I’ve been thinking about boats lately, what with our day of sailing in Bar Harbor, our friend Julian’s wild adventure of sailing that same boat from Florida to Maine with his older brother this past spring and coming across cool images like this (one of the world’s largest container ships):
I’ve always loved the idea of being a stowaway on a big ol’ container ship. It sounds like such a romantic thing to do. Not to mention a great metaphor. When I was younger, I did a lot of research about how I could make it happen. Turns out, if you’re not working on the ship, you’ll have to pay. No stowaways these days(?).
But really, it’s not a bad idea to travel by ship. Check out this How To article from the Travelers Notebook. It does sound like fun! Slow travel, FTW.
This is often how round the world routes work: book your freighter ticket and then plan in a few weeks in every major port. With freighters, the possibilities for your adventure are almost endless. Just think: anywhere global commodities are shipped are places that you can disembark and spend time soaking up the local culture before re-boarding.
I (Audrey) recently took a trip down to Hot Springs, Arkansas to begin researching a documentary film I am making. I met my mother (whom the film is partially about) down there and we spent 5 days digging up the past, eating fried catfish and barbecue, bathing in hot springs and soaking up the vibe of this little town, and I have to say- I am in love with the history and old Americana feel of Hot Springs. Here are a couple of photos from the trip, the rest are on Mark’s Flickr page. I will be posting more about this project in the months (and years?) to come, I may even create a separate blog for the film, but I will keep everyone POSTED. Ha ha. Pun intended.
Audrey and I drove all the way up to Bar Harbor (a 12-hour drive) with our friends Nancy, Will and Adam for a long weekend of BBQing, sailing, hiking and general funtimes with our buddy Julian who is living up there. It was the absolutely quintessential American 4th of July. And we had picture perfect weather to boot. Here’s the whole set of photos of the trip, and a couple choice shots:
Longtime readers will know that I day dream a lot about long distance bike adventures, but it’s been a while since I wrote about one.
At MountainFilm in Telluride this year, we had the pleasure of catching this amazing film made by two young French Canadians called Asiemut. The courageous and adventuresome couple, Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier (heros!), bike their way across a significant portion of the Asian continent completely on their own. It’s an amazing film, truly one that inspired me in my own dreams of documenting such an adventure. It’s one of those films that makes you think, ‘damn, you can do anything if you stick your mind to it!’
If you’re planning on doing a trip like this (who isn’t?) they’ve got some great tips on how and where and when to travel on their website. I’m bummed they don’t have a full trailer up on YouTube, though they do have this short clip to give you a sense of the tone of the film:
Asiemut certainly reminded me of my blog buddies, Project Pedal. I’m sure they’ll dig this. Maybe you guys would like to do a bike trip with Audrey and me next? Haha. I can’t wait to see their film!
Since I’m a video nerd, statements like this make me drool (over the possibilities):
We filmed the whole documentary film with a semi-professional camera, mini-dv Sony pdx10, 16:9 format. We traveled with seventy mini-dv tapes and two 360 minutes lithium batteries. We also had one charger, a stool, and a laptop. We took ourselves every single images of our film!
As you can see on the picture below, we had a camera mount that permitted us to film and to speak to the camera as we biked. We created it ourselves in the north of China with the help of two amazing chinese welders. It was attached at the front of our luggage support and was also attached to our handlebar. It was a homemade camera mount, quite heavy, but worked very well!
I had the great pleasure of heading to the mountains again this holiday weekend for a heaping serving of films that celebrate the ‘indomitable spirit‘ in adventure, culture, sports and environment. MountainFilm was celebrating it’s 30th year and it was my seventh. As always, it was excellent to spend time in Telluride, my old stomping grounds. Audrey got her first taste of the high and mighty San Juan Mountains, and I’m sure it won’t be her last. We had a great time.
I took a plethora of photos on the trip. You can see the whole set on Flickr here. Here are a few choice picks:
(my gorgeous wife)
(my sister-in-law Becca, her husband Brian and Audrey on top of the Jud Weibe Trail, ~10,000ft elevation)
(me, Justyn and Greg - my co-projectionists at The Palm Theater)
Also, I should mention that the good people at National Geographic Adventure were major sponsors of the event and I would be bereft if I didn’t send my buddies at their sister blog Intelligent Travel a proper shout-out! They’re frequent commenters on The Poverty Jet Set, and I love ‘em for it. You guys rule, keep up the awesome work! And thanks for supporting such a fantastic festival.
We had a fantastic day adventuring in the pine barrens with orchid and rare plant fanatic Lord Whimsy on Sunday. It was a rainy, cool spring day, but that didn’t dampen our rare plant finding enthusiasm one bit. Whimsy, his wife Lady Pink and friend Bill were joined by Audrey, Norm, Heather, Brandy and me. Here is a video and some photos of the day. See the whole set of pretty photos here.
My friend Scott is trying his hand at indie film distribution and Train on the Brain is the first film he’s putting out (it’s available for purchase on DVD on the site). Scott’s all about alternative living. We’re kindred spirits in that regard. This film probably won’t disappoint on that front. Women filming themselves hopping trains around America. Excellent. Gritty.
Filmmaker Alison Murray drops out of the rat race, grabs a camera, and hits the rails with some other punk kids on a trans-continental freight train hopping epic. On their odyssey they encounter a cast of hobos and runaways, scallywags and castaways, finding adventure at every turn. Amidst run-ins with the law, and surviving the perils of the elements, Alison weaves an epic narration over beautifully shot film and video with an old-time soundtrack by Beck (think Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly). Train On The Brain was originally produced for Channel 4 UK by MJW Productions, and was Alison Murray’s first documentary film before directing Mouth to Mouth starring Ellen Page. Train On The Brain is hollywoodcansuckit.com’s first film release.
Audrey and I spent the weekend in good ol’ Columbia, Missouri to hole up in a dark theater and watch excellent indie documentaries. It was my third (and her second) time to the fest in their five-year history. We hope to be there every year until their twenty-fifth and beyond! It’s truly one of the best doc festivals in the country - relaxed vibe, great parties, wonderful films all held in a super rad town. If you’d like to know more about True/False, check out this great podcast interview with my friends and festival founders Paul Sturtz and David Wilson on Joel Heller’s blog “Docs that Inspire“.
Some of the highlight films for me were Joy Division, the new documentary hot on the heals of the fantastic biopic Control that came out in theaters late last year - The Order of Myths, a subtle story about race and the Mardi Gras traditions in Mobile, Alabama - and Gonzo, the Alex Gibney portrait of Hunter S. Thompson.
Echoes of Home, though, was by far my favorite film of the festival. It’s the story of a few musicians who are pushing the art of yodeling to new and powerful forms, but also reaching back into the history of this ancient skill. One of those kinds of movies that makes you tear up because it’s so beautiful. Okay, at least I did.
We saw some old friends and made some new ones, too. Like seeing our old buddy Chris here sitting and rappin’ with ramblin’ musician ‘Gramps’ on 10th Street.
True/False also does a crazy parade every year:
And those folks sure know how to throw a jammin’ party:
Wow, it’s hard to believe, but 25-year old Scottsman Mark Beaumont just did. Crazy, huh? And what would a good trip around the world be without a little video blog action?
I came across Mike Amb’s video project this past summer as he was gearing up to make a film about a cross-country bike trip. I was in awe of his amazing video editing skills and knack for story telling. Well, he’s finished the production part of the film and he and his friend Amanda are hard at work on the feature-length edit. He’s just posted a new video about the process, which I must say again, is one of the most amazing independently produced video blogs I have ever seen. Srsly. Way to go, Mike and Amanda! Good luck finishing the film!
One of my favorite travel blogs Intelligent Travel just did a fantastic interview with author Robert Neuwirth. He writes SquatterCity, a blog that covers the plight of impoverished people in urban areas. He’s also coming out with a book Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World which “is an attempt to humanize these maligned settlements.” In the interview, they talk about how to go about visiting these parts of the city, why you should and why it’s good.
I have a special place in my heart for downtrodden urban areas of the world. Not only do I live on the fringes of some of the worst neighborhoods in my own country, but I’ve been to others in my travels around the world. They are certainly sad places to be, but important for us not to ignore. And certainly not places or people to fear. Seeing the way people live in urban poverty compared to rural poverty is always striking, and I think we can learn so much from the contrast. About the cost of globalization. About human dignity. About the true price of material wealth.
This article also brings to mind a daring documentary I saw at a couple film festivals last year, “Ghosts of Cite Soleil“. It tells the story of some of the gangs in Haiti who struggle with control and survival in the big shantytown of Port-au-Prince. Not sure if it’s been released theatrically, but when it comes out on DVD, I highly recommend it.
Audrey and I went out to Salt Lake City last week to visit her folks. One of the highlights was our day hike at Antelope Island State Park. This incredible island is in the middle of the Great Salt Lake and has always been a kind of spiritual home for Audrey. Buffalo everywhere. Wide open views. If you’ve ever seen Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle, remember the rodeo round-up scene in Cremaster 2? Not a lot different. Surreal!
It was my first time there, and I can see now why she loves it so much. What an amazing place! The land and sky all blur together in this vibrant magic of light, snow, salt, water, grass. Here are a few photos from the day, but be sure to look through the whole set. Truly beautiful.
This is a completely random collection of short vignettes from our trip. We didn’t want to stick to any over-arching theme or anything too complicated (we wanted our brains to be mushy), so this is kind of a mishmash of moments in time. Enjoy!
Thanks again to all you lovely folks who contributed to our honeymoon wedding present. We love you!
Audrey and I returned just before Christmas from our indulgent 10-day voyage to the Yucatán. We have lots of fun stories to tell, but I’ll let the photos do the talking for now (since I’m at work now and shouldn’t be blogging!). Here are a couple of choice images. Many more on my Flickr set. Stay tuned for the (of course) video!
Audrey and I are in much need of a long vacation after many months of hard work. So it’s off to Tulum, Mexico for our honeymoon! We promise to return with good stories, funny videos and lots of amazing photos to make ya jealous. In the meantime, we are unplugging completely. No inkernet. No phone. Nothing. Just hammocks, margaritas, ocean and sunshine. Happy Holidays! See you soon!
Arthur Magazine’s blog Magpie has been fantastic reading for the past few months. At least once a week I find something fascinating being delved into with reckless abandon. It’s fresh and interesting. I highly recommend you checking it out if the mystical, the psychedelic, the musical, the dreamy, the progressive political strike your fancy.
Today, they post about The Miss Rockaway Armada a group of self-made Mississippi River pirates floating downstream from end to end on a crazy raft made of recycled, reused and repurposed materials. Fun! Here’s a quote from the gang:
We want to create: to invent a new sustainable way to travel, to demonstrate different ways of living and moving that are friendlier to the environment and to each other, to indulge in that essential urge to make something out of nothing. We want to meet people: to learn from new folks along the way, to teach what we know, to share our art, our music and our performance, and to make new friends. Finally, for adventure: to reclaim and reinvent the old American urge to strike out and discover the vast, mysterious land we inhabit and see it for ourselves.
I love adventure, but I really love cool weirdo stuff like this. Living passionately is the only way to be!
Of course we needed to hit up ol’ Fishtown before the end of the season! Watch for those cameos! Alex, Brandy, Kyle, Sammy, Jeff and Will all make a brief cut!
Audrey and I took the opportunity on a sunny late-November Sunday to hop in our new cute lil’ car “Trigger” (more on him later) and drive aimlessly around the southern coast of New Jersey. We happened upon a totally weird, almost Twighlight Zone scene in this little town called Bridgeton where all these people were wandering the streets zombie-like. We high-tailed it outa there once the police started closing off the streets for a random parade. We thought they might be cordoning off the zombies.
After that, we pointed to a speck on the map called Sea Breeze and drove out there only to find nothing but a swamp. Seriously. Here’s the video:
As the afternoon crept up on us, we kept zig-zagging our way down the Coastal Heritage Trail (map) towards Cape May so we could watch the sunset. We saw another fun dot on the map called something like “NJ Tall Ship” near a very small dot called Bivalve. Who’s ever heard of a town called Bivalve? Sounds like a place to go for heart surgery. Bivalve, however, ended up to be a rotten-smelling boat launch for professional fishing boats. We got some amazing photos there, though. Like the one at this:
As the late fall sun quivered over the horizon, we pulled up to Cape May Lighthouse and the beach where we could pick up shells and cool-looking rocks and run around doing cartwheels and stuff. That was fun! And romantic!
And at last, we headed into the town of Cape May in search of a good meal. Alas, this was the only downside of the trip. Having no guide in a nearly dead off-season town with 90% of restaurants and businesses closed, we chose what appeared to be a quaint local joint. Instead, it had big screen tv with football playing, ditzy waitresses and crab cakes boiled down to crispy hard balls that looked and tasted like crap. Luckily, it was ‘buy on get one free entree night‘ so it was only half as bad as it might have been.
Spontaneous road trips on a sunny Sunday. Can’t beat it, baby.
Every so often we here at The Poverty Jet Set get pinged by a cool new blog, and I wanted to send a shout out and a word of thanks from Lara Dunston at Cool Travel Guide. She was kind enough to add us to her short and highly reputable blogroll, so of course I checked it out and was pleasantly surprised, so I subscribed! Check out, for example, one of her posts on traffic hazards in Thailand. Having traveled extensively through South East Asia myself a few times, I can relate! In fact, that reminds me of an amazing post I’m going to write about an insane bus ride in Vietnam…
And for you foodies out there, she’s got lots of great posts on the joys of eating and travel like this one.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about a good ol’ long-distance adventure blog, so I thought it high time. While certainly not quite as hard core as walking or biking around the world, the Half Throttle guys did a pretty bang-up job on documenting their adventures motorcycling from Utah to Panama. They’ve got some great videos and photos to prove it. Have a look at Episode 29: Pan-American Highway:
