Miles' Blog - Christian's Blog
August 25, 2009 - 2:00PM
First, let me explain why it's taken me a week to write this final blog: Immediately after our arrival at the Mexican border, I set out on yet another cross-country adventure.
Lounging in the airport terminal was only the beginning of my grueling journey from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas. My wits were really put to the test when an echoey voice boomed and forced us all to stand up and wait in line. They scanned my ticket, and I was then herded into a fiercely air-conditioned airplane cabin. I was assigned an AISLE SEAT, for christ sakes, and then I had to contend with idly sitting around and reading for three hours. Then we landed and I idly stood around at the baggage claim. And then idly stood around waiting for the rental car. And then sat in the rental car. By the time we made it to the Hilton, I didn't know how much more adventure I could take.
It's amazing that this is what most people call "travel".
...
I want to talk about how our 1600-mile journey from Canada to Mexico has forever changed me. I want to say that I've shed the skin of boyhood, been maimed and battered and torn apart by the Pacific Coast, and then hurled back ashore with the body and mind of a man. It was a rite of passage. It was a test of my strength. Now that I'm back home, things will be different... right?
But I don't feel different. Christian and I made it to San Diego early. So we had a couple days to chill out with friends in La Jolla, and we found ourselves in an all-too familiar environment. We were surrounded by clean-cut suburban kids partying, jaw-dropping girls of every ethnicity, hookah smoke, loud house and hip hop, and the occasional overblown, smiley-faced wacko on Ecstasy. Just like home.
We'd just finished riding our bicycles an enormous distance. Certainly, we gained plenty of insight and perspective from the journey itself and from those we crossed paths with. And certainly this change in perspective would elevate us, giving us more confidence and more prowess in the everyday situations we're accustomed to. Right? Isn't that how the story goes? The heroes emerge from the ashes as changed men?
But no. I didn't feel like a rugged pioneer among mere townsfolk. I didn't feel like the badass that I most certainly am (after biking 1600 miles, you can't say I'm not). I didn't feel like I could get any girl there, or effortlessly become the life of the party. I just felt like myself.
What we've both come to realize, is that going on an adventure and absorbing the wisdom of the land does not automatically change you. It's become clear that progress doesn't manifest on its own. It's also become clear to us that this adventure is not over: reflecting on our extraordinary experience, and figuring out how to apply what we've learned to our lives... that's the next threshold.
I've learned a lot about myself, and my place in the world. I've also learned a lot about humanity. And my time spent in the outdoors has given me a deep, humbling respect for this planet. I'm sure you're interested in WHAT I've learned about myself, and exactly WHAT I've learned about humanity. But I can't put it into words. Honestly, all I can do is encourage everyone reading this to strike out into unfamiliar territory. Go on an adventure. Try to conquer the land. You'll find, as we did, that the land can't be conquered. But it will certainly reward those who dare to try.
July 31, 2009 - 3:00PM
Blogging on the road. We're in Santa Cruz now. There's a definite sense that we're over the hump of this trip and are now on the downhill. Not literally, of course, because we've still got to get over Big Sur. But there's a definite sense that the trip will be over soon, and we'll be back to our regular lives in Northridge.
I've got mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, life on the road has been the greatest experience of my life, and a lot of fun. I've learned so much about the world and about myself, and I've definitely been infected with the travel bug. On the other hand, I've become much more thankful for things I usually take for granted... including the security of the indoors, and the convenience of fossil fuel. :-) Life is definitely easier when you've got a warm bed to sleep in, and you're reasonably sure where you'll be sleeping every night. Plus it'll be cool to get back to school and make some movies. I'm done with my GEs, so after two years in college I'm finally studying what I want to study.
But this project's far from over. I'm projecting we'll need at least four solid months to edit the feature length documentary. And then it's time to plan for next summer... Conquer Europe?
July 19, 2009 - 1:45PM
Bloggin it up. So we're here in Humboldt County in the Redwood Forest, which I was unaware is actually composed of multiple State Parks and a National Park. It's pretty incredible, although I'm still waiting to see a house-sized tree.
One thing we've noticed since we've reached the 101 and the Pacific Coast, is that we're not alone on this adventure. Around 7:00 or 8:00PM, the hiker-biker area of every campground becomes flooded with lots of bicyclists. Many of which are doing the exact same trip as us. Which makes us feel a little unoriginal. For the last week or so, we've been riding with Bruce, a Portland native who packed up his life and is en route to San Diego to start fresh.
But one thing we've realized is that most people are doing this ride for much different reasons than our group. Many people have it planned out day by day, and they're doing it for the beautiful scenery and the cardiovascular exercise. We're doing it for the open road, and the sense of adventure. Plus we're making a documentary. No one else we've met is doing that.
One thing that's always talked about around the warmth of the hiker-biker campfire, is that once you're bitten by the travel bug, there's no going back. And I can already tell this is it. I plan on spending as much of my life as I can abroad. I want to see everything there is to see, and meet everyone on the planet. So when I graduate, I plan on scoring some freelance jobs and traveling around the world while I work. Possibly via bicycle.
July 2, 2009 - 4:00PM
In case you didn't know, there's a difference between a "freeway" and a "highway". Freeways, as most people in urban areas are all-to familiar with, are usually 4+ lanes on both sides of a concrete divider. "Highways" can be as small as one lane in each direction. It's always legal to ride a bicycle on a highway. They usually have a decent shoulder, and traffic is sparse. Freeways are another story.
The whole trip, we've essentially been following the I-5 by way of sidestreets, and the occasional highway like the 99. There have been a few occasions when we've had no choice but to hop right onto the 5 for an exit or two. And when there's no other option, it's completely legal.
Today, we were cruising south of Oregon's capitol, Salem. We'd been on the 99 for a while, and once we passed through Salem, somehow the 99 and the 5 became one in the same. So we were on the shoulder of a major interstate freeway for miles. Trucks roaring by would shake and wobble our bikes. The worst part was negotiating between the off-ramps, as we'd have to dart between exiting cars going 65 or more. It's fun, and it got us where we needed to go really fast (much faster than an alternate bicycle route which would have added 15 miles or so to the trip). But at the same time, it's scary as hell. So... watch out!
June 28, 2009 - 3:00PM
Sitting at the Northwest Hostel in Portland. Portland seems like a cool place. We haven't had much time to explore, since we've been locked up here in the lounge editing the Seattle video and updating the website. Tonight and tomorrow will be devoted to checking out this city.
The hardest thing about this trip so far has been balancing our ADVENTURE time with our FILMING time. BIking 1600 miles is something neither of us has done before. So it's hard on it's own. But you know what else we've never done before? Shot a feature length documentary. And edited it on the road. So it's kind of tough. I want to be able to relax and have fun on this trip, but my mind is constantly jumping to a single thing: should the camera be rolling? There have been so many little moments that we've missed. Little conversations between the two of us, and between us and the legions of friendly locals we've talked to. And most of all, we've been missing all of those SPONTANEOUS things that happen. There's no way to predict that Christian's about to fall into a ditch, or that we're about to encounter some weird trailor-park kids, or that we're about to get lost in the hills and have to run across the I-5 on foot, dodging traffic. So to REALLY film this trip, it's become apparent that we'd need a crew, or at least one dedicated camera guy. Next time (Conquer the Europe?) I'm thinking we'll bring along a camera guy, who can cruise with us on an electric scooter or something.
But anyway, creativity thrives under limitation. So we've been forced to work around what we don't have, and I think we've gotten some good stuff. This film, and these web videos, are about the majesty of the outdoors, two kids who want a life-changing adventure, and the people we meet along the way.
This is no "The Long Way Round". I'm not Ewan McGregor. And we're not trying to force any fake conflict or drama into this thing just to keep the reality-TV masses enthralled. This is just two college kids documenting the adventure of a lifetime, and working within their budget constraints and limitations. The camera isn't rolling all the time. Just when we feel like it.
June 23, 2009 - 5:00PM
We've been on the road for almost a week. It's tough to put it into words, but the last six days have already changed me. Having spent my entire life in the suburbs, save for the occasional family vacation, my world view has always been pretty limited. I try to stay as open-minded as possible, but obviously I'm aware that there's so much more to the world than what I see on a day to day basis.
I sit here at a picnic table, my laptop plugged into an RV power supply, and I'm surrounded by green. I'm also surrounded by the real country, and real country folk. We were planning on leaving Lacey, WA this morning. But as I've said before, the best way to do this is to live day by day. And last night we met some interesting people. Vagabonds, I guess you'd call them. They're traveling around the country in their RV, having scored some serious inheritance money. And they're definitely unlike anyone you'd find in the L.A area. Tonight is Karaoke night here at the campground. We'll be there. And our camera will be there. Stay tuned.
Last night, after leaving the vagabond tent, Christian and I found an enormous clearing in the woods, right by the river which is the staple of this campground. We sat there and started talking about the real MEANING of our documentary, as well as our adventure. It's one thing to interview people and to hear their life story. But it's quite another to engage them in a REAL conversation. And real conversation tends to lead to storytelling... which has been at the heart of this project since it's conception. We've already talked to so many interesting people. And we're now trying to break it down, and figure out exactly how we can get them to open up to us. Because let's face it... most people freeze up when in front of the camera. Which is why we are documentary film-makers, taking the guise of some innocent kids with a video camera. We want to experience this country, and the people that inhabit it. And we want our audience to be right there with us.
June 20th, 2009 - 3:00PM
On the road.
Our first three days were a trial period. Starting at the border, we made it 130 miles to Seattle in three days. We had to deal with some rain, some intense sunlight, and some giant raccoons. (see the upcoming video) The hardest part's been dealing with all of our stuff. We have what feels like 60 pounds of stuff on the back racks of our bikes. Nothing's easily accessible, and we have to perform a balancing act every time we need to take out a cable or a piece of equipment. So we'll be rethinking some of this.
Problems aside, we're having a blast. The first day, when we first hopped on our bikes up at the border, it struck me how much freedom we have. It's an incredible feeling. We started with an exact route planned out, and quickly realized that we don't have to follow anything. The best way to get around is to talk to the locals.
Anyway, now we're sitting here at Dave Billing's house in Seattle. At this rate, (which honestly wasn't too tough), we'll make it to the border before the semester starts, easily. We're exploring Seattle today, and we're going to try to unload Kengi's care packages. No judgement. CTL, everyone!
June 16th, 2009 - 6:30AM
Here we are in Seattle. I love this city.
The train ride was fun. We passed the time eating, listening to music, sleeping, and bombarding other passengers with business cards. People are really getting into this, and we've met some very interesting people. I really don't have much to say, but I felt obligated to post a blog since WE'RE STARTING OUR JOURNEY TOMORROW MORNING. In less than twelve hours, we'll be on our bikes, southward bound, with nothing in front of us but the open road. It still doesn't seem real. Maybe it will tomorrow. Maybe not. Maybe it ISN'T real. Who knows?!?!?
June 9th, 2009 - 6:30AM
Finally got our bikes. We leave in six days. Am I nervous? Not really. It doesn't seem real yet. I wonder when it's going to hit me...
This week has been and will be nothing but Conquer the Land. That's all we're doing, and all we're thinking about. I'm actually at work right now... but only because I need money to conquer the land. We had our family going-away party on Sunday, which was a lot of fun. Christian's parents did a great job, and the stomaches of everyone there became properly inflated with lots and lots of Argentine food. I'd like to mention what we ate, but I have no idea how to spell anything that was served. ;-)
We've also been doing our homework, and studying the techniques of a few documentary filmmakers. We've been watching a lot of "The Long Way Round" (Ewan McGregor's 20,000 miles motorcycle trip), and more recently, David Lynch's mind-blowing "The Interview Project". Everyone needs to check that out at
interviewproject.davidlynch.com It's kind of like what we're doing. But we're on bicycles. And there's only two of us. And we're camping out. And we'll be making a feature film in addition to the web videos. So actually, we're a lot more badass.Anyway, we need to get back to it. Tomorrow we'll be getting up early and biking to Pasadena to pick up some mini burners for camping. CTL everyone!
June 1st, 2009 - 6:30AM
I can't believe we were planning on leaving TODAY. No way. There's definitely no way. But things are falling in to place, and we'll be out of here on June 15th. It's weird, we were talking about how things seem to be coming together for us. Then we were looking for quotes to put on the back of our T-shirts, and I found one by Thomas Jefferson. "“I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” We've definitely been having some good luck.
Yesterday was a strange day. I'd been working late the night before, so I didn't wake up until 1:00pm. Then, for some reason, I kept falling asleep, and one of my naps turned into a night's sleep. And I just woke up now, at 6:30am, competely awake and ready to go. Yesterday pretty much dissappeared... but I needed that rest. We're riding out to Leo Correo today. It'll be our first real simulation of how it's going to be on the road. The plan is to ride out there, shooting the whole way, then find a way to plug in and upload a new video while we're on the road. We'll see how that goes! Anyway, I'm gonna take advantage of waking up so early. CTL.
May 20th, 2009
Looks like we're starting to get a following. We're putting out press releases and trying to spread the word. So if you're reading this, tell your friends and family! In other news, we're training hard every day, but still looking for good road bikes. We'll be hitting up lots of bike shops tomorrow. That's the major hurdle, then all we have to do is raise money for food / campsites / the flight to Seattle. We've got a lot to do.May 13th, 2009
It's been awhile... Finals week is killing us. I've got my last test tonight, though, and I'm DONE! Done with school for the rest of the summer! So that means starting tomorrow we are going to be focused 100% on CONQUERING THE LAND. We desperately need to add a new video. We have our camera and all of our equipment, but we've had absolutely no time. But it's coming soon, don't worry. We're working on adding new comments boxes to every page, which are much better than our old ones. Thanks Google! I'd also like to give a shout out to my parents who donated a tent and sleeping bags to us. You guys are the best. I have to go get back to studying, but tomorrow's the day we can start hitting it hard. We'll definitely have a new video up in the next couple days.
April 28th, 2009
Hey everyone! The site is up and finally ready for people to see. So we've been promoting the hell out of it, dishing out business cards, and trying to spread the word. We're about to call this guy from Trek bicycles about a sponsorship... fingers crossed. The site's ready to go, but there's still a lot we're going to change. We're going to combine the "About" and "Contact" page and make a dedicated "Videos" page. So it's still a work in progress. We've been working on getting on all the major social networking sites like facebook and digg, so check us out there!
April 20th, 2009