T-minus (17hours)
There is vacationing and there is traveling. A vacation is about relaxing at a given destination....easy, comfortable, and worry free. Traveling can mean many things....by train. plane and automobile, involving multiple destinations. When the idea was proposed to undertake a 11,000 km journey over a 13 day period, (most would do this in a month!) an epic adventure immediately came to mind. This is far from being a "vacation".
Each has 2 weeks time from work. Both are photographers who love to travel. The question then arose: How much can be seen in a 2 week period on the road on a budget. Both of them decided that the American southwest would play a significant role in planning of this trip. For Kevin the images of the southwest are coloured by old Hollywood films. For Mark it is all about the landscape. The American southwest offers vistas that are unique to the rest of the continent. Between the two of them, this is a region that has long been an area of interest.
There are many different ways to travel, but it was agreed upon from the beginning that this was to be done by car. Many believe that the best way to see America is by car on the open road.
What they are doing is nothing new, every year families travel through North America in their campers and RV's in the thousands every year in comfort. Neither have an RV or any desire to ever own one. Both have new cars in their driveways, with leather seats, air conditioning, dashboard GPS. But that would be too easy. Why not up the ante and do it in a 28-year-old 2 seater sports car. Now it's an adventure.
This may seem ludicrous to some, but what they hope to establish is that the enjoyment is in the effort that is put forth.
What they are doing is embarking on an adventure in a time where little thought is given to the open road, and to the love of the automobile. Its one thing to be driving the trip, but they are documenting every step of their journey as well
With an allotted amount of time, a certain amount of organization was necessary. Modern day conveniences such as Google maps, online motel booking, cross referenced with many iconic locations and out of the way oddball stops that could be located, a route was born which they believed could maximize their adventure.
Due to the size of the car, careful thought and planning of the photo and video equipment also had to be considered, the car itself and how it was to going to play out as the main platform for the video production and as the home for both of them throughout the journey. The end result of the trip should produce enough material for daily blogs, photo galleries, and eventually a documentary short film.
The first portion of our trip will have us leaving Barrie Ontario, (Canada) at 2:00am on Sunday Sept 8th, we hope to arrive in Nashville in the mid afternoon.
With our predetermined route we hope to capture life on the road as it unfolds. At the end of each day we will file photos and report on our progress and adventures.
From The Road,
Mark and Kevin.
Mark Wanzel is an award winning photojournalist with the Barrie Examiner, lives in Barrie, Ontario with his wife and two children, and has a passion for anything automotive.
Kevin Lamb is a former Barrie Examiner photojournalist and is a past winner of Canadian Geographic’s wildlife photography of the year. He is currently working on a book about Canadian music. He lives in Barrie, Ontario with his wife and their cat, Fred.
The Nuts and Bolts
The Car : 1985 Honda CRX Si (sport injected)
170 hp ( Japanese spec B16A )
Tuned suspension and upgraded brakes
The vehicle has been fitted with several camera mounts
car was recently featured in
Motor Trend Classic Magazine : http://www.motortren...lpaper_gallery/
and
Honda Tuning Magazine: http://www.hondatuni...5_honda_crx_si/
Camera and video equipment:
Two DSLR systems
multiple flash units with remote triggers.
Laptop
Maps / GPS
Two GoPro cameras
Binoculars
Assorted brackets and hardware
two way radios
Two LED Video lights
Tri Pod
two Mono Pods
Slider
Audio recorder
multiple Ipods