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."
[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.
While in graduate journalism school in New York City, Zielbauer worked part-time as a researcher for the committee to Protect Journalists.
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.