I'm Back

[Reddy]

Specifically a documentary. Would love anyone who's interested to take a look and give some feedback! This is the biggest project I've undertaken in my life, and I'm really excited about it.

 

Essentially what it boils down to is this. Meeting up in Seattle in August, buying a cheap, old used car, and driving 5,000 to New York, camping the whole way. 16 states. Four guys. One tent. No smartphones. Doing it as cheaply as we can without missing out on any of the beauty in between. No I-80 all the way across for us!

 

 

Why do it? A couple reasons... I'll let me partners in crime do some of the explaining:

 

"After four years of living and working in New York struggling to pay rent while simultaneously striving to progress as an artist both commercially and aesthetically, I've found that the thing I miss most from my life before is a sense of freedom. That ability to just jump in my car and just go someplace special. Or not special. It doesn't really matter. And living here it just gets to feel like you're trapped, like there's nowhere to go, the size of the world shrinks just a little bit (or maybe a whole lot) down to grids and street signs, advertisements sliding by on the walls of subway stations.

 

So we've decided to do something special. Not just for ourselves (although it is, naturally, partly for ourselves), but we really do want to prove that it's possible to get out, to go on a journey, have an adventure, without the luxury of stability or security. Hell, not having those things maybe means you need it more. It seems like a meaningful thing, a worthwhile ambition. To show that we can do it. And if we can do it with negligible bank accounts (mine's currently however somewhere in the two-hundred dollar range - just had to pay rent, after all), anybody can do it. Drop what you're doing, take a moment to breathe in deeply the fresh mountain air you smell when you close your eyes, and Just Go."

- Greg

 

"I'll be honest, I love my distractions. Video games and tv shows are my life-blood on a daily basis. I don't know how I'd make it through the week without my episode of Game of Thrones, or an hour of Uncharted 3. But all of those let us live other people's adventures. When I look at instagram, I get to see what someone else saw. When I go to a showing of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I'm living Cap's adventure.

 

Just Go is us shutting down the screen. Just Go is us saying for a while, "Let's stop living other people's stories and write one of our own"." - Jeff

 

So if you want more, check out our website, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter - or even consider donating to our crowd-funding site. Even just a like would mean the world to me and the guys. Here are all the links:

 

Just Go Official Website (you can even see an interactive map of our whole itinerary)

 

Just Go on Twitter

 

Just Go on Facebook

 

Help Fund the Project

 

Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. It's good to be back.

[Reddy]

but it was a damn good post.

 

#rude

 

[caulfield12]

Specifically a documentary. Would love anyone who's interested to take a look and give some feedback! This is the biggest project I've undertaken in my life, and I'm really excited about it.

 

Essentially what it boils down to is this. Meeting up in Seattle in August, buying a cheap, old used car, and driving 5,000 to New York, camping the whole way. 16 states. Four guys. One tent. No smartphones. Doing it as cheaply as we can without missing out on any of the beauty in between. No I-80 all the way across for us!

 

 

Why do it? A couple reasons... I'll let me partners in crime do some of the explaining:

 

 

 

 

 

So if you want more, check out our website, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter - or even consider donating to our crowd-funding site. Even just a like would mean the world to me and the guys. Here are all the links:

 

Just Go Official Website (you can even see an interactive map of our whole itinerary)

 

Just Go on Twitter

 

Just Go on Facebook

 

Help Fund the Project

 

Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. It's good to be back.

 

 

Sounds like a less commercial version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

 

Or a combination of "On the Road" with Into the Wild thrown in for good measure. Easy Rider, Borat, etc.

 

Have you seen the Che Guevara movie series, Motorcycle Diaries?

Edited May 8, 2014 by caulfield12

[Chisoxfn]

WB Reddy. This sounds very interesting. Should be an awesome experience and documentary.

[Reddy]

WB Reddy. This sounds very interesting. Should be an awesome experience and documentary.

 

thanks Jas,

 

Yeah I mean... this is a pretty crazy thing we're trying to do. This is our first film as a production company, our first huge trip like this, our first crowdfunding campaign, and yes - we're still learning the ropes. (How the hell does Twitter even work? I mean honestly.)

 

But everyone starts somewhere. And you can't get anywhere without starting. There's a reason we've titled the film "Just Go". Sometimes you have to jump and build your wings on the way down. Ya know?

 

Everyone who checked it out, thanks for taking the time - and if you guys have any criticisms lemme know. Learning as I go with this

 

Anyone have any crowdfunding experience?

[Reddy]

Sounds like a less commercial version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

 

Or a combination of "On the Road" with Into the Wild thrown in for good measure. Easy Rider, Borat, etc.

 

Have you seen the Che Guevara movie series, Motorcycle Diaries?

 

 

I'd be lying if I said On the Road didn't have a hand in the genesis of the idea.

 

The book.

 

Not the movie. Kristen Stewart is ugh.

[LittleHurt05]

I hope you allow smart phones during Jose Abreu at bats. No project or movie is worth missing those

[greg775]

Sounds good. Didn't MTV have a series Road Rules? How are you going to make sure you guys do anything interesting to the world? You drive from Seattle to Sacramento and pull out the tent after eating at the diner, not so interesting.

You go to a strip club and get in a fight or go to a local landmark and do something crazy like protest something and the cops show up, maybe interesting.

[Y2HH]

"From the point of ignition

To the final drive

The point of the journey is not to arrive."

 

-RUSH

 

I love this, Reddy, and have done many similar treks in my lifetime, and as cool as it sounds, I'd implore you to not overly commercialize it. This is an experience in which you will individually find yourselves, and nobody that watches or listens will ever quite understand what that means. It will change you, in ways you cannot imagine, and attempting to show others will merely end in disappointment in that they will NEVER comprehend the experience, or what it meant to you, and that it will mean more with each passing year. And I'd have to ask, how are you filming this, or recording it, if the main premise is a trek without technology? That negative sentiment aside, I'm glad you are doing this, but be careful you don't go from raw to forced simply to snag film. If the experience feels like a setup for the sake of footage, it will fall short of its premise.

 

We rented vehicles picking them up at point A and dropping them off at point B when doing this...and I can tell you, I've had some amazing experiences, met some amazing people, and the opposite...to truly harrowing* experiences that seemed like stuff that doesn't really happen to people.

 

* We were once chased though a forest for over an hour by some back country meth cookers we happened upon during a late night hike. And that hour felt like a lifetime. It was, without a doubt, one of the scariest -- and longest -- moments of my life.

 

Oh, and it's good to see you again in these parts of the Internets, Reddy!

Edited May 12, 2014 by Y2HH

[Reddy]

Sounds good. Didn't MTV have a series Road Rules? How are you going to make sure you guys do anything interesting to the world? You drive from Seattle to Sacramento and pull out the tent after eating at the diner, not so interesting.

You go to a strip club and get in a fight or go to a local landmark and do something crazy like protest something and the cops show up, maybe interesting.

Haha yyyeaahhh we're trying to keep it as cheap as possible - in fact we've decided to up the ante a bit.

 

The average American spends $150/week on food - and to prove that an adventure of this magnitude really IS accessible to people, we're going to do it for $100/week each. And I don't just mean food - but everything - from camping gear to food, even gas. All for a hundred a week.

 

This isn't a hangover type thing so much as it is a Top Gear type thing if any of you watch that show. But we simply want to take back adventure for the everyman and prove that you DON'T need financial stability or a heavy black credit card to be able to afford to have a life changing experience.

[Reddy]

"From the point of ignition

To the final drive

The point of the journey is not to arrive."

 

-RUSH

 

I love this, Reddy, and have done many similar treks in my lifetime, and as cool as it sounds, I'd implore you to not overly commercialize it. This is an experience in which you will individually find yourselves, and nobody that watches or listens will ever quite understand what that means. It will change you, in ways you cannot imagine, and attempting to show others will merely end in disappointment in that they will NEVER comprehend the experience, or what it meant to you, and that it will mean more with each passing year. And I'd have to ask, how are you filming this, or recording it, if the main premise is a trek without technology? That negative sentiment aside, I'm glad you are doing this, but be careful you don't go from raw to forced simply to snag film. If the experience feels like a setup for the sake of footage, it will fall short of its premise.

 

We rented vehicles picking them up at point A and dropping them off at point B when doing this...and I can tell you, I've had some amazing experiences, met some amazing people, and the opposite...to truly harrowing* experiences that seemed like stuff that doesn't really happen to people.

 

* We were once chased though a forest for over an hour by some back country meth cookers we happened upon during a late night hike. And that hour felt like a lifetime. It was, without a doubt, one of the scariest -- and longest -- moments of my life.

 

Oh, and it's good to see you again in these parts of the Internets, Reddy!

 

 

That's a really great point and I'm glad you made it. You're right that it will always mean more to us than to anyone who sees it, no matter how brilliantly filmed. But I don't know if that's why we're making it. It IS why we're doing it, but I don't think it's why we've decided to film it. It isn't some egocentric "look at how much we all changed" idea as much as it is "if you're watching this, get your ass off the couch and live your damn life." to my fellow millennials (and others).

 

People spend time making "dream boards" or they put up posters of places they SOME day want to visit when the "timing is right" or they "have the money", etc etc. Newsflash - those times will never happen unless you MAKE them happen. We talk about personal responsibility for your circumstances, your career, your finances, etc - but what about taking personal responsibility for your HAPPINESS? No one ever talks about that.

 

The message isn't honed. It's not really clear at this point. We don't really want it to be, because we'll find it on the road. But right now the main focus is on trying to prove that TRUE adventure can be accessible to EVERYONE. Because I think that's important. Do any of us truly want to grow old and not have any fantastic stories to tell our kids? Previous generations had them built in - we have to make them for ourselves.

 

As for the technology side of things - we'll have phones for emergency situations but that's it. And I don't really know if I think cameras take away from that... It's not like I can facebook from my GoPro

[Reddy]

Our video quality has skyrocketed in the last week (helps to watch in HD tho)

 

Edited May 12, 2014 by Reddy

[Y2HH]

Haha yyyeaahhh we're trying to keep it as cheap as possible - in fact we've decided to up the ante a bit.

 

The average American spends $150/week on food - and to prove that an adventure of this magnitude really IS accessible to people, we're going to do it for $100/week each. And I don't just mean food - but everything - from camping gear to food, even gas. All for a hundred a week.

 

This isn't a hangover type thing so much as it is a Top Gear type thing if any of you watch that show. But we simply want to take back adventure for the everyman and prove that you DON'T need financial stability or a heavy black credit card to be able to afford to have a life changing experience.

 

I think what you're doing is a fun, fantastic idea, but setting yourself arbitrary limits on spending isn't going to add much to the experience, to be perfectly honest. Not only has this been done before, but it's been done to even more extremes, such as not spending any money you didn't earn along the way via picking up odd jobs, etc. People full well understand this can be done on the cheap (it already has been many times), but most don't WANT to do these things like this on the cheap...they want to do them for the memories, and most prefer their memories weren't made into a struggle by set artificial limits.

 

Just do the damn trip, catalog it, and have a blast seeing things most people have no idea exist, on roads few travel. It doesn't matter if you spent 100$ a week to do that, or 150$. The only way a trip like this costs a lot is if you pull a Bear Grylls and go to a hotel the second the cameras stop rolling. Take your own advice and ... just go.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Y2HH

[Reddy]

I think what you're doing is a fun, fantastic idea, but setting yourself arbitrary limits on spending isn't going to add much to the experience, to be perfectly honest. Not only has this been done before, but it's been done to even more extremes, such as not spending any money you didn't earn along the way via picking up odd jobs, etc. People full well understand this can be done on the cheap (it already has been many times), but most don't WANT to do these things like this on the cheap...they want to do them for the memories, and most prefer their memories weren't made into a struggle by set artificial limits.

 

Just do the damn trip, catalog it, and have a blast seeing things most people have no idea exist, on roads few travel. It doesn't matter if you spent 100$ a week to do that, or 150$. The only way a trip like this costs a lot is if you pull a Bear Grylls and go to a hotel the second the cameras stop rolling. Take your own advice and ... just go.

 

 

Of course it's been done before. We aren't under any impression we're re-inventing the wheel here. Here's where I see a difference, and where I see this being worth doing:

 

In talking with friends there seems to be a pervasive feeling that as a generation we don't have the type of accessibility to adventure that has existed in the past. Other generations - for better or worse - sort of had adventure built in. There were the wars. There were the 60s and civil rights. There wasn't facebook. There weren't cell phones. People hitch-hiked and worked odd jobs from coast to coast - like you mentioned. But the Kerouac "On the Road" ideal legitimately is no longer possible for a host of reasons. The world has changed. What we're trying to do is bridge the gap and show young people (and old too, if it resonates) who are feeling trapped that you don't need a fat wallet and a 401k. We're trying to reclaim adventure for a generation that's letting it slip through its fingers while they tweet, text and tinder their way through life.

 

We're not making this for people with money. People who want to do what we're doing, but spend a bunch of $ on hotels and good food along the way - that's great! I wish I were them! But I'm not. So I have to make do with what I've got, as do all my friends who are in the same boat as me - and we're all pushing 30. It's not like we're a bunch of "lazy" millennials. We bust our asses. It's simply that at this juncture, living in NYC - or any major city - supply outweighs demand in terms of the job market, leaving many, many people despondent and hopeless. Anyway let's not get into THAT discussion here.

 

I totally value your thoughts on this and it's actually extremely helpful because it's giving me insight into how people are reacting to what we're laying down and what struggles we're going to face on the fundraising side of things. I love when you play my foil. Haha. I just also truly happen to think this could be a valuable story worth telling in the context we're going to tell it - especially at this time in history. And to ME it doesn't feel like the film will cheapen the experience - because this is a medium I love, and telling stories is my art. Bringing that with me on the road makes all the sense in the world.

 

(But don't worry, I'm taking everything you've said seriously and will consider it further - they're absolutely incredibly good points)

[Y2HH]

Of course it's been done before. We aren't under any impression we're re-inventing the wheel here. Here's where I see a difference, and where I see this being worth doing:

 

In talking with friends there seems to be a pervasive feeling that as a generation we don't have the type of accessibility to adventure that has existed in the past. Other generations - for better or worse - sort of had adventure built in. There were the wars. There were the 60s and civil rights. There wasn't facebook. There weren't cell phones. People hitch-hiked and worked odd jobs from coast to coast - like you mentioned. But the Kerouac "On the Road" ideal legitimately is no longer possible for a host of reasons. The world has changed. What we're trying to do is bridge the gap and show young people (and old too, if it resonates) who are feeling trapped that you don't need a fat wallet and a 401k. We're trying to reclaim adventure for a generation that's letting it slip through its fingers while they tweet, text and tinder their way through life.

 

We're not making this for people with money. People who want to do what we're doing, but spend a bunch of $ on hotels and good food along the way - that's great! I wish I were them! But I'm not. So I have to make do with what I've got, as do all my friends who are in the same boat as me - and we're all pushing 30. It's not like we're a bunch of "lazy" millennials. We bust our asses. It's simply that at this juncture, living in NYC - or any major city - supply outweighs demand in terms of the job market, leaving many, many people despondent and hopeless. Anyway let's not get into THAT discussion here.

 

I totally value your thoughts on this and it's actually extremely helpful because it's giving me insight into how people are reacting to what we're laying down and what struggles we're going to face on the fundraising side of things. I love when you play my foil. Haha. I just also truly happen to think this could be a valuable story worth telling in the context we're going to tell it - especially at this time in history. And to ME it doesn't feel like the film will cheapen the experience - because this is a medium I love, and telling stories is my art. Bringing that with me on the road makes all the sense in the world.

 

(But don't worry, I'm taking everything you've said seriously and will consider it further - they're absolutely incredibly good points)

 

I absolutely understand all of this thinking, I'd just say don't overthink the project...the more rules, regulations and barriers you add, the less authentic it will feel. One of the biggest issues I have with documentaries these days is they often come across as forced because they don't allow the facts to speak for themselves, and often bend reality in order to speak for the facts. In relation to this type of documentary, let the road dictate where you go, how you got there, and what it took to do so, it doesn't have to be more complicated than that. The struggles you meet along the way, such as a flat tire, getting stuck in a ditch, or stranded in a torrential downpour while in your tents should be naturally occurring, not something you forced upon yourselves because you were 5$ short and ended up having to stay an extra night so your weekly funds could "reset".

 

[Reddy]

I absolutely understand all of this thinking, I'd just say don't overthink the project...the more rules, regulations and barriers you add, the less authentic it will feel. One of the biggest issues I have with documentaries these days is they often come across as forced because they don't allow the facts to speak for themselves, and often bend reality in order to speak for the facts. In relation to this type of documentary, let the road dictate where you go, how you got there, and what it took to do so, it doesn't have to be more complicated than that. The struggles you meet along the way, such as a flat tire, getting stuck in a ditch, or stranded in a torrential downpour while in your tents should be naturally occurring, not something you forced upon yourselves because you were 5$ short and ended up having to stay an extra night so your weekly funds could "reset".

 

On this we agree 100% - i think the added stricture was something we came up with to try and secure more funding, since we felt like there wasn't a "hook"... but you're totally right that it feels disingenuous and that's the LAST thing I want this trip, experience and film to be.

[Y2HH]

On this we agree 100% - i think the added stricture was something we came up with to try and secure more funding, since we felt like there wasn't a "hook"... but you're totally right that it feels disingenuous and that's the LAST thing I want this trip, experience and film to be.

 

Don't take these opinions of mine as anything more than that, I'm not saying it feels disingenuous *yet*, but the more rules and hooks you add to this strictly to pique interest, the more that feeling will creep into the equation.

 

I still love this, as stated, I've done trips like this and I'm a bit jealous those days are behind me.

[Reddy]

Well hey hey - we're 33% funded, our press release got published on turnaboutmedia.com, AND we're getting interviewed my multiple travel blogs!

 

We're making a movie y'all!

 

Keep up to date with the project: www.justgofilm.com

 

(and Y2HH those days are so not behind you. please)

[Y2HH]

(and Y2HH those days are so not behind you. please)

 

The days where I can go off with just friends are behind me, and beyond that, the carefree attitude I once had is gone. It's all about my family/kids now, and on the rare occasion I go anywhere without them, it's a 2-3 day trip, not a the 20 day road trips of my past.

[Reddy]

The days where I can go off with just friends are behind me, and beyond that, the carefree attitude I once had is gone. It's all about my family/kids now, and on the rare occasion I go anywhere without them, it's a 2-3 day trip, not a the 20 day road trips of my past.

 

Totally - but 2-3 days is still something. And I bet you'll have a bit of a resurgence once the kids leave the nest. My parents have started traveling like crazy these days. Just never say never.

[Y2HH]

Totally - but 2-3 days is still something. And I bet you'll have a bit of a resurgence once the kids leave the nest. My parents have started traveling like crazy these days. Just never say never.

 

That's a LOONNNNNNG time from now, and while I'll surely look forward to that, right now I'm looking forward to what I have now. I'm in no hurry to get old and watch my kids move away.

[southsider2k5]

That's a LOONNNNNNG time from now, and while I'll surely look forward to that, right now I'm looking forward to what I have now. I'm in no hurry to get old and watch my kids move away.

 

Preach it brother. I am enjoying these days too much

[witesoxfan]

I know a guy who took a year long trip on bike all the way down to the very southernmost tip of North America. The coolest thing about it? I've been able to follow him along his journey on Facebook. It's interesting living vicariously through him as he makes this journey. Last I checked though, I believe he is about done and ready to head back north.

 

 

[Reddy]

That's a LOONNNNNNG time from now, and while I'll surely look forward to that, right now I'm looking forward to what I have now. I'm in no hurry to get old and watch my kids move away.

Oh totally - wasn't suggesting that then will be any better than now, just different, and you'll have more time to have more adventures. But I'm all about loving the now.

[Reddy]

I know a guy who took a year long trip on bike all the way down to the very southernmost tip of North America. The coolest thing about it? I've been able to follow him along his journey on Facebook. It's interesting living vicariously through him as he makes this journey. Last I checked though, I believe he is about done and ready to head back north.

Southern most tip of North America? When'd he start and where from? In a year I'd imagine you could get to the tip of South America!

 

Very cool though.