Rob Rogers is an attorney and author from Orlando, Florida whose articles on backpacking and travel have been published in Outdoors Unlimited and Go World Travel, and he also contributes articles about hiking and backpacking to newsletters for the Florida Trail Association. He also writes creative nonfiction, and his essays about hiking and backpacking have been published in Still Point Arts Quarterly and Wilderness House Literary Review and on FloridaHikes.com. He is a member of the Florida Trail Association, Outdoor Writers Association of America, Florida Writers Association, and Florida Authors & Publishers Association (FAPA). Rob spends as many weekends in the winter and spring as he can hiking and backpacking in Central Florida.
Rob rediscovered his passion for creative writing in 2024 after experiencing mental health problems and coping with them by hiking and backpacking for the first time since adolescence. After writing an article about his backpacking experiences, he was inspired and encouraged by other authors to turn that article into his first book, Finding My Way Home: Fighting Depression Backpacking in Central Florida. In 2025, Finding My Way Home won the Bronze Medal for Autobiography/Memoir at the 2025 FAPA President’s Book Awards, and was also a Finalist for Nonfiction: Mind/Body/Spirit at the 2025 Independent Author Network (IAN) Book of the Year Awards.
Since writing his first book, Rob has contributed narrative nonfiction and fiction essays to literary journals throughout the United States, several of which have won awards. Through his legal practice, Rob has also contributed articles examining legal issues to Law 360, Bloomberg Law, and Communications Lawyer.
Although Rob’s journalistic writing focuses on hiking, backpacking, travel, and legal analysis, his creative writing has explored a variety of themes, including backpacking and hiking, coping with mental health struggles, music, and even his “man child” hijinks tailgating at college football games. A disciple of Hunter S. Thompson, Rob aims to thrust the reader into his adventures by describing the full sensory experience of the places he visits and the challenges he faces there, while often also accenting his subjects with self-effacing humor or historical and biological insights about the places he discovers. Whether writing editorially or creatively, he treats his subjects like a journalist, albeit one whose voice has been shaped by sardonic humor, misanthropic cognitive distortions, and an irresistible compulsion for authenticity at any cost.
More information about Rob and his writing can be found at his website.
