Behind the Scenes:

I am a dirty, dirty liar.  And I’m sorry.

I told you I’d see you next week.  When was that, four months ago?  What happened to me?  Those keeping careful track may already know that I’m in the United States again, finishing TrentInOz from the other side of the planet.  And, although the traveling part of my adventure is technically over, I’m finding that the most challenging, growth-inspiring part of the trip may actually be happening now, back home.

I’m not sure whether or not it shows in the final product, but this has easily been the most difficult episode I have put together yet.  A lot needed to be said, and it needed to be said with a whole bunch of video clips.  In that regard, I imagine it must be like making a real movie.  Except, I don’t know beforehand what video clips I have.  Or what story I’m telling.

I’d like to throw a shout-out and give sincere thanks to Pete and Linda at IEP.  It’s true:  I didn’t need most of their services I payed for up front when I departed, but I felt like their friendship and guaranteed help in time of crises was worth way more than the price I paid.  If you’re headed to Australia, I’d highly recommend them.

I’m pretty sure you haven’t seen the last of them in TrentInOz.

I’d also like to thank everyone who worked with me at the call-center.  Just like everybody, I had assumed it would be a boring, repetitive job, and that I would be forced to do it or leave Australia.  Instead, everyone there became great friends.  We spend so many of our days writings songs, playing pranks, and making origami boxes.  (Sorry, boss.)

At this point, I’d like to give you an estimate on the date of the next video.  However, if past experience is any indicator, my estimates are about as safe as tapdancing through a pit of scorpions.  Instead, let’s just say it will be out a hell of a lot faster than 4 months, and work our way from there.

See you next., where I explore the red light district, party, teach Australians how to make s’mores, and party .

Behind the Scenes

What’s that?  You weren’t expecting me for another month?

I can’t blame you, really.  Until recently, TrentInOz had lulled.  But, things are evolving here.  I can feel the project shifting into it’s final, most streamlined form.  I’m planning on sprinting from here forward.  Maybe we’ll even see weekly 7-minute videos, as was the original intention of the show.

The two-man band featured at the end of this video is called “The Codebreakers,” but I know it by its human names.  Pete Faure and Blake Noble began playing together a scant two weeks before that footage was shot.  Last I heard, they planned on taking a van around Australia, busking for money the whole way.  Not a typical tour, sure; but I’ll put money down on this – it’s going to be a phenomenal one.  If you’re aching to hear more from these two (like I am), here’s one more to chew on.

Pete and Blake typically play last at The Arts Factory’s weekly talent show.  Despite their reliably good showing, here’s something important to note:  Not everyone at Arts Factory is anywhere near the level of The Codebreakers.  The cool part?  Everyone still gets the same encouragement from the crowd.  The Arts Factory’s community isn’t made up of artists by accident; the social atmosphere actually converts the uninitiated.  Even after staying only a few days, I found myself in front of the talent show crowd, reading comedic poetry to an audience more than willing to clap and cheer me on.  It’s a magical place, and I can promise no other hostel – perhaps no other place – in Australia is anything like it.  No wonder people find themselves staying so much longer than intended.

Despite the surreal times, The Arts Factory is where I felt the first symptoms of that disease which would put this entire trip in jeopardy.  Next week, I undergo metaphorical surgery.

Behind the Scenes

Certain trends have emerged over the course of my travels.

For example, I never get any sleep the night before I move to a new city.  I’m not exactly sure why it happens, or how it has happened every time.  But invariably, at 5am, I’ll be awake somewhere, thinking, “I can always just sleep on the bus, right?”  I also never get any sleep before writing these Behind the Scenes articles.  That may explain any incoherency you’ve been wondering about.

I also never update TrentInOz faster than it took me the last time.  At first, it was a week.  Then two.  Then three. Now, almost three months have passed.  What is the cause of this deceleration?  Why is the site updated less and less often, despite efforts not just to halt, but to increase the frequency of posts?  Something doesn’t line up here.  My suspicion?  TrentInOz has moved down on my priority list.

What could possibly displace such an important part of my trip?

When I first arrived in Australia, I often told inquiring friends and family that I intended to stick to TrentInOz no matter what.  “I’ll go back home,” I would say, “before I stop making videos.”  And, while my enthusiasm was on target, I believe I didn’t understand the implications of that promise.

When it came time to make one last video and go home, or get a job and stay, I broke my promise.  I broke it because I realized what should have been an obvious truth all along:  Without Oz, there is no TrentInOz.  If my objective here is growth, I’d rather be forced to learn from a failure than pack up and go home for pride.

Shame on me?  Yes.  Yes, absolutely.  But, it’s shame I’m happy to pay for the return I’m getting.  Hopefully, you’re on board with the decision too.  If not, just think about it this way:  If I had taken the other route, this would be the last post you’d ever see on this site.

So, what could possibly displace such an important part of my trip?  As it turns out, the Trip itself.  Of course, just allowing video production to stall didn’t save my trip single-handedly.  In fact, even without TrentInOz, this entire project nearly crashed and burned about a month ago.  What happened?  That will have to wait an episode or two.  In the meantime, enjoy the calm before the storm next episode, when I visit the best hostel in Australia.

And, expect to enjoy it a hell of a lot sooner than last time.  Trends were made to be broken.

Episode 10: The John Litzinger Cooking Show

Behind the Scenes:

From anywhere in the world besides Cairns, it must seem like I’ve been missing.  There hasn’t been a new episode for a while, so if posting two episodes at once seems like compensation…  Well, it probably is.  I can only hope images of myself being aggressively (and arguably sexually) assaulted by Kuranda’s feathered “friends” is enough to placate you.

I believe I have drastically overestimated the number of you interested enough in cuisine to sit through a 25 (twenty five!) minute cooking show.  I’m willing to be wrong, however, since the ratatouille produced by said show is worth the instruction time.  If cooking isn’t your thing, feel free to watch the bird footage until the video loads, and then skip to the end.

At the end of the last episode, I hinted that my new job description would probably cause a change in approach to TrentInOz.  Despite current appearances, I’m actually making videos faster than ever.  Don’t take my word for it; check these out:

Considering my experience as a film maker (which, may I remind you, is very little), I’m pretty happy with the Nomads videos.  That said, the above videos are the #1 and 2 reasons there haven’t been more TrentInOz.  I can only make so many videos at one time and still do anything worth making videos about.

Excuse not good enough for you?  It isn’t for me either.  I’m working on figuring out how to squeeze more out of my time.  Fortunately, I’ve yet to really tackle time optimization, so there is a good deal of squeezing (proverbially) left to do.

Even besides video production, things are moving pretty fast in the life of a wandering personal growth enthusiast.  I’m quickly discovering making videos for travel and accommodation isn’t a solution to financial concerns.  This will probably be its own episode..  Theoretically, I’ll also be changing cities soon.  I’ll have to figure out how to fit that into my new exercise/ukulele regiment.  Did I mention there was a new exercise regiment? Or ukulele playing?

Next episode, we’ll talk about just how fast you can grow under trying circumstances.  Ciao!

Sometimes, I get emails from crazy people.

For instance, take this fun loving group of CouchSurfers.  Inspired by Episode 6,  these radical travelers took to the streets of Detroit to host an Urban Golf tournament.  Armed with sticks, shovels, tennis rackets, and more sticks (these topped with motor oil cans), this motley crew of sportmen had a great time at practically no cost.

Pretty groovy, huh?

While this was their first Urban Golfing experience, it was my first chance to see this project having tangible effects on the world it is part of.  I’ve never really been able to watch something spring all the way from my mind and into other people’s lives before.  I can tell you now what every single other person who has experienced this will tell you:  It is unbelievably rewarding.

Of course, it really wouldn’t be completely accurate to take all the credit for inspiring these people.  After all, I simply recorded my own Urban Golfing experience, which was set up by someone else.  So really, I was as inspired as I was inspiring.  Who knows what influences the people who organized my golf experience were under?  Do you think they know that the people’s lives pictured here were changed because of their actions?  Probably not.  I think it is most accurate, then, to say not that I inspired these people, but that we sat next to each other on the universal “ride of creation.”

It’s a little far-out to think about, but you are part of this process too.  As of last episode, people are starting to click the Digg button on the bottom of each of the episodes.  If you aren’t familiar with Digg, know that clicking the button puts TrentInOz higher on a list of “interesting internet places.”

What does clicking the Digg button cost?  Don’t believe anyone who says “nothing.”  Clicking the button costs a moment of your attention; a temporary shift in the direction of your consciousness.  Advertisers pay millions of dollars to have a piece of your incredibly valuable consciousness, and it’s worth every penny.

That’s because the more “Diggs” this site gets, the higher it goes on that list of websites. The higher on the list, the more people visit this site.  The more people visit, the more people play Urban Golf. Or, in a bigger sense, the more the world is changed.  Not by this website, but by you.  Specifically, by your direction of consciousness – in this case to the Digg button.  So, by focusing your attention on clicking a button, you are literally changing the world with your mind.

It would be a convenient metaphor for universal connectedness, if it were a metaphor.

If you find yourself doing anything inspired by this site, I’d love to hear your stories or see your pictures!  I’ll put as many as I can here on the site, and together we can see what sort of interesting, fun changes we can be part of on our little blue planet.

Until then, I’ll be participating to my fullest.  See you next week!

In connectedness,

Trent

Behind the Scenes

Behold – the longest, most epic TrentInOz episode yet.  I promise I’ll try to keep it short next time.

When I started this video, I was sure that Carmina Burana (that song in the ice cream part) had passed into public domain.  Turns out even long after the death of its composer, Carl Orff, the song still has some pretty stringent use requirements.  Apparently, his estate feels the song should not be reworked into popular culture.  So before legal requirements require (because that is what requirements do) me to change it, download the “collectable edition” of Episode 8, and save it for posterity.

So, the surprise is out – I have a new job.  I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to set my sights high when starting anything new, but becoming a pseudo-professional filmmaker was not a path I had anticipated even slightly.  It is, of course, an awesome path; it just isn’t one that was on my to-do list.  Maybe there is a lesson here:  Perhaps the things you do with wild abandon, those that you wantonly throw yourself into without regard for failure, those you do only because you think it will be fun, or helpful, or good; perhaps those things are the ones you really succeed at.

Or maybe that’s just one way to succeed.  I’ll let you know after I become a video game designing filmmaker rock star.

Although I think the video says it amply, I want to give one more thanks to Rebecca, my camerawoman.  The last few episodes would have been much less interesting faire without her help.  In all likelyhood, you would have been forced to sit through twenty minutes of me holding the camera, talking about how cool doing “that thing I just finished” was.  When I say you would be forced, I mean that after thirty seconds you would have been watching episodes of True Blood.  For twenty seconds.

Other than the fact that there will be a lot more of them, I’m not exactly sure how videos will work from here on out.  If my new adventures require a great deal of filming, then I’ll need to film that, and everyone knows that filming yourself filming requires another camera person.  So, I’m officially accepting applications.  Send the most hilariously convincing reason I should allow you to work with me, in low-budget conditions, without pay, to trent@trentinoz.com.

See you next week, when I adopt a cooking show and become a pirate.

Behind the Scenes

This may very well be the most informative episode yet.  Heed my wise words, and do try not to fool around in the linen closet.  I can tell you now, you’ll have better luck anywhere else.  Besides, they just washed those sheets.

Despite being a generally humorous, hopefully completely inoffensive take on the subject, I deliberated a good deal before making an episode on sex.  It was important my motivation did not come from trying to get attention through scandalous episode topics.  Ultimately, I decided that making an informative documentary on the subject would be a useful and appropriate action.

Did I make an informative documentary?  Probably not.  But it was still worth a chuckle, and I promise that there is good info in there.  Somewhere.

In un-sex-related life, I’m starting to get a little more ambitious.  The discipline I was seeking when I came here is starting to materialize.  At least the symptoms of it are.  In practice, I don’t feel very much more disciplined, I just happen to want to do the things I used to force on myself.  Perhaps choosing to want the more difficult things is discipline.

I haven’t mentioned the really big news.  Since the last (un)episode, my situation here has changed in a major way.  Of course, I can’t just tell you about it.  This is the sort of thing that deserves its own episode.  Well, it would, except for competition from the zombies.

What am I talking about?  You’ll see next week.

Behind the Scenes

The irony of making a episode to catch up – then not posting for almost a month – is not lost on me.  So, where have I been, and what have you missed?

First, let’s talk about the lack of posting.  It would be very relieving to say it was on purpose, but that isn’t the truth.  In fact, the four week gap in my posts is due almost entirely to struggling with the very problems I came here to confront:  fear of failure, staying in my comfort zone, and not pushing myself hard enough to grow.

I frequently talk about using challenges and struggles to grow. Understandably, I’ve been asked where in the blog one can find examples of this “struggling.”  Nowhere, actually.  In fact, that’s just the thing.  The struggle is making the blog, finding a job in the low economy, or pushing my boundaries in unfamiliar areas.  The struggle is not taking up the comfortable path that I know won’t cause growth.  Unfortunately, it’s rather difficult to capture not doing on film.  I could make an episode about my struggles, where I sit in a hostel watching movies and eating ice cream, but would that be interesting?

Fortunately, regardless of how difficult my problems are to film, they are quite possible to get past.  With each iteration of watching myself go through a period of inactivity, I get better at productivity.  I talk about this process a good deal.

So, what about that video?

I may have been lax in the past month, but I haven’t been completely inactive.  Rather, I’ve devoted a good bit of time to working outside the blog.  First, I’ve done some writing for various websites(examples here and here).  More important is the video competition I’ve entered here in Melbourne.  Nomads Industry, the hostel I’m staying at, offered a flight to Cairns and seven days accommodation to whomever could make the “best” video showing off the hostel and its vibe.  When I started putting the film together, (almost two months ago now) I wasn’t sure if my month-and-a-half of video editing experience would be enough to make a worthy entry.  I decided to enter anyway, however, because I felt I should be looking for opportunities to improve my skills.

Then, I found out there were no other entrants.  Have you ever heard the quote, “Life is 9/10ths showing up”?  I can’t think of better proof to its credit.

I still wanted to make the best video possible, because slacking would not improve my film making, and because you never know – someone else could still enter.   The above video is the result of several months of clip shooting, and then about two days of bad acting.  While I recognize the film’s flaws, I’m still pretty proud of the outcome, considering the hours put into it.

So, now that the competition is done, will I get back to making the blog?  You better believe it.  I’m pretty excited about the next episode, and even more excited that I’m going to be getting it to you in seven days or less.

See you then.

Behind the Scenes

Finally, after talking about it so long, we are in the moment.  Fully immersed in the present, we step forward into whatever lies before us in these upcoming seconds.  I can’t help but feel grateful for the journey so far.  Having the chance to review these moments through camera has been my own personal privilege.  Sometimes it’s hard to realize how cool something you did was before you see it from the outside.

Best bet?  Just assume whatever you are doing is completely awesome.  If everything we think we know about this infinitely mysterious universe is just an assumption anyway, why shouldn’t we make the assumptions we like?

If anyone was wondering, urban golfing is approximately three times even more fun than it looks on film.  I’d highly recommend trying it.  While you’re at it, spread some accomodation-based love by joining up at CouchSurfing.com.  I’ve mentioned it several times in passing, but I have yet to give it the treatment it deserves.  Here’s a preview:

CouchSurfing is a social networking site devoted to helping people share cultures by sharing living rooms.  People sign up, and can access other peoples couches to sleep on, free of charge.  The couches are booked sort of like hotel rooms.  You contact someone, ask if they have a vacancy and are willing to have you.  If they’re okay with it, you come and stay in whatever accommodation they can provide.  Often, yes – it’s a couch.  Sometimes you get a guest room, or a floor, or a space-pod.  Usually not the space-pod.

Better than the place to stay is the company.  CouchSurfers are almost always incredible, friendly, interesting people.  Often, they’ll show you places you’d have never seen as a tourist in their city.  Sometimes they cook for you.  Pretty much every time, they’re great companions.  I recommend the community even more than I’d recommend the service.

Finally, I wasn’t kidding about having some ideas for upcoming episodes.  I think they’ll be fun, and maybe even a little…  Controversial?  See you there.

Behind the Scenes

It’s a small number, but five episodes seems like a landmark to me.  It means I’m getting close to putting an hour of footage online.  It means that I’m halfway to double digits.  It also means it’s time to pay tribute to a couple of people who played a major role in inspiring this trip, and this website.

First, let’s discuss my destination’s inspiration.  Katy Saulpaugh met me in what I thought was the midst of her lifetime traveling spree.  (I later found out that travel is her normal mode.  She has staying-in-one-place sprees.)

While I sat in college, bound mostly to a convenient four-block area containing my school, a grocery store, and a gym, I watched Katy travel the world.  Periodically, she stopped back in to refuel, and I had the benefit of hearing her travel stories.  I was so amazed!  She liked to tell me that she wasn’t growing the way people expected travelers to, but I could see her self-confidence increase with each venture.  It was her idea I come to Australia.  She told me I’d love it, and so I promised myself I’d make it here one day.

Thanks Katy.  Not only could I not have done it without you – I wouldn’t have even thought of it!

My other inspiration is even less orthodox.  Matt Danzico came into my life as a one-night visitor to my house, where he slept before continuing his own adventure.  At the time, Matt was conducting an experiment to see how online relationships translate to the real world.  Using only connections from the internet, he traveled the entire circumference of the United States without paying a dime for food, lodging, or transportation.

Most importantly to my story, Matt carried a camera everywhere.  He documented all the interesting experiences he had, and shared them through a web tv show (web-show?).  The total body of this work he dubbed “Around America in 2.0“.  In the world of journalism, Matt Danzico is my hero.

Matt’s influence didn’t stop with inspiration, however.  Before I left, he took time out to talk to me about his trip, and gave me advice on how to prepare for mine, including camera details, editing advice, and “learning as you go” tips.  If you check out AA2.0, you may notice a striking amount of similarity in our style.  If anything, I think of it as more of a tribute to his work than an attempt to copy it.  Obviously, it’s too awesome for me to copy.

Matt, thanks for all your influence, on myself and on my filming.

Of course, it isn’t like only two people made this trip happen.  I owe huge amounts of gratitude to a plethora of people who made it both possible and fun to make these videos.  To those people, you have my unending gratitude.

And finally, to those of you watching and/or commenting:  It’s a pleasure to share the journey with you!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Next week, we’re in the present.