seanmcgrath

I almost sprayed a coat of hot coffee all over my monitor when the words came up “Your Dream. Our Money. Earn it.” emphasized by the fact that the number “10,000” never looked quite so good. The marketing think-tank at Teva (pronounced “teh-vah”), makers of sandals and shoes made popular by adventure seekers of all types, really had something going. Their new promotion, a contest coined “Teva Life Agents”, is promising $10,000 not one but various new “Life Agents” that are willing to share the stories of their corporately funded adventure through blog posts, photos and videos.

The contest began on January 21st with quite a bang and was made official with a press release and a new website. This was followed up by a launch party in Salt Lake City promoted by Chali 2Na, the former front man of the alternative hip-hop band Jurassic 5. The hard-to-pronounce-rapper was not the only celebrity there. Teva has selected five celebrity Life Agents to jumpstart the program. Clearly, Teva is putting in a great deal of effort into promoting the new marketing campaign by pushing a lot of momentum into the launch.

The current round-up of Life Agents that have been hand selected by Teva include film makers Wade Davis and Jason Goldwatch, Mountain Biker Jeff Lenosky, Kayaker John Grace and Kick Kennedy, granddaughter of the late senator from Massachusetts, Robert F. Kennedy. Kick Kennedy has starred in an adventure IMAX film sponsored by Teva. Life Agent and filmmaker Rush Sturges won first place prize in the 13th Annual Rosenheim Kayaking Film Festival in Germany. These hand selected Life Agents will make up the panel of judges that will deem new adventurers worthy of the $10,000.

According to the official rules, Teva is looking for the Life Agents to be “the new representative face of the Teva brand”. Applicants are to pitch their dream project ideas to Teva through either a written or video essay and Teva promises a $10,000 grant to those selected to be the new Life Agents to fun their respective projects. Along with the $10,000 grant, Teva Life agents would be supplied with a Flip Camera to document their projects and about $540 of Teva Footwear. Projects must “involve adventure travel” and must be completed within six months of being accepted. The projects must be well documented via blog posts, photos and video and those applying must confirm their ability to access the internet throughout the project. Teva is also imposing six public appearances over the course of one year. Not a bad deal at all, if you ask me. The major downside to this whole deal is that it is only available to US Residents, which is very unfortunate for our non US readers.

There are no restriction on the kind of adventure and claims that “anyone who embodies the Teva lifestyle” is eligible – meaning, you do not have to be a mountain biker or a white-water rafter to give this contest an honest shot. Projects will be judged on the basis of creativity, originality and “best project”. Current video applicants include a mom who wants to take her two children, or “monkies” as she refers to them, on vacation, a filmmaker who would like to summit Mount Everest, mountain bikers, kayakers, snowboarders and a world-traveling couple are just some amongst the many submissions so far.

On April 26th, Teva selected their first Life Agent winner. Randy Pierce will use his $10,000 grant to hike forty-eight of New Hampshire’s highest peak, including Mount Washington, the highest peak in the East Coast. Randy, who lost his sight at age twenty-two, will be accompanied by his guide dog, Quinn.

Teva will continue accepting applications for Life Agents throughout the year. The only thing left to do is to take out the video camera or a pad and paper and start working on your submission. If you do apply, please let us know in the comments and share with us your ideas. So go ahead and tell us: What would you do? Do you think you have what it takes?

Santhosh Janardhanan

Let the world change you… and you can change the world
- The Motorcycle Diaries (Movie)

Dan4th

I first heard of Dan Pink when browsing through some of the more popular talks on the TED website. Dan Pink has written books on career and businesses. In his latest book, he has taken a great interest in researching and publicizing what it is that motivates people. This content is what fueled his TED talk in July of 2009 and, more recently, another video that he put together. The general premise of these new ideas in motivation, as Philip Brewer puts it:

Paying more for excellent performance is not only a poor way to motivate people, it is actually counterproductive. When a large bonus depends on doing outstanding work, work quality declines. – Philip Brewer

The video does a great job of going into details of how motivation impacts businesses and the people running them. At about 5:16 in the video, Pink mentions that research shows that there are three factors that truly motivates people:

1. Autonomy
2. Mastery
3. Purpose

I will go as far as to say that not only do the above factors motivate people to do excellent work, these are the same factors that make people happy in any organization. So, if science tells us that this is how people are motivated for work would the same motivation apply for independent travel?

Let’s take a look. Looking through independent travel websites or reading books on the subject “personal independence” is always marked as one of the top reasons why people set out and travel in the first place! Independent travelers plan where they are going, where they are staying, who they will meet, or how they are going to do it all. They have no immediate responsibility beyond themselves. Autonomy: check!

Mastery is a bit trickier, and I am sure this one is different for every individual, but one thing is for certain is that travel is like everything else. The more you travel the better you get at it. For those who might not know exactly what I mean, just think of your first vacation you planned with your family and the most recent. Assuming they are not the same, I would be willing to bet that your stress or anxiety levels of the two trips differ. This is because you have gotten better at traveling! You know more of what to expect, you know what to pack, you know of things that could go wrong. You are wiser and more experienced. Mastery: checked!

We hit the existential question of purpose. Once again, this one is likely to change from person to person. Most independent travelers that I have come across find a greater bond to humanity through their travels. As Mark Twain said “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness”.

Looking into the research, we can see that independent travel feeds great internal motivator for many. Of course, we already knew that. Now we just have some science to back that up!

• Destination: Chiang Rai, Thailand
• Trip Planning and Preparation (Part 1)
• Trip Planning and Preparation (Part 2)
• Orphanage
• Trekking in Chiang Rai
• The Thai Islands
• Angkor Wat
• Saigon
• Laos
• Last Day in Bangkok
• Coming Home

Note: If the links are not active yet, they are still in the works.

Traveling south from John o’Groats in Scotland, Charley and Ewan make their way into Italy where they take a ferry from Sicily to Tunisia in northern Africa. From here our friends ride east-words across North Africa into Egypt where they begin to travel south into Sub-Saharan Africa. Once at Malawi, the itinerary points west-word towards Nambia and finally to South Africa where they reach the southernmost point of Africa, Cape Agulhas, before their final destination in Cape Town. Eighteen countries in all. Border crossings were, once again, smoother than expected with the only real jolt of plans being that the two American citizens of the support crew could not get entry visa’s into Libya and had to leapfrog into Egypt from Tunisia.

Amidst the various scenes that Africa is so well known for (and some less known), the pair once again take the opportunity to visit various UNICEF humanitarian efforts in Ethiopia, Uganda and Malawi. The AIDS epidemic and some of the African political struggles are highlighted in both the UNICEF involvement and in some of their own experiences as they travel through the continent. Unplanned and unscripted, the crew visited with the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, where a greater understanding to the genocide of 1994 was gained. One of the most touching moments of the series was the UNICEF projects aiding the victims (primarily children) of land-mines in Ethiopia. The emotions experienced through their journey was as varied and complex as Africa itself.

The odyssey through Africa resulted in some of the most beautiful and stunning scenes captured through camera. Specifically in Sub-Sahara, the dialog of the boys consisted mainly of “Ohhs” and “Ahhs” where the narrating of the adventure was left to the footage alone. The footage is amazing on it’s own, but contextually different then any other movie or documentary depicting scenes in Africa. The context that you watch them travel, mile by mile, to get to the jungle brings to the viewers a very different perspective compared to a movie where, for example, in one scene you are in New York City and the next, magically through the power of the fade, you appear in Africa.

Unfortunately, while it seems Charley and Ewan have gained a lot of experience riding their bikes cross continents, I was disappointed to notice that they did not slow down their pace. Quite the opposite, they actually attempted to cram more stops and were constantly in a hurry, particularly in North Africa where it was crucial for them to get to a ferry that only runs once a week. Just as in the first series, the crew feels the pain of having to put so many miles per day and not taking the time to enjoy the trip. New to “Long Way Down”, for a rather small segment of the trip Ewan’s wife, Eve, rode with them on her own motorcycle. While I understand Ewan’s desire to take his wife on a trip of a lifetime, I have to admit it definitely changed the chemistry of the show for the brief period where she tagged along.

Charley and Ewan continue to inspire us through their journeys and keeps their fans waiting for the next “Long Way” adventure so that we can hop on the back of their motorcycles and see the world through a new perspective. The ten episode series is available on Netflix and the complete 3-DVD series
(affiliate link) can be purchased on Amazon by itself or via the Long Way Round 8-DVD Box Set (affiliate link) along with their other adventures: Long Way Round and Race to Dakar. There is a bit of speculation around the net with regards to their next big adventure, and it’s easy to see why. The series has consistently brought viewers into a new experience unlike any other travel documentary before.

I just had one of the most extraordinary days on The Road of Bones. We started at 7:30 and we didn’t stop for a break ’til 6:30 this evening. They were twelve of the most exciting hours of motorcycling I’ve ever done in my life, unbelievable. The roads were just deteriorated and deteriorated. We were riding on mud, gravel, and puddles, and pot holes, and rivers, and bogs. It was just everything thrown at us at once. - Ewan McGregor

“Adventure” is one of those interesting words. It really means something different to everyone. There are adventure movies, adventure books, and adventure sports, and then there are adventure toys and adventure games. Each of these carrying a different definition and with each definition a different interpretation. At some point in history, maybe when fewer and fewer discoveries were being made, adventure has become an adjective and not a noun. Most recently, I had the pleasure of coming across what I believe is a genuine adventure, noun, not adjective.

Long Way Round is a modern adventure. The kind of adventures that little boys (and little girls) dream about. The recipe for Long Way Round is fairly simple: two guys, two motorcycles and 19,000 miles. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman ride their motorcycles from London to New York City. “and what about the Atlantic Ocean!” you exclaim. Assuming they were riding west-word the Atlantic Ocean would be a problem, but these adventurers are riding east-word from Europe, into Asia all the way to eastern Russia into Alaska and continue to New York City – hence the name, “Long Way Round”. All of this documented by a camera crew preparing the adventure in nice neat 45 minute episodes for our enjoyment.

The geeks all know McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star War Movie prequels while everyone else may know him as Christian in Moulin Rouge or the padre in Angels and Demons. Boorman, also an actor, carries fewer blockbusters in his portfolio. These two have a very rare on-screen chemistry that has the viewer cheering them along through every episode. Both are quite charming their own way and together there is a “bromance” that rivals any that I have seen. The production is also stellar – giving viewers an insight into their pains and joys as if you were riding right there along them through the rocky roads and washed out bridges. You can’t help but reflect the enthusiasm of this adventure.

McGregor and Boorman check off twelve countries from their list in this adventure. The starting country, UK to France, Belgium, Germany and Czech Republic make up the European countries leading into Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia (including Siberia), Kazakhstan, Mongolia in Asia and the North American countries of Canada and USA finish off their journey. Pavement (or lack thereof) was not the only thing that they came into contact with. The dynamic duo made various stops at UNICEF projects to support and bring attention to them including an orphanage in Ukraine dealing with the aftermath of the Chernobyl Disaster, a youth center in Kazakhstan and a community project working with the orphaned children living in the streets of Mongolia. While this could have of easily been a face put up for the viewers, both McGregor and Boorman share personal stories of how each of UNICEF’s efforts impact them. It is worthwhile noting that the McGregor family adopted a Mongolian child a few years after the completion of the series.

In the ten-episode series, they made stops at various sights, villages, and cities. They were invited into the homes of locals in more than one occasion – giving them, and the viewers, an insight into various cultures from west to east. Border crossings were also documented, shining a light on the process that is often thought of as very complicated and tedious and sometimes this proves to be true, but more often not. As with any adventure, a number of things did not go according to plan, risks were made as often as friends and in the end, it was all very remarkable. The only criticism I have of the series is that sometimes their travels felt very rushed. A feeling that is shared by the both Boorman and McGregor. McGregor mentions it on more than one occasion in his desires to slow down and take in the experience. Very much in agreement with the philosophies of Rolf Potts.

“Long Way Round“ while being a modern documentary, brought back the old-school meaning of adventure and the series takes viewers through every step; from the crucial planning to the highly anticipated outcome. The series can seen via Netflix (although at the time of writing this it is not available to watch instantly). The original series has been discontinued, it is now packaged together with their follow up adventures “Long Way Down” and “Race to Dakar” and can be purchased from Amazon as the Long Way Round 8 DVD Box Set (affiliate link).

Ewan and Charley are a great inspiration reminding us that true adventure still exists and that the impossible is always possible. We just have to go out there and conquer our fears and put those that say is impossible in their place.

Saint Augustine declared that “the world is a book, and those who have not traveled have read only one page.” Only firsthand experience can validate or challenge our intuitions, giving us confidence about risky political decisions in a complex world of instant feedback loops and unintended consequences. During travel, perception and thought merge; a contradiction can emerge as a truth to be revealed, not some exception to be disproved. Such ambiguity is the corollary of complexity, after all. Reality is famously resistant to theories that measure the world according to what it should be rather than how it really is. Instead, exploring the patterns of the second world aesthetically, honoring the value of purely sensory judgments — this exposes characteristics that are common to the entire second world; differences are revealed to be more relative than absolute.

Parag Khanna, The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order (2008)

More Than Money