As we're coming up on the 2 year anniversary of when Darrell and I took this trip, I thought I'd do a little break down.
- Total $ Spent During Trip: Under $200. We scrimped and saved and brought a lot of our own food along. Like this. We also came up with some creative ways to eat. Check it out. - # of Rides Hitched: 34. Thanks to all those people who helped us along the way. Most were very short some were long, all were necessary. - Longest Ride: From Denver, CO to Salt Lake City, UT. A little over 530 miles. That was a nice one. - Shortest Ride: About as short and as necessary as they come, Mr. Larson saw us go the wrong way at a bus stop (we were looking for a campsite), then went home and got his car to come and find us. He tells it better. - # of Rides Turned Down: Only one. He was a shifty guy and we both had a bad feeling. You gotta follow the rules. - Best Place to Stay: Maybe it wasn't the best at first, but after our camera broke, Ron took us out with his son on one of the craziest parts of our adventure. Check it out. - Worst Place to Stay: This category and the next one go hand in hand... It's not that this place is bad... just a bad place to spend the night. And coincidentally this was the longest we waited for a ride. - Longest We Waited for a Ride: It took us over 14 hours to get a ride in the heart of Salt Lake City. In fact we had to hop a train. - Hours Filmed: Over 120. - Total RunTime: 72 minutes. Give it a look.
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‘The Highway Walkers’ was my first experience editing a feature length film. For 30 days Josiah and I documented our hitchhiking trip from Iowa to Oregon. On average we filmed for 5 hours a day which comes out to a minimum of 150 hours of film. That is six and a quarter days of footage! We were inexperienced and eager to film but didn’t have the wisdom to know what footage was better off deleted on the road. This led me to sitting in front of the computer watching days and days of footage, the majority of which would never see light. We had a great resource in JJ Kelly of Dudes on Media who passed along insight about the filming process and who told us to have an idea of the story we wanted to tell. Little did we know how little we knew. It’s 5 o’clock in the evening and I’ve been editing for six hours. I’ve watched an interview 15 times trying to dissect it and see how it can become a through line throughout the film. I have five hours left to edit before I allow myself to sleep. My eyes ache, my head hurts, my tan has disappeared and all I want is to be back on the road living the adventure rather than trying to tell the story of it. Between the cat knocking over the external hard drive, the endless rendering and the feeling of inadequacy, I’m about ready to throw in the towel. I would sit in front of the computer and become immediately intimidated by the mountain of material I had to trip down to 1:11 minutes. I had to learn to see the film in stages rather than in it’s entirety. I started breaking it down in to chapters and beats and moments, chipping away at the mountain, shrinking it into a much more manageable and less intimidating size. The experience was pretty much a reiteration of everything I had learned in sunday school, boy scouts and every other religious or goal oriented organization. Not to get overtly spiritual, but there is something transcendental about seeing a project from start to finish. The book, ‘One Man’s Wilderness’ is a collection of journal entries collected from Dick Proenneke as he builds his cabin in the wilderness of Alaska from nothing but tools he made himself. He writes, “I do think a man has missed a very deep feeling of satisfaction if he has never created or at least completed something with his own two hands. We have grown accustomed to work on pieces of things instead of wholes. It is a way of life with us now. The emphasis is on teamwork. I believe this trend bears much of the blame for the loss of pride in one's work, the kind of pride the old craftsman felt when he started a job and finished it and stood back and admire it. How does a man on an assembly line feel any pride in the final product that rolls out at the other end?” The experience of completing the project was laid out before like a timeline. As I freelance as an actor as my day job, I was doing a fair amount of traveling in those 8 months of editing. I started in a cabin in northern Minnesota where I learned to see the film piece by piece, traveled to Wisconsin where I started to find the voice of the film. It was on the llama farm in Wisconsin that the pieces started to fit together with our new musical score and in NYC Josiah and I learned how to let go. By the time I was in NYC the movie had been cut to 1:50 minutes and I had no idea how 39 minutes of footage was going to be removed. A friend of mine who works in the arts affectionately calls the process of editing your own work as ‘killing your babies’. NYC is where I learned how to kill my babies and trust that the story would still be told. In Olive Hill, TN is where the film had it’s first audience and where the first DVD was burned.
This timeline of locations and memories of toting external hard drives around the country are my scars and calluses that I will carry with me for future editing projects to come. They are my sense of completion and my link to the journey that is seeing a project through to the end. All of this to say that while editing a film is no more toilsome that writing a novel, reading all of Shakespeare’s collected works, running everyday or completing a diet. It’s all about enjoying the journey of completion. Of being able to look back over the timeline of the project and bask in the sense of accomplishment. I hope that as I grow in the field and have more projects and adventures that I become better skilled at articulating what it means to see a goal to completion. Best of luck to you whatever your journey may be. In anticipation of our meeting with Lionel Tiger, I’m currently working my way through his book, The Decline of Males. I’m only 66 pages in right now, but here’s three things he’s said so far. Not saying that we agree or disagree, but I thought I’d provide an insight into the man we’re going to interview: - “Men have been decreasingly successful in the labor force. Partly for that reason, many have been “fired” as potentially useful fathers by women who expect that as mates they will be a burden, not a help. They will consume resources, not bring them in.” pg 20 - “... if only the woman has the facts about her fertility, if only she knows the possible outcomes of the episode, what happens to a man’s sense of power, to his sense of function, to his sense of responsibility? If knowledge is power, what is uncertainty? What is ignorance?” pg 35 - “When [Margaret Mead] reviewed my Men in Groups ... she complained that I had failed to provide a physiological correlate of male bonding. That was why the rituals of male bonding had to be so intense. As sociologist David Popenoe of Rutgers University has commented, ‘Men are not biologically as attuned to being committed fathers as women are to being committed mothers. Left culturally unregulated, men’s sexual behavior can be promiscuous, their paternity casual, their commitment to families weak.’” pg 57 Whew. It’s an intense book to say the least. Would love to hear what people think about this! Here is a cut of the interview. 5/10/2013Darrell and I picked Mount Hood. Why? I honestly can't say that there was any reason other than we'd never been there before. And it was a mountain. And it was far away. And why not? That may sound trite, but it's as good a reason as any. The end goal gave weight to our trip. It made us start planning the journey. In the open road analogy of life, destinations can be far more like spark plugs than the end of the road. A good destination gets you excited and gets you moving. It makes everything a little more real. Where have you never been before that you've always wanted to go? What have you never done? These are great starter questions. Write down a few of the answers, then pick one and start planning. Forgive me for sounding Zen, but the journey is more important than the end. You don't learn anything at the end if you didn't learn anything along the way. Had Darrell and I not made it to Mount Hood we would've been disappointed and I'd like to think we'd have kept trying until we got there. But had our trip ended without us reaching that goal, would it have been a waste? No. Not in the least. By the time we made it within sight of that snowy peak we'd spent nearly a month hitching rides, camping on cabin porches, losing sleep in IHOPs, meeting strangers, spelunking, cliff-diving, and having (and filming) the trip of our lives. Getting to our destination felt great, but the journey made it worth it. Here is the promo for our new 'Rite of Passage' documentary! Check in often for more updates or read more about the project on the webpage. Be sure to watch in HD to get the full experience. Hitchhiking is a dying art. It is a relic of a time of hobos, dirt roads and big band music. In the summer of 2011 HWM embarked on our cross country hitchhiking tour to find out why the practice has stopped being commonplace. We took every precaution in order to pass our insight along to future hitchhikers. We’ve compiled sixteen tips we learned from the road as well as insight passed along from previous hikers. I hope you’ll find these useful and informative. Safe travels. Laws First things first. Every state has different regulations on hitchhiking. Make sure you do your homework before heading out. If you are approached by an officer of the law, be polite, positive and informed. Make sure you know your rights and the laws regarding hitchhiking. The best case scenario is you get a free ride across a border by a kind policeman. Look clean and approachable No one wants to pick up a shady looking character covered in hair and mud. Get a haircut, shave and shower before hitting the road. You have about 3 seconds to make a good impression on a passing car. Don’t blow it by wearing tattered clothes and a goatee. We found that playing an instrument made us look non-threatening. We used a ukulele and dulcimer but we’ve also heard that people with dogs have great success hitchhiking. Wear bright colors Your appearance is the only thing that will make someone pull over. Bright colors are regarded as less threatening and cheerful. Avoid camouflage and dark colors as these play into negative hitchhiking stereotypes. Smile! Many people are going to pass you and glare. Many will be rude and insulting. Don’t let this get you down. Always be hopeful that a ride is coming soon and that maybe just maybe, that last car that passed noticed your cheerful demeanor and will turn around as soon as they can. A friendly wave never hurts. Keep your bag in plain sight Keeping your bag in plain sight shows that you a person with a plan and a destination. Without seeing your backpack people may think you are running away or reckless. I have hitchhiked many times without a pack but having one is certainly helpful. Find a good hitchhiking spot A good place to hitchhike is somewhere that cars can see you long before they pass, has plenty of space to pull over and has a speed limit 55 or slower. You want to be seen as much as possible. The more face time you get with potential rides the longer they have to see how friendly and fun you are. You want to be near a place with a lower speed limit so cars can see you better and can stop sooner. If you are in a place without a shoulder on the side of the road then forget about it. A place for the car to pull over safely is possibly the most important piece. On/off ramps It was our experience that on ramps were the best place to hitchhike. Often onramps are next to stop lights which gives people lots of time to see you. Cars are moving at slow speeds as they enter them and there is always room to pull over. Many states have laws against hitchhiking on interstates but on and off ramps are not included. Avoid cars that pull directly up to you The thought process to picking up a hitchhiker looks something like this: see hikers in distance, evaluate situation, see them closely, choose to stop. By the time they have seen you closely enough and started applying the breaks they will come to a stop a little ways down the road. The person that pull directly up to you did not evaluate and didn’t care what kind of person got in their car. This is a potentially dangerous situation and is a helpful tool to weed out bad rides. It worked very well for us. Have a sign Having a sign is another helpful way to communicate to potential rides. It lets them know where you’re going and that you have a sense of humor. “Boys to Boise” or “Portland Please” were our favorites. It helps people relax and lets them see you as human beings. We used a white piece of poster board covered in packing tape and used black electrical tape as our reusable letters. Black on White stood out to passing cars and made our message easy to read. Communicate before getting in a car When you do get a ride, try talking with that person for as long as you can before getting in the car. There will be lots of pressure to hop right in- but really evaluate the situation yourself. Read their body language; are they making eye contact, do they look shifty, are they overly eager to get you in their car? We took comfort in getting rides with people that were also a little tentative. If they ask you questions, it’s a good sign that they’re looking out for themselves too. Text license plate number to a friend Let the driver know you’re doing this and even ask their permission. If they say no then simply pass on the ride. Make it clear that you have a cell phone and people are expecting you. Say you have no money Some people will ask if you can help pay for gas. If this is a first conversation then simply say that you have no money to give. This could be a tactic to see if you have money to steal. Certainly offer to pay for gas once a relationship is established or when you’re getting out of the vehicle. Be prepared for the unexpected This isn’t to say that you should always be anxious. But you should keep in mind that hitchhiking does have an element of uncertainty and danger. You should always be prepared to defend yourself if need be but do not enter a situation anticipating it. On our trip we brought along pocket knives and a small container of pepper spray. Never bring a concealed firearm into a strangers vehicle. Be able to have a conversation Most people pick up hitchhikers because they’re on long journeys themselves and they want someone to talk to. Do not disappoint by falling asleep upon getting in the car. Keep conversation light and continuous. It’s a wonderful experience to get to connect with a stranger. In some instances you may get people divulging extremely personal information about their lives and families. They could see you as a listening ear that they never have to be accountable towards. We were told by a woman that she regretted having children and one man opened up to us about his stomach cancer. It really is an incredible opportunity to connect with people. Leave them with a positive experience Do this for the driver AND for all the future hitchhikers they may pick up someday. Pay it forward Go and pick up a hitchhiker yourself. Use your best judgement. When in doubt- follow your gut. Safe travels and be sure to check out our film, ‘The Highway Walkers’ and other projects by Highway Walkers Media. A short we made from the road.
Hitchhiking outside Boise, ID When Darrell and I first talked about Highway Walkers it was founded on a discussion about all the ideas, projects, and trips that had fallen through in the past. “We should... (insert cool idea here)” and never followed through. We vowed to make this trip different. And it was. But why? We were able to successfully hitchhike from Leon, IA to Mount Hood, OR, getting rides from dozens of people along the way. We documented our experience and from the footage produced our first feature length documentary, which has been shown at several film festivals including Highway 61 Film Festival in Pine City, MN and New Jersey Film Festival in Cape May, NJ. What made this different from all the other discussions that ended as just another night we stayed up and talked about the future? Thinking through this project from first to last, I’ve tried to distill a few reasons for the success of this project over the failure of another. Create space for the project There was no right time for this project and many others are similar. The right time was time that we carved out. We created the space for the project even before the project had taken shape and it was that space that allowed the project to breathe and grow and form. Be held accountable It is rare and necessary to find a person or group that will hold you to a higher standard. Without regular conversations, planning sessions, and both people sharing the load this project would’ve been another discarded idea. Along this line, announcing something publicly is another way to hold yourself accountable – by announcing your project, you are committing to the production and the public will hold you accountable. Ask for help Many, many people helped us along the way: funds, support, rides, places to stay. The list is long and each was necessary. We are thankful and grateful and we recognize that nothing would have happened had we been too timid to ask. The questions start the process. Cultivate relationships Tagging on to recognizing need and asking for help, we reached to people who were in this situation before us, who have progressed and grown and are now helping us progress and grow. A lot of the people we are getting to know were in these beginning stages not so long ago and are happy to help beginners like us. Reaching out to someone, showing and sharing interest and asking to start a conversation all carry weight. Leave There’s always one more thing to do, one more step to plan out, a hesitation, fears, concerns. The few days prior to leaving were a flurry of details and last second needs. Darrell and I were both stressed and nervous. There were a few false starts. Then we left and everything cleared up. The journey became more important than the details. And yours will too, so start the trip already! 'The Highway Walkers' Screening online! On the week of April 21st 'The Highway Walkers' will be showing online on the Dudes on Media homepage! "It's a funny name we know. But it stands for adventure programs that are fun and inspire interminable travel." JJ Kelley and Josh Thomas are producers for DoM. Their professional careers have grown alongside their independent projects. J.J. is a producer at National Geographic Television and has been with the company since 2006. Josh produces documentary television in Alaska; his work has appeared on National Geographic , Discovery and the BBC. When they're not trapped in a tent together, Josh lives in Seward, AK and J.J. is in New York City. They produce some of the best adventure and nature footage available today. It is an honor to be collaborating with DoM and we hope that you'll be able to tune in on the week of April 21 to watch our adventure documentary "The Highway Walkers". Our biggest thanks to JJ, Josh and everyone at Dudes on Media. Alaska. Eric and Christine Miller and their gourmet popcorn make the midnight sun shine a little brighter. A small popcorn shop nestled in the mountains outside Denali National Park. Delicious? Yes. Gourmet? You bet! But you'd be mistaken if you thought popcorn was the summit of their story. The history of 'Miller's Gourmet Popcorn' is topped with a healthy dose of adventure. A short by Highway Walkers Media. Available in HD |
Watch Our Films FREE!Suggested Reading-3 Lessons from ultrarunner -Role Model: Search Local -How to Sleep in Your Car -How to Hitchhike: Advice -How to Adjust a Backpack -How to Hitchhike Safely -Dustin: Hitchhiker *video - Zach at Niagara Falls *video -NYC Interview *video -Trouble Crossing * video -Iron John Journey *video -Letter From a Viewer -Ibn Battuta: Exploreer -Danny Schmidt/Carrie Elkin -Top 5 Famous Hitchhikers -Hitchhiking:Trip at a Glance -Filmmaking; Perseverance! -3 Things Lionel Said -Radio Interview: WEHC -Adventure: Idea to Action -Miller's Gourmet Popcorn * -Poem from a fan AuthorsDarrell and Josiah |