Below is a chronology of Tapon's most notable travel experiences, which inspired his two books. In 2001, he hiked the Appalachian Trail. In 2004, he visited all the countries in Eastern Europe. In 2006, he backpacked the Pacific Crest Trail. In 2007, he became the first person to walk from Mexico to Canada and back to Mexico along the Continental Divide Trail. This seven-month journey spanned over 5,600 miles. Francis took the most circuitous, scenic, high, difficult route north and while returning south took the more expedient route on the way down. He hiked ultralight since his pack, without food and water, weighed under 6 lbs. National Geographic listed Francis Tapon's round trip on the Continental Divide Trail among the most notable feats of 2007. In 2009, he walked across Spain twice: once by traversing the Pyrenees from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, and then by hiking El Camino de Santiago. In 2008–2011, he visited over 40 European countries, including all the Eastern European ones. He focused on finding Eastern European innovations. In 2012, he summed up his travels to date and shared his lessons in his TEDx talk entitled, "How and Why Travel Transforms You." It has over 100,000 views. In March 2013, he entered Morocco and began a five-year trip to all 54 African countries. He never left the African continent. Half way through his trip, he met and married a Cameroonian, Rejoice Tapon, who traveled 31 of African countries with him. In October 2018, Tapon returned to a TEDx stage. He had just returned from 5.5 years of nonstop overland travel through all 54 African countries. Tapon shared a story about an African girl who was a "black sheep" in her society and what we can learn from it. He returned to the United States in 2018. He plans to write his third book based on the experience. He filmed extensively and has raised over $24,000 to produce a pilot TV episode by November 2014. Amazon.com and Lincoln Mercury selected him as the best example of someone who is fulfilling the dream of traveling the world. In January 2019, he was inducted in the California Outdoors Hall of Fame, which includes John Muir and Ansel Adams.
Books
Tapon is the author of the WanderLearn Series, which is a series of books about his adventures. He has written two books so far:
Tapon, Francis, Hike Your Own Hike: 7 Life Lessons from Backpacking Across America, 351 pages,.
Tapon, Francis, The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us, 736 pages,.
He also wrote two chapters in Hikers' Stories From the Appalachian Trail, edited by Kathryn Fulton, Stackpole Books. The chapters are entitled "The Final Stretch" and "A Thru-hiker's Motivation: Not Enlightenment, Just Ice Cream."
