Last week i got to see a great film called Catching Out. The film follows different groups and types of people who engage in ‘freighthopping’. ‘Freighthopping’, as defined by wikipedia, is “the act of surreptitiously hitching a ride on a railroad freight car”. The film gives a fantastic insight into the world of modern day hobo’s in the US. Check out the trailer below.
I’ve been thinking recently about ways i can travel through certain areas of the world where there’s a little too much water for cycling. I found this video whilst doing a little research and it certainly whets my appetite!
The idea of spending months on bobbing around on the ocean as you propel yourself very slowly across a stretch of water isn’t really my idea of fun, in fact, if truth be told, it’s my idea of a nightmare (not that i’d never try it!). That’s why i find expeditions like Roz Savage’s expeditions and Golden Gate Endeavour extremely entertaining.
I met the father of either Mick or Chris from the Golden Gate Endeavor (i forgot which one) at Cycleshow 09 last month and he was telling me all about the expedition and i’ve been following there blog since. Check it out here.
No need for an introduction here. Those who know him…well they know what he does. And for those who don’t, watch the video below.
~ Jack Kerouac
Having just read a post by Tom aka The Hungry Cyclist on Painting and Cycle Touring it got me thinking about the promise i made myself when i started planning this trip. A year ago i finished a degree in Digital Animation, a course that included animation (obviously), film making but also drawing classes. I never excelled in the drawing classes (or in the animation for that matter) if truth be told, but i made a promise to myself, after leaving, that i would continue to sketch every now and again to build up my skills to a level where i was quite satisfied. This never happened. I’ve been way too busy with everything else, so the only sketching i have done is little doodling on a scrap piece of paper whilst on the phone and i’ve put my little promise to the back of my mind.
Then i found this.
It’s a sketch/painting done by this guy just after Michael Jackson’s death. This image reignited my interest in Art and got me thinking about what a sketchbook would look like after a 3 year expedition through different parts of the world, experiencing different cultures and meeting many interesting people. I realized the expedition gave me the perfect chance to get back into Art. So i decided, throughout the expedition, i would try to make one entry into my journal each day (something that i had already decided on) and one sketch in my sketchbook each day. The sketch’s don’t have to be anything special, they can be a simple as a 3 minute sketch of an animal or person to try and capture their movements perfectly or a quick sketch of the view from my tent, but if time/energy/willingness permits i will try and do something a little more elaborate. And of course i will be using the sketchbooks provided by Moleskine
