Roadtrip Nation

"Roadtrip Nation" began in 2001 when three friends, fresh out of college encountered one dilemma: "What do I want to do with my life?" While most recent grads look to start their careers or head on to graduate school, Mike Marriner, Nathan Gebhard and Brian McAllister took a detour from the expected and set off on a journey of their own.

The three friends decided they would take a roadtrip across the country and talk to dozens of people who defined their own paths in life. After a bit of research, they compiled a list of inspiring individuals they wanted to interview and began cold calling. As expected, most people rejected them, but there were plenty that agreed to share their stories. They booked a handful of interviews, bought an old RV, painted it green and began mapping their route.

During their three-month journey, they met with a wide range of diverse and eclectic individuals–from winemaker Robert Mondavi to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor; from Saturday Night Live Director Beth McCarthy Miller to a lobsterman on the coast of Maine. Each interviewee had an inspiring story to tell and shared how they paved the road to self-fulfillment and success. With over 15,000 miles logged on the old RV, the group returned home with inspiring stories of their own.

On the road, they had filmed their experiences and amassed over 456 hours of footage. The group decided to create a grassroots documentary and screen it at college campuses across the country. Around this time, a national magazine ran a story about their cross-country journey. The small article led to a publishing deal with Ballantine Books, which later enabled the group to complete their documentary. In 2003 the book Roadtrip Nation - a guide to discovering your path in life launched and their documentary, The Open Road, started airing on a handful of PBS stations across the country.

Roadtrip Nation on PBS

In 2004 the first season of "Roadtrip Nation" aired on PBS. Destination Unknown followed three students from New Jersey driving through the west coast. Among the interviews featured are Aspen Skiing Company CEO Pat O'Donnell, Six Feet Under writer/producer Jill Solloway and Levi Strauss Co. CEO Phil Marineau.

By the end of 2005, more than 200 PBS stations picked up the series. The second season included three teams; the Northern Route, Southern Route and Central Route across the United States. The teams traveled 5,000 miles and interviewed over 45 people. Some interviews included the likes of Playboy Magazine founder Hugh Hefner, KCRW radio host Nic Harcourt and Greenpeace USA Executive Director John Passcantado.

The third season included three teams from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. The teams traveled through 12 states and interviewed a number of interesting people along the way– jetBlue Airways CEO David Neeleman, NPR CEO and President Kevin Klose and Hip Hop Mogul Damon Dash, to name a few.

The fourth season aired in 2007 and followed three teams from Atlanta, San Jose and Montreal. In this season, some interviews included Craiglist.org founder Craig Newmark, President of Lonely Planets America Todd Sotkiewicz, and Senior Editor of Rolling Stone Magazine David Fricke.

In the fifth season "Roadtrip Nation" will go abroad for the first time and follow a team from Australia as well as a team from the United States. The series will air in fall of 2008.

This year "Roadtrip Nation" continued to expand internationally, and sent a team to New Zealand, as well as two teams across the United States (one team was from the US, and one was from Australia).

Roadtrip Nation Movement

Since 2001 "Roadtrip Nation" has become a movement in which young people across the country can participate. "Roadtrip Nation" has partnered with 100 college career centers to run learning programs. Applications are available each spring for the opportunity to take part in a Green RV trip and Indie Roadtrip.

The Green RV trips take place in the summer and are produced, filmed and aired by "Roadtrip Nation" on PBS and online. The students plan their route, book their interviews and learn to drive the 36-foot green RV. The teams will live out of the RV for the entire roadtrip. These roadtrips last about five weeks.

The Indie Roadtrip participants travel on their own terms. These trips can last a year, a month or a day. Students are responsible for their own transportation and can travel with a few friends or alone if they chose. "Roadtrip Nation" helps fuel the way with Indie Roadtrip grants.

"Roadtrip Nation" has also released three companion books: [http://books.google.com/books?id=lcb8CAbob3wC&q=roadtrip+nation&dq=roadtrip+nation&pgis=1 Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path in Life] (Ballantine Books / Random House, 2003);Destination Unknown: Define Your Own Road in Life (Roadtrip Productions, 2004); and [http://books.google.com/books?id=t3bgPBVgfrYC Finding the Open Road: A Guide to Self-Construction Rather than Mass Production] (Ten Speed Press, 2005).

The hub for the "Roadtrip Nation" movement is www.roadtripnation.com–an informational and community-building Web site where students who have hit the road can create their own Web pages within the "Roadtrip Nation" community, there, they can upload their daily blogs, interview transcriptions, travel photos and roadtrip coordinates.

External links

* [http://www.roadtripnation.com/ Roadtrip Nation]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/roadtripnation/ Roadtrip Nation on PBS]