You’ve may have had the fantasy of being a travel writer being paid to go to exotic locales. Or maybe your dream is to be a sports reporter, and see every game of the season from the best seats. This summer Travis Stanton and Morgan Denny hit the road for their own dream, a full year of living in a converted van to visit sustainablity hotspots around the country. But like travel writers they’re doing more than just relaxing, they’re building a informational resource that will help eco-minded individuals and communities build their own dreams. And they’re even doing more than that- they’re asking you to join them.
An idea the size of EcoJaunt could be daunting, but Travis and Morgan didn’t jump into it lightly. First they converted their van into a mobile home and office with complete computer and AV equipment to upload their experiences on a daily basis. Then they tried out their project on a small regional scale, visiting communities and individuals who are making sustainable living a top priority. They used their experiences from these trips to create videos that are currently posted online. With the testing done they hit the road, and here’s the year’s travel schedule…
January – March 2011: Gather regional videos
April 2011- Odyssey begins
April – May 2011: Southwest
June – July 2011: Northwest
July – August 2011: Midwest and North
September-October 2011: Northeast
November-January 2011: Southeast and South
January–February 2012: Documentation
A BIG resource for EcoJaunt is the WWOOFing community. (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) They are a loosely organized networking organization of sustainable and alternative communities who proved very eager to connect EcoJaunt with the cutting edge of sustainable living and farming The regional communities they have already visited, such as Mountain Village, Tilth and Mad River, are already excited and spreading the word about EcoJaunt.
The most fun part of the EcoJaunt may be the trip itself, but the most valuable and longest-lasting part of the project will be the extensive video library that will result. Travis and Morgan hope to create an entertaining, interactive, educational video website that will spread sustainable ideas globally via the internet. They will utilize modern portable technology (cameras, laptop, internet…) to shoot and edit professional quality videos, and then set aside one day a week to edit and upload videos. By making their videos fun, they hope to inspire people to integrate more sustainable choices into their lifestyles.
So how can you get involved? While the final video library might have to wait until the end of the trip, the daily videos are already rolling in. You can follow the progress of the EcoJaunters at their website, http://ecojaunt.blogspot.com/. You can also support their adventure by donating directly, or by buying some of the amazing photographic art available on their website. If you can’t go along, you can at least have some really cool vacation pictures.
What do Travis and Morgan hope to accomplish? Within two years, they hope that people will be making more choices based on new knowledge, communities will be implementing new ideas or improving projects already in play, and that more people will be better informed about sustainability and its importance to the world. That’s a lot to ask of any project, but as the saying goes “the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” EcoJaunt is a bold first step towards accomplishing a very bold, very long journey.
