Hi, I’m Dricks. At heart, I’m just a curious explorer. I’m also a travel curator and creative whose work spans continents and causes, always rooted in people. More than anything, I hope what you find through Dipaways sparks a sense of wonder and inspires your own adventure. Thanks for stopping by.
Full Biography:
As the founder of Dipaways, the acclaimed luxury travel company known for its high-vibe, soul-centered experiences, Dricks Everette has carved a new lane in modern travel. From the colorful streets of Cartagena to the peaceful rice paddies of Bali, he creates journeys that are as transformative as they are exciting, uniting global travelers through curiosity, culture, and connection. Dipaways was named one of USA Today’s Top 10 Best Adventure Tour Companies, recognized for its intentional design, emotional richness, and refreshing cultural immersion.
But his story didn’t begin on a passport page.
Long before Dipaways, Dricks made national headlines as a teen activist fighting to protect youth and the environment. Known then by his middle name Chad, he helped lead a bold youth movement after losing multiple family members to smoking.
Through a mix of grit, creativity, and unwavering conviction, young Dricks raised nearly $1 million to power his campaign. Driven by a desire to protect communities like his own, he used storytelling, media, and grassroots advocacy to call out the tobacco industry’s targeting of children. He traveled the country igniting thousands of students at schools and conferences, lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass comprehensive public health laws, and successfully championed clean air legislation in everyday public places such as restaurants, schools, and ballparks.
Alongside leading public health champions, teenage Dricks played a key role in bringing a major tobacco company to court for targeting minority youth. Their legal victory helped shift national public health policy for good. His work drew the attention of public figures and leaders across the country, including then Senator Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Attorney General turned Governor Roy Cooper, with whom he collaborated on legislation to better protect young people from corporate harm.
In 2008, Dricks captured the hearts of young people across the country, earning millions of online votes to win a Teen Choice Award live on Fox. In front of millions of viewers, he spoke about his cause and became the first non-celebrity to take home the iconic surfboard, along with a kiss on the cheek from Scarlett Johansson and a $100,000 check from DoSomething.org. For a kid simply trying to do some good in his community, it was a surreal moment—the kind you never expect but never forget.
For his role in the movement, Dricks’ face also appeared on 15 million bags of Cool Ranch Doritos nationwide, an unforgettable full-circle moment that marked not just visibility for his campaign, but true resonance with a generation lit for change. He didn’t stop there. Soon after, he received a $250,000 grant to expand the project.
As a result, Dricks launched a grassroots campaign that removed millions of toxic cigarette butts from the environment, transforming pollution into art-powered public awareness. Communities around the world participated, sparking change at local and state levels. His efforts were recognized with some of the nation’s highest honors for young change makers.
Before all of that, Dricks was the kid knocking on doors, washing cars around the neighborhood, and learning how to build from the ground up. In school, he juggled sports and academics while diving into theater, photography, and journalism. With little money and even fewer handed opportunities, he grew resourceful early, finding what he needed and creating what did not exist. Those beginnings still ground and fuel him today.
With a spirit of hustle and a gift for both strategy and storytelling, he returned to New York for college and stepped into the world of media and entertainment. From interning at Nickelodeon to writing and producing for MTV, he quickly built a reputation for blending message with heart, turning culture into content that resonates and moves people.
He went on to work as a creative account executive at various marketing agencies, collaborating with brands across wellness, social justice, public health, and luxury consumer goods. Along the way, he led marketing for a global charity, bringing clean water to rural communities across East Africa.
Whether behind the camera, crafting mission-driven campaigns, or mobilizing communities for impact, his work reflects a sharp creative eye, a big picture mind, and an unwavering heart for service.
Dricks shifted his lens globally in 2015, stepping away from an already nontraditional path to live abroad full-time. From Southeast Asia to Southern Europe, his love for community, wellness, and nature deepened. Over the next decade, he traveled widely, forming genuine connections with locals and absorbing the wisdom of cultures often overlooked in Western life. These years were not about building a brand. They were about learning, unlearning, and nurturing true community. The seeds of Dipaways were being quietly watered long before he even knew the name.
During this time, Dricks began designing and hosting experiences for the iconic Black travel brand Travel Noire, founded by childhood friend Zim Flores. For five years, he led global group trips, immersing himself in the intimate stories of travelers from all walks of life. Through those journeys, he witnessed firsthand the power of travel to restore, reconnect, and reimagine who we are. They began to transform him.
That personal evolution became the foundation for Dipaways, which he sees not just as a travel company but as a wellbeing company, one that fosters curiosity, cultural depth, and connection to self and others. From exploring ancestral roots in Ghana to laughter-filled nights in the hills of Tuscany, he learned how much people crave depth, beauty, and belonging, a lesson that continues to shape his work.
Sparking meaningful change has carried through every chapter of Dricks’ journey, and Dipaways is no exception. Since day one, every trip has been rooted in reciprocity. Giving back is not an add-on. It is seamlessly woven into each experience. Whether rebuilding abandoned youth centers in Cuba, expanding access to tech and real-world job training in rural Bali, or using dance and the arts to keep kids off the streets in South Africa, each trip uplifts underserved and marginalized communities. He wants Dipaways to be as much about impact as it is about exploration.
Through it all, he has stayed devoted to creating moments that matter. His path from award-winning teen changemaker to sought-after creative to global travel curator is not just inspiring. It is a reminder of what becomes possible when ambition and heart move in the same direction.
Now based in sunny San Diego, Dricks spends his days mixing business with ocean dips, and his rescue pup Trill is not far behind. When he’s not designing soulful itineraries, hosting groups, or scouting dreamy locations, you’ll find him catching waves, filming little moments, or laughing with friends over green drinks that look better than they taste. He’s building a life that feels like a Dipaways trip, all in swim trunks and flip-flops.
