Francis Tapon (born March 10, 1970) is an author, global nomad, and public speaker.

[9] After Harvard, he co-founded a Silicon Valley robotic vision company that was covered by The New York Times.

[23][24] National Geographic listed Francis Tapon's round trip on the Continental Divide Trail among the most notable feats of 2007.

[25][26] 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.

[34] In March 2013, he entered Morocco and began a five-year trip to all 54 African countries.

Half way through his trip, he met and married a Cameroonian, Rejoice Tapon, who traveled 31 of African countries with him.

Tapon shared a story about an African girl who was a "black sheep" in her society and what we can learn from it.

[40] In January 2019, he was inducted in the California Outdoors Hall of Fame, which includes John Muir and Ansel Adams.

The chapters are entitled "The Final Stretch" and "A Thru-hiker's Motivation: Not Enlightenment, Just Ice Cream."