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Often we get cheers from people about our courage to take on such a big project with such little resources.  Many tell us that we are crazy, jaws often drop when Steve Bouey tells them that he cashed out his whole retirement fund to put into this dream.  I have put a great deal of my savings on the line and dug a nice little black hole of credit as well.

When the project first started we went back and forth on the idea of starting TWBR as a non-profit so that we could have an easier time raising money. This was based on the idea that our objective was to work with schools when we return educating youth about what is really happening in the world and inspire them to follow after their dreams like we have.  Again, the majority of people are very supportive of us and these goals.  We don’t expect to change the world, but we certainly hope to change as many minds as we can about what is happening out there.  This is why we ultimately decided to not make this whole thing about a cause like everyone is doing these days.  Many races, expeditions, and adventures are about raising money for something, we did not want to make this about that.

Since both of us decided to pour our entire lives and financial security on the line for this project, it seemed reasonable to at least have the option at the end of this of turning a profit and maybe actually getting paid for the risks we have taken.  Still there are those few out there that take offense to this, as though we are selfish people.  Perhaps someday some of these angry people out there can realize that just because someone is trying to make money, doesn’t mean they cannot also be helping someone.  The most recent and anonymous comment on the blog writes as such:

“Let’s see…..there are hundreds of thousands of children starving, abused, homeless, uneducated, orphaned and generally unhappy every day. 30,000 USD would change the lives of an entire village. I could help them, or help this group put more gas in their SUVs drive around the world. Hmmmmmmmm……….”

This fine anonymous reader of the blog is from Milton, Queensland in Australia based on the IP address.  My question to him/her and anyone who feels the same way is, “What did we ever do to you?”  We are a couple of guys that believe just throwing money at poor, less fortunate people does not solve problems.  As we state in our mission statement and all the info on the site explaining what we are doing- Only 20% of Americans hold valid passports and an even smaller amount of them actually using them in a given year (some years less than 5% of Americans leave the country).  The statistics are very similar in most developed countries.  Although the statistics may be a little better in other countries, not many people who donate money to the Red Cross or the countless other organizations out there trying to help people have even been to the countries where the money is going.  From what we have seen, a majority of this money is misused or never even makes it to the people it was meant to help.

Man on his Soapbox - Courtesy of Wikipedia

There are still many upstanding organizations out there helping people, but saying that giving money to a village is more important than educating youth is crazy in my opinion.  If we can fill the world with more young people that are truly aware of world issues, then we will more quickly solve problems like starvation, illiteracy, corruption, disease, pollution and more.  The majority of people I have met on this journey, American or not, do not know where half of the countries in our route lie on a map.   Before we all fill ourselves with guilt because we are privileged or stand on our soapboxes about sending money abroad, remember that education and understanding are our most important tools to creating real change in the world.  Between Europe, the USA, and the other developed countries pouring billions of dollars each year into foreign aid and influencing countless decisions of other countries governments, it should be our duty as citizens of these countries to make sure that those dollars are spent responsibly and the decisions are made well.  Without ever even getting near these places, who are any of us to say where the money is best spent or whether the decisions being made are responsible?

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PS. Anonymous, if you are looking for a village that has a really great program helping locals, The ETC in KhaoLak, Thailand is a place I would recommend.  Our friend Reid Ridgeway runs the program and it is a place that makes an unbelievable difference in the lives of Thai people and helps to preserve their environment at the same time.  Also, if you were interested we also filmed with AUSAid in Indonesia, and your Australian dollars are being well spent there building schools.

Actually, I guess it is the King and all of us. Here in Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej is greatly revered by the Thai people. Pretty much everyone in Thailand thinks of the King like a father and his likeness and symbols of the monarchy can be found just about everywhere. As you drive through the various cities and towns in Thailand, the King is there to great you with a wave and a smile. The King and the royal family dominate roadside billboards, elegant portraits are scattered throughout city streets, and placement of the yellow flag representing the monarchy parallels if not supersedes that of the red, white and blue Thai flag.

King Adulyadej has weathered a lot on the throne (a few military coups and the death of his beloved grandson in the 2004 tsunami) and has actually held his position longer than any other monarch in Thai history… over 60 years. His tenure on the throne also makes him the longest serving head of state in history… anywhere.

The King has done a lot for his people and they truly love him… so much so that they go to great lengths to protect him. Any public defamation of the King or his likeness can get you into serious trouble. Recently, a European man served some time in jail for defacing images of the King and after someone uploaded an insulting video about the King on Youtube, the site was immediately banned throughout Thailand

We have yet to come across anyone, and this includes a fair amount of foreign expatriates, who even candidly have anything bad to say about the King. As one American expat explained, "the King is a pretty cool guy." One thing is for sure, as we drive through Thailand, you can’t help but feel that the King is there with us along for the ride.

We have been out of the country for a while now and have had things pretty easy in terms of language given that we have only been to countries where English is the official language. However, even though they speak English here in Australia, there are actually quite a few phrases and terms that can throw you for a loop and make communicating or trying to get something accomplished a little more interesting that expected.

One of the more interesting lost in translation experiences occurred the other day when Shoppman and I were trying to buy a cooler for food and other necessary car-camping items. We soon found out that down here, a "cooler" is not part of the Australian lexicon. After a little talk we discovered that coolers do in fact exist in Australia but they are called "eskies," apparently after Eskimos I imagine. Once it had been established that it was an esky we were after, we then had to find out what size esky to purchase. The clerk assisted us by describing the size of the esky in relation how much beer you could put in it… they are not afraid to put a few drinks down downunder. With that, we encountered some more interesting Aussie terminology. We were asked if were looking for an esky that could fit a "slab of stubbies and tinnies." With a confused look on our faces, we inquired as to what a slab of stubbies and/or tinnies was. Apparently these are the terms used to describe a case of bottles bottles or cans. Satisfied that this would meet our needs, we left the store with our new esky fit for a slab of stubbies.

There are obviously tons of other interesting terms down here and this is a little sample of what we have learned already. By the time we get into the never-never, we will be speaking Aussie no worries.

P.S… so as not to leave the ‘kiwi’s" in New Zealand out, I have adopted "jandals" as the new terms to describe my flip-flops. Wearing jandals just sounds cooler.

Aussie Terminology

"back o’ bourke" - the middle of nowhere

"bloke" - man

"blowies" - large flies

"bonzer" - Great!

"cark it" - to die

"drongo" - worthless/stupid person

"dunny" - porta-potty, outhouse

"grouse" - Very good!

"little ripper" - extremely good thing

"lob in" - drop by

"mozzies" - mosquitoes

"never-never" - remote, the outback

"piker" - someone who doesn’t pull their weight, chickens out

"sanger" - sandwich

"shark biscuit" - inexperienced surfer

"shiela" - woman

"shonky" - unreliable

"spindoola" - money

"wowser" - someone who does not believe in having fun

"yakka" - work

"yonks" - a long time

It has been a very busy couple of weeks for the TWBR crew. As you know, we are getting very close to our departure date next month, so everyone is running around trying to finalize as much as possible before we leave. In my last post, I mentioned our education initiative. We have been very excited about the feedback we are getting on this project and it is building up quite a head of steam. Development of this worthwhile endeavor is one of the main reasons we pushed our original departure date back a month. One of the highlights thus far has to have been the assembly we put on last week for students at the Denver Center for International Studies (DCIS).

When Kate Farmer, the DCIS community coordinator approached us with the concept about doing an assembly in front of 400 kids, I was more than a little nervous about getting up on stage, but it turned out to be a really cool experience. Last Wednesday, the TWBR team put together a presentation to introduce ourselves to the school and get them excited not only about the expedition, but about the exciting projects we have planned for them. We started out the presentation with a short video introduction and in true Shoppman style, Steve then entered the stage with a full round-out (sort of like a cartwheel with a twist). We proceeded to talk a little bit about the expedition, introduce ourselves and talk about the various projects we will be working with DCIS students on. We then had a brief question and answer period and a world geography trivia session. The kids got really excited when we told them that we had a bunch of Lonely Planet t-shirts and books (one of TWBR’s main sponsors)  to hand out to kids who correctly answered questions.

All in all, it was a great time and the kids seemed to be very enthusiastic about he expedition and the opportunity to be a part of it. A few students even came up and had us autograph a LP t-shit for the senior class. We are all very excited about the relationship we have formed with the school and the possibility to help kids learn more about the world they live in. This week is also shaping up to be very busy… but full of good news. Stay tuned as we will soon be unveiling the trucks!

By now, most of you know that the main purpose of our expedition is not only to educate ourselves, but those around us and inspire them to learn more about the world they live in. In the back of our minds, we have always wanted to have the expedition become a vehicle for education and especially for kids. Our education initiative has taken shape over the last several months and we are very excited about some of the relationships we have developed with schools and educators here in the Denver area and across the country.

We have partnered specifically with the Denver Center for International Studies. DCIS is a 6-12 magnet school in the Denver Public School System and one of their main focuses is on international culture and education. All students must take one of several foreign languages and classroom learning is centered around geography, international relations and cultures. We will be doing several excitng things in conjunction with DDCIS. One of the projects we will be participating in is our "day in the life" section. We are going to follow one of the students at DCIS around for a day, filming them before school, at school, participating in after school activities and interacting with family and friends. As we travel around the world we will show children in other countries what a day in the life of an American student is like, and conversely, will be filming various "day in the life" segments of students in those countries to share with the kids at DCIS.  Other projects we are working on include helping students learn about media and video production in the context of an international news show that students will be producing and the student selection and production of a photography exhibit in conjunction with Global Denver. 

Additionally, we will be producing both photographic and video content focusing on things such as food, clothing, dwellings and other culturally relevant topics to enhance what teachers are already providing in the classroom. Our expedition will offer the students at DCIS a unique and exciting way to learn more about the countries that they are studying.

Initially, our main focus will be our interaction with students and faculty at DCIS, however, once we have fine-tuned the program, our content will be available on an open-source educational website we hope will serve as a resource to students and educators all over the country. We already have interest from educators in schools and districts in several states and with help from the International Social Schools Association based out of the University of Denver, lesson plans and curriculum ideas will be available to a growing network of educational institutions. Ultimately, we hope to develop this educational initiative into its own self-sustaining, non-profit branch of The World By Road.

The education initiative is a worthwhile endeavor, but entails a lot of work. Heading up our educational initiative while we are on the road will be Jessica Sherwood. Jessica will act as a liaison between the expedition members and our partners to help insure that the content we are providing will be useful to educators as they teach their students about the world around them. Jessica comes to us with a wealth of knowledge in both non-profit management and education and we are excited to have her on board helping us out with what we hope to be the start of a great resource.

For those who are interested, we will be giving a school-wide presentation at DCIS on November 29th. We hope to have some local media coverage of the event so check back soon for more details.