The Next Hundred Miles 

The Goal has been reached.... and 2 hours early.  However, don't hesitate to continue to pledge.  Rewards will accumulate as normal.  And... gas is going up again so amounts over the goal will help toward gas I'm sure!

We’ve all seen the photo essays along the line of... ‘Portrait of...’, ‘Through the Eyes of...’, ‘A Day in the Life of...’. There are beautiful books have come out of these concepts. They contain stories of families. Communities and lifestyles have been documented this way. These many books create a huge challenge. The challenge is to come up with something new! What if you create a concept that leads you to find a true look at America and what is seen as you travel the highways of our country? One that forces you to look at a life that you may not have ever been led to stop and explore. That is the concept of ‘The Next Hundred Miles’. The result is a photo essay that draws on the tried and true format but, drawing on that challenge, gives it a twist. Through your support, I plan to take a round trip from Marietta, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, to Boulder, Colorado. Along a loosely planned route that avoids interstates, I plan to stop every one hundred miles to photo and document whatever may be at that mile marker. The desire is to catch a vision of what grand differences there are across this country seen through the people and the landscape. The result of this journey will be documented in a printed legacy of of the trip that presents not only the faces and places, every hundred miles, but written impressions of the stops, and the journey as a whole. Along the way the whole trip will be documented ‘every hundred miles’, and all along the way through video, photos, blogs, etc.. from the road. To add to the adventure, the chosen mode of transportation will be a ’71 VW Beetle pulling a small ‘tin can’ type custom trailer designed and manufactured by me. Growing up in Georgia I had many chances to be a back seat passenger in my mom’s 1964 Beetle but never got the chance to be the driver. As an adult, I’ve now acquired my own ‘bug’ (affectionately called ‘Little Stink’ by my daughter) and am now in the driver seat of this piece of history. Similarly, my grandparents had a 70’s era Airstream that I did get the chance to sleep in, but never was lucky enough to have one of my own. Now, by making the ‘tin can’ trailer I’m building to resemble a classic Airstream, I get to combine those memories from my childhood and, in a way, relive those memories. I can’t wait! Your generous funding will go into preparation as well as execution of “The Next Hundred Miles”. Expenses covered will be design and construction of the ‘tin can’ as well as prep for the 40 year old vehicle to make a trip that will cover close to 4000 miles. Also provided for by the funding will be travel expenses such as fuel, food, campsites, maintenance, photography and video supplies, as well as printing costs for a limited number of editions of the completed photo essay. Editions that will be included in the rewards of certain levels of backers. The planned timeframe for this trip is the month of October, 2012. Departing from Marietta, Georgia the tract west will go roughly through middle Alabama, northern Mississippi, Arkansas, northern Texas, northeast New Mexico and north through Colorado to Boulder. On the return east, the old bug with traipse through southern Nebraska, into the south part of Iowa, through to Chicagoland before heading south through the heart if Indiana, the bluegrass of Kentucky, across central Tennessee and return back to Marietta from the north. All along the way, NO interstates!

Your participation in this project is greatly appreciated.  I hope you'll be able to share the journey along with me.  You're encouraged to pass the link to this project to your friends and family.  Thanks in advance.

Special thanks to the following for their amazing help

Video Production  -  Curt Cain http://vimeo.com/revealmediagroup  Zack Benson & Andrew Walden http://vimeo.com/awalmedia

Constant Support - George and Betty Patterson

Marketing Help - 

Big Ring Media / Charlie "Poncho" Wilson  

• Facebook.com/BigRingMedia
• Twitter@Big_RIng_Media
• BigRingMedia.blogspot.com

Blog Link - http://nexthundredmiles.wordpress.com/

Some Photographic Work: