In Arizona Planning...

by Zach (Flagstaff, AZ)
So, planning a big adventure like this takes a lot of work. Especially when you have to pack everything you think you will need into what you can carry on your back. And as if that's not enough, we really have no idea what is awaiting us when we touch down in Medellin. As of now I have a stack of things in the corner of my bedroom that will fill about half of my bag. Here is a list of almost all that will fit in my bag:
1 t-shirt
1 sweater
2 pairs of underwear
2 pars of socks
1 pair of pants
Chacos
Camping towel
Sleeping bag
Water bottle
Stocking hat
Machete
Nook full of books
Camera
IPOD
Journal
Pen
Travel documents
Hygiene products
This will fill up most of my bag. There will also be the video equipment and tent which we will distribute between the three of us. And I will have stuff in my pockets. I hope to have an exact list of every item we will bring made up soon. As of now it's late and my 7 am LAP (La Aventura Project) funding project (i.e. my lame-ass job) awaits me so stay tuned for more updates, and word on when the trailer will be posted!

Planning Calendar

by Carrie (Flagstaff, AZ)

Any trip or vacation inevitably requires a lot of planning.  When you’re going to travel for an entire year on very little money it means even more.  Filming a documentary about the experience adds some more items to the to-do list for sure.  Oh, and you’re trying to raise money beforehand for the making of said documentary?  Hope you love that planning and organization!  Here’s a tentative checklist I just thought out about what we need to do each month before the three of us hit the road (err…sky) in October!

January:  Film the trailer when Melissa comes from Ohio to visit Zach and me in Arizona.  Decide on a fundraising goal.  Save $ and study Spanish.  (23rd-Zach's Birthday!)

February:  Edit and complete the trailer.  Create a kickstarter.com page and start bringing in that money from those arts supporters!  Save $ and study Spanish. 

March:  Continue kickstarter campaign.  Extend our publicity to facebook, twitter, youtube, and anywhere else we can think of.  Get a real website or at least buy our own domain name for this one.  Save $ and study Spanish.  (9th-Melissa's Birthday!)

April:  Read more about South America.  Continue raising money.  Make some awesome promotional materials like stickers, posters, etc.  Save $ and study Spanish.

May:  Read more about South America.  End our kickstarter campaign and assess how we did and how much more money we need to raise.  Save $ and study Spanish.  (18th-Carrie's Birthday!)

June:  Buy our flight tickets from Columbus, Ohio to Medellin, Colombia.  Develop more story ideas for documentary.  Save $ and study Spanish. 

July:  Finalize a (very) rough itinerary.  Buy rest of video equipment like batteries, cases, hard drives, memory cards.  Save $ and study Spanish. 

August:  Zach and Carrie quit jobs at end of month, arrange friends to crash with in Ohio.  Zach and Melissa get shots.  Save $ and study Spanish. 

September:  Zach and Carrie go to Burning Man (!!!!!!!!) then road trip back to Ohio.  Finalize packing list.  Buy any equipment still needed.  Film preparation.  Join WWOOF and find a first host farm in Colombia.  Study Spanish.

October:  Finalize arrangements for financial obligations/storage of stuff.  Find a couchsurfing host in Medellin for our first few days.  Hope we know enough Spanish to survive.  Pack and say goodbye to friends and family!  LEAVE ON OUR GRAND ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!!!

That's all really rough and I know I'm going to think of tons more things we need to do.   But writing it out in calendar form like that actually makes it all seem doable.  Not everyone works like me, but I always do much better when I have things planned out far in advance.  This breaks it into reasonable chunks.

So as for the two recurring themes of this list...anyone have any ideas other than kickstarter for fundraising?  And does anyone have any suggestions for good Spanish practice books and websites?  (I have Spanish for Dummies and Rosetta Stone but I need some more worksheet-type practice I think.)