DCIS Assembly

By Steve Bouey in

December 6, 2006 – 11:46 am

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 Steve Bouey | Posted in Education Initiative, Events | Comments (1)

Our California Media Trip

By Steven Shoppman in

November 21, 2006 – 5:17 pm

We have officially finished editing our media trip to California.  To say the least it was a success.  We closed a few deals with sponsors, made a lot of great contacts and secured a few deals for content syndication with the media.  We have put together the following video for your viewing pleasure to get a glimpse of the more fun aspects we managed to fit in here and there.

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in Before the World By Road (2005-2006), Media Coverage | Comments (0)

Our Education Initiative

By Steve Bouey in

November 13, 2006 – 6:57 pm

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.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Education Initiative, Events | Comments (0)

This is absolutely amazing.

By Steven Shoppman in

November 13, 2006 – 5:05 pm

I can’t say for sure, but this clip most certainly looks real to me.  This must have scared the bejesus out of this guy.

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in For some laughs | Comments (1)

Color Me Pointless and the TSA

By Steve Bouey in

November 1, 2006 – 5:30 pm

Steve, Duane and I just got back from a trip out to California to meet with some of our sponsors, get some new ones on board and meet with some interested media outlets. We flew out to San Diego and then made our way up to the Bay Area over the next week and finally returned home via San Francisco the other day. The trip went very well and you can expect a short clip of our experiences out there soon. One of the more interesting experiences though was getting through security at both Denver and San Francisco international airports.

Steve and I were convinced that since we were bringing our camera case, which housed two digital video cameras, a plethora of power cords and sources, numerous batteries, wires, cassettes and other video production related gadgets, going through security, especially in our heightened state of level orange alertness, would be quite the experience. In addition to the video equipment, Shoppman had a laptop, a portable hard drive and all of the wires and power sources associated with that in his bag. We were surprised to find that in Denver, we breezed right through security without even a question from the TSA folks. Steve and I were obviously quite surprised as we have both, at a minimum, been questioned in the past about the electronic equipment we were bringing on board with us.

I guess flying out of Denver does not really warrant too much scrutiny of passengers, but we expected that flying out of SFO on the way back would be different. Too our complete and utter surprise, it was not. We did not get pulled aside for additional screening, we were not asked any additional questions, they did not even appear to be looking at the x-ray screen as our luggage passed through the machine. Instead, the TSA was fully focused on an elderly gentleman who mistakenly tried to pass through the security checkpoint with a bottle of Evian. Currently, FAA/TSA policy prohibits bringing any liquids through the checkpoint with you unless it is in a 3 oz. bottle or less. The TSA screeners pulled this guy… who reminded me of my grandfather, aside and basically strip searched him while Steve and I passed through with our seemingly highly suspect carry-on items with not even as much as a second glance. It was all very interesting to see how concerned the TSA folks were at following "policy" than they were at using simple common sense.

Photo Courtesy of Jasonaut.com

Our security experience at SFO got even more interesting when we arrived at our gate. Steve and I were flying standby, so we had to wait until the aircraft was fully boarded before they started to hand out the standby tickets. When they started passing out the standby tickets, the gate attendant asked that we present photo ID’s to make sure they were giving the right ticket to the right passenger. The first name was called, and a woman proceeded to the desk, showed her ID, got her ticket and boarded the plane. The Frontier Airline people proceeded to announce a few more names until a woman came up trying to claim her ticket. This woman was in fact the owner of the first ticket that was issued and had the ID to prove it. Apparently the first woman’s name was similar to the one that was called, however, the gate agent only glanced at the ID and incorrectly gave her a ticket. This caused a bit of confusion as you can imagine and they had to go onboard, find the woman who took the first ticket and bring her back out. Now why would you ask for ID’s if you are not even going to look at them – just to follow the guidelines? Again, it all goes back to following procedure with no real comprehension of what ensuring a safe travel environment really entails.

The Federal government and the TSA have enacted all of these new rules and regulations to try and ensure safe air travel, but after what went down on our last trip, it seems like a gross waste of time and money. People are getting screened that don’t need to, others that should be are not and when there is a reasonable policy like checking an ID, people can’t even follow that. No one uses their own judgement about what might constitute a security threat and as long as the checklist is followed, no matter how ambiguous it is, it is assumed that everyone will be safe. I for one would have felt a lot more comfortable about my own safety if I had been pulled aside for a more detailed screening but apparently right now, water is more of a threat than a lithium battery pack. (which BTW can explode just by heating it up)

Thanks code level orange: I feel safer already

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Trip Thoughts | Comments (4)

What kind of beers do you have on tap?

By Steven Shoppman in

October 13, 2006 – 5:46 pm

I was out the other night and a friend of mine asked at the bar, "What kind of beers do you have on tap?" to the bartender.  Normally, you would just pass this off as simple bar etiquette.  I have been thinking and there is much more to it.  We get used to having the typical beers on tap in our home towns, and many of the times this question gets asked because draft beer is the best deal.

This is a whole different thing when you are traveling.  Especially when you first arrive.  Most of the time, the beer on tap is the most popular beer in that country or region, so the breweries make so much of that beer that they put it in large barrels and send those around the region to all of the local drinking holes, yum. 

Sometimes it is even a much bigger deal than that.  What people drink and eat is a reflection of their culture and history.  The flavors and types of beer and alcohol that a country or people drink is generally some result of what they were able to grow and what types of ingredients were available before modern technologies.  Even though that is what is still produced and maybe even the new brews have the same flavors, that original recipe came from somewhere.  That original recipe was not just some random gathering of ingredients, it has some link to the past and has stood the test of time.

When I was living in New Zealand, I was always quite pleased with the number of acronyms they had for the South Islands beer SPEIGHTS.  Special Piss Enjoyed In Great Hotels Throughout Southland…was the main acronym, but every bar seemed to have their own version of this.  It is fun and part of their culture, everything down there is like that, some joke to go with whatever you are doing.  So when you go out and ask for a beer on tap somewhere, think for a second, because you just might be having a cup of history poured for your drinking pleasure.

Cheers,
Steve S.

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in Trip Thoughts | Comments (1)

The Vehicle

By Steve Bouey in

September 21, 2006 – 7:46 pm

Obviously a trip around the world by road requires a dependable and durable vehicle. As we enter into our final negotiations with vehicle manufacturers and narrow it down to the final selection, we will have to make some difficult decisions. There are plenty of reliable vehicles out there and a wide variety have completed some pretty sizeable expeditions. Ultimately it will come down to a few variables such as cargo capacity, safety and the ease of which we can fix it if we get in a jam. Over the planning phase, we have seen some pretty interesting vehicles and received some pretty good suggestions about what type of vehicle should carry us around the world. Sure there are your Toyotas, Land Rovers and Jeeps but here are a few other vehicles that should not be overlooked:

Since there are a lot of variables we don’t know about yet,

The A-Team always had a reliable ride


You can always get a car that someone won’t want to steal and modify it to meet your needs

Or you can modify a Mercedes Benz to meet your needs like Jim Rogers (www.jimrogers.com)


The Team America Hummer made it through the desert… but did cause an international incident


A portable bar stool is never a bad choice


The Unicat is the new breed of off-road RV’s


The Maximog is in competition with the Unicat


…but I am not sure it can compete with the Unicat LS


The SMART cars get great gas mileage and this one can get you out of a jam and carry your equipment too


Just in case you want to avoid trouble (or start it), there is the Navigator

And finally, I really don’t know what it is, but it can definitely carry all of our gear!

Any other suggestions…

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Before the World By Road (2005-2006), For some laughs | Comments (3)

Ripboarding

By Steve Bouey in

September 15, 2006 – 3:54 pm

This past weekend, Steve, Duane, our roommate Mark, and myself headed west to Glennwood Springs to meet up with a friend to do some Ripboarding. I was introduced to Shane Bolling through a mutual friend and once he started talking about his company and what Ripboarding entailed, I knew I had to try it out. Ripboarding is a distant cousin to whitewater rafting and kayaking with one important exception; you don’t have a boat. It is just you, a wetsuit, a lifejacket and the board. The concept is pretty simple, but the higher classifications of whitewater you encounter, the higher the degree of difficulty you face and the higher level of skill required.

We met up on the Colorado River, just by Grizzly Creek and started to get acquainted with the gear. After a briefing from Shane on how the Ripboards work and how to maneuver them, we headed out. The water was running a little high that day, so we first headed down a relatively clams 2-mile stretch of river so we could all get used to not only the equipment, but also the water. It was pretty cold! After shooting some relatively minor rapids and getting the feel of the board, I was ready for some bigger water.

We gathered up the vehicles and headed up to the Shoshone power station. this is a popular area to put in among boaters as it gives access to some class 3-4 sections of river, depending on how the water is flowing. At this point in the day, I was feeling pretty comfortable on the water, but looking down at the rapids we were about to jump into, literally, I couldn’t help but start to feel the butterflies start to swarm. We received another briefing from Shane about the rapids that lie ahead, rapids with names like "tombstone" and "Man Eater," and then we jumping into the fast moving current. Shane led the way since he was familiar with how the river flowed and which side of the rocks to pass – yes, there are also a lot of rocks in the water, which makes for an even more interesting experience.

This was an awesome section of river, the water was moving pretty fast and the rapids were big enough to allow you to get some pretty big air off of them. When we reached the last rapid, "Man Eater," you are so low on the water it looks like you are about to get slammed into a 5 foot high wall of water. The wall was steep enough that when you are going up the near vertical face, it definitely feels as if you are going to get flipped on your back, and that would be bad. All of us made it out of the Shoshone section alive and with huge smiles on our faces. Unfortunately, it was getting late in the day and the weather had turned for the worse, so we called it a day. It was a great day and I am definitely hooked. I can see ourselves Ripboarding down some river in a distant land with locals looking on like we are crazy because the concept is so foreign to the mind. Shane operates out of Golden, Colorado, so if you are even looking for a thrill, (an compared to kayaking and rafting, Ripboarding is surprisingly affordable) look him up. You can also buy the board and go off on your own. Just be sure you have a buddy with you or someone waiting to pick your body up down river if you get in over your head because you are having so much fun.

www.ripboard.com

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Before the World By Road (2005-2006) | Comments (1)

Finally, Our Trailer

By Steven Shoppman in

September 6, 2006 – 6:43 pm

After many months of trying to make something out of nothing.  We have a trailer/teaser for our trip that has not even started yet.  Believe me, making a "trailer" before you have real content is one of the hardest things around, however, I think that this gets the point across.  Let us know what you think, we are always up for suggestions to make this thing better, as it is basically our first draft.

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in Media Coverage | Comments (0)

New Directions

By Steve Bouey in

September 6, 2006 – 2:37 pm

In the past week, I made some pretty big changes in my life, all in support of our upcoming expedition around the world. Many of these changes are best summed up by borrowing a phrase from the great traveler and writer Somerset Maugham: "…he suddenly deserted his ordinary, secure world and starts a new life in totally alien surroundings."

The most drastic change that took place was quitting my job of nearly 6 years. For me, this job has represented my entire professional career. It was my first "real" job outside of college and graduate school and has been my home ever since. There is a little part of me that actually felt guilty about submitting my resignation 2 weeks ago. I liked the work that I was doing and enjoyed the company of my co-workers, however, I was going to have to leave in order to go on this journey. Now that my last day of employment has come and gone, I truly am finding myself in alien surroundings. My freetime is now being spent working on the logistics of the project and tying up loose ends with sponsors and supporters, and hopefully my experience as an auditor has allowed me to correctly budget and compensate for not having a job for the next three months.

I am definitely feeling a little more anxious these days and I guess only time will tell if I made the correct decision. Nonetheless, I did make the decision to quit a stable job with a consistent income source to go off and explore the unknown. It was a big step and one that some people could not make and some people actually advised me against. However, I have comfort in knowing that I, along with Steve and Duane, really believe in what we are doing and to quote a remarkable cinematic moment from Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, that the Academy overlooked, "the universe tends to unfold the way it should."

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Trip Thoughts | Comments (0)