—a search for meaning and purpose following the unexpected death of his father. Ken shared his six-country journey in his award-winning memoir, The Voluntourist. 

After learning that the average human life lasts just 650,000 hours, Ken is focused on how we all can maximize our limited time on Earth. He has made nearly 100 appearances on TV and radio, including NBC’s Today, CBS This Morning, ABC News Now, CBS’s The Early Show, National Geographic Weekend, and Martha Stewart Living Radio. His writing credits include The Atlantic, The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, The Washington Post, Smithsonian, AARP The Magazine, Travel + Leisure, NationalGeographic.com, and many more. Ken’s work appears in the 2020 edition of The Best American Travel Writing and he has won gold awards from organizations such as the Society of American Travel Writers and the North American Travel Journalists Association. He also writes the award-winning “Everyday Heroes” column for The Saturday Evening Post.

Ken and his wife live in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. He is available for speaking engagements through the HarperCollins Speakers Bureau. Here is Ken on a CBS segment with Harry Smith and discussing The Voluntourist on DC Fox 5 and C-SPAN’s Book TV.