The Basics
Welcome to Hitchhiking to the End of the World! This is a semi-daily newsletter running from Oct 28 - until I reach the end of the world. Somewhere between 1-2 months from now. I say "semi-daily" because I expect there to be days I don't have service, not because I've been kidnapped (crosses fingers).
You can unsubscribe at any time, no hard feelings. I promise I'm not looking at the unsubscribe list. I don't need the added stress of knowing my Mom is the only one still reading.
The What - My goal is to send a message daily — a photo + 150 words or so.
The Where - PATAGONIA! Starting in the very northern part of Patagonia I'll be hithhiking mostly, bussing occassionally, trains when possible, and even walking parts. I have 2.5 days of travel to reach my starting poing in Patagonia - San Carlos de Bariloche in the Lakes District of Argentina. From there, I'll be working all the way south, hopping between Argentina and Chile, to reach Ushuaia, the southern-most inhabited place in the world, and the jumping off point for Antarctica.
The Plan - There literally is no plan other than moving from Point A to Point B in the most fun (and probably excruciatingly slow) way possible, finding every adventure I can along the way. I've completed painful amounts of research, but I'm just going to let the wind blow. However, after going to the world's most northern brewery in the world last year (in Svalbard) I am planning to hit the world's most southern this year (and buy another t-shirt for my Dad). Cheers!
The Why - Everytime I come home from an adventure, my friends (painfully) listen to my stories and always tell me I should write a book. Everytime I sit and try to do so it seems so cumbersome. So for now, I'm going to experiment with myself, by letting you all hold me accountable to getting a small bit of writing done each day.
The Real Why
Would you believe me if I told you I'm hitchhiking to the end of the world as a professional networking opportunity?
Back when I was in business school at the University of Washington, every professor I had crammed down our throats that we needed to network, network, network. Turns out they were right, attending business networking events was fruitful when I worked in the tech and startup industries.
But as life went on I changed, my interests changed, my network changed, and I learned that a network is nothing more than a group of people that are like-minded. When I hopped on a rowboat at 4am on the Mekong River in Vietnam, I had no idea I would meet the Italian-Spaniard. He's now one of my best friends, we've travelled 8 countries together, and he was the catalyst for me walking the Camino de Santiago, and opened the door for me working around the world on Hollywood movies like Fast & Furious, Mission Impossible, and Disney's upcoming The Little Mermaid.
So as I'm ready for another change off I go again. Maybe this time I'll meet the leader of dog-sled team heading to Antarctica to film a documentary about reaching the South Pole (crosses fingers again). Who knows? I certainly don't. But what the hell?! Let's give it a shot. The only difference this time is I want to bring you all along with me.
Also, I just like getting off the beaten path.
Thank you for signing up, and I look forward to us Hitchhiking to the End of the World together.
One last shameless shout out if you made it this far. I'm lucky enough to be a partner in a tiny beach-side restaurant in Puerto Escondido (translated - "hidden port," go figure), Mexico. GO EAT AT FISH SHACK LA PUNTA! World-class chef cooking in a shack with a sand floor. Get the shrimp tacos. You're welcome.
"Sometimes you have to fall off the radar to put yourself on the map." - J. James