Category: Travelling

4000 miles from home: Chicago

Moleskine entry: July 18th, 2009

I’m sat at the back of Virgin Atlantic flight VS039 en route to Chicago. I’ve never been to the windy city before, for all intents and purposes it looks like I’m not going to see much of it either.
We’re just passing through…

Our final destination today, July 18th 2009, is Billings Airport, Montana. From there we are to be transferred to The Hideout ranch some four hours drive outside of the airport, over the state line into Wyoming.

All this travel is for challenge two of Lucozade’s Summer of Energy Challenges and time we’re Cattle Ranching.

Last week we were sand-boarding in Namibia which, it has to be said, was simply breathtaking. There are hundreds of photos to look at and just a few videos too. As you may know, I have a very, very hectic Summer lined up ahead of me and to say that I’m clocking up ‘a few air miles’ might be somewhat of an understatement.

Strange. I have a note here, it says:

‘Experiment with adjusted images’.

I think I know what I mean. I’ll have a play with that that later…

Moving on…

Through a rather strange set of circumstances, I find myself not sat next to my traveling partner in crime, Sam. But in face next to a young student going by the name of Grant Rostad. He spots my N97 and asks after a play. I offer it up gladly, and also go onto explain how, in my opinion, the N86 (which I’m also carrying) is the far superior device.

“Oh no!” he says “I’m all about having a qwerty keypad, and a touch screen. Those things make a phone for me. “

Americans are such strange creatures.

We talk more and eventually at the very last minute, we grab said N97 and throw a quick podcast together for The Really Mobile Project.

http://thereallymobileproject.com/wp-content/uploads/read-my-palm-a-random-encounter.mp3

It’s all a bit incidental and a bit geeky too, but I kind of like it.

Later that day, on a different page…

Chicago came and went.

We board the 1547 United Airlines flight to Billings, Montana.
THEN a 3hr drive into Wyoming.
Headed for a place known as ‘The Hideout‘ at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains.

No.
Really.

Q: “You ever been on a horse before?”
…

…
A: “Um… I’ve seen one, does that count?”

This is going to be fun 🙂


The clouds are different here…

…stretching lazily across the acres of sky…

…I could take photos of clouds all day.

.


Coming home from Namibia

Rejoining the ‘Notes from my Moleskine‘ series, we round up the final three pages from the first Lucozade Challenge: Sandboarding in Nambia.

—– Shofat, Manzoor, Sam, Me, Foyce and Suhel —–

Moleskine entry: July 12th, 2009

I’m home, at last…

We were all supposed to be back Saturday (today is Sunday), but early morning fog meant we couldn’t land in Walvis Bay and so we missed our connection. 24hrs in Windhoek, the Namibian capital, ensued. Forget the delay, the most hilarious thing I saw in those 24hrs was our pilot, Elsa, texting the control tower telling them she couldn’t see them

I digress, the important part is:

I am home.

______________________

Learnings & Memories

: Four kids from Brum can be all the company you’ll ever need for an extreme sports holiday to Africa.

: The stars. They still amaze me.

: A midnight meteor shower over the plains of Damaraland – breathtaking.

: Shofat walking (and subsequently falling) into the swimming pool in Serra Cafeme.

: Dries. Sandboarding. Brilliant.

: Must buy a circular polariser for the camera.

: Satphones can be incredibly useful and yet incredibly infuriating at the same time.

: Lions. Outside the tent.

: Quad-biking at dusk.

: Taking so many photos – a joy.

: Power! She needs more power Cap’n!

______________________

The winners for stage two have been drawn and the competition for stage three opens real soon. Between now and then however, I’ll be Cattle Ranching through Wyoming. I’ve never ridden a horse before, let’s see how that works out…

Before I close the book on stage one mind, I need to make sure I write something about Eric & Raymond.

These were the two guys that held our hands and showed us the way the whole time we were there in Namibia. Without them it would’ve a been very, very boring trip and probably quite rubbish too.

Gents, I tip my hat. Thank you, both of you. You made it all worthwhile.

Waking up in New York

Cross-posted with my new Posterous website, set up purely for #ClimateVoice.
Normal service will return shortly.

(I have many more Moleskine travels to write up and, fingers crossed, I’ll have some other things to talk about by the time I get back too)

In the meantime, here is the first post from said Posterous.

Please remember: I’m not deserting My Happy Place, I just felt that for this one week-long gig, I should take my work elsewhere. I guess when you read some of the things we’re getting up to here, you’ll see.

See you when I get back.

James.

PS. A few commenters have remarked upon the irony of yours truly helping out with the #ClimateVoice project, given the amount of traveling that I’ve done this Summer and my continued response to them has been: I was asked to help and, after my Summer of travelling, I felt it was the least I could do.

_______________________________________________________________

So, the Lucozade Challenges are at an end and I find myself not at home, in London…

But here, in New York.

Why?

Back in February I was part of the team that helped the G20Voice blog get up and running through my work with SpinVox; working with Alfie Dennen of Moblog we were able to set up phone lines all over the world that allowed anyone, anywhere to call up and put their question to the G20.

When Oxfam heard I had some free time at the end of the Lucozade project, they asked if I’d like to tag along and assist with their livestreaming of the event; interviewing attendees and bloggers and generally doing what I do, but for them.

So a trip to NY, working with a charity I love?
Oh go on then..

So for the week that I’m here, I’ll be blogging at this new posterous blog, just for this one project, as a container for all my Oxfam/G20/ClimateVoice content.

Let’s see how it works out.

Thanks for reading,

J.

Notes from Namibia

Moleskine entry: July 9th, 2009

I’ve never flown this far South before. Cape Town is 10hrs straight down. Damaraland, Namibia 2hrs back up again.

The stars are very different here.

Last night we slept out under the skies, in the middle of a half-million hectare concession, where people, wildlife and animals all co-exist together. Rhino, Springbok, Zebra, Giraffe, Leopard, Cheetah, Elephant and Ostrich. We’re told there’s no real danger, but we’re quiet all the same.

On the way out, Eric – our guide – remarks that the stripes of a Zebra are as unique as that of a human fingerprint.

“Zebras have human fingerprints?”…asks a not-really-listening Suhel.
“Yes Suhel, Zebras have human fingerprints.”

We laugh, uncontrollably.

Lions walked past through our camp, right past them. There are paw prints outside my door. I heard them late, out there in the dark, purring their deep, low grumble. Not quite a growl, not quite a roar but still… that sound.

A glimpse through the window revealed nothing. I could see the light from a distant toilet-tent knocking gently in the trees, but that is all. The moonlight, so bright out here in the middle of nowhere, shines down clearly, basking all in pale illumination.  But I see nothing.

Still, I hear them mumble.

Friday, oh Friday!

‘Out of service’ the machine stares silently… ‘The other side!’ he thinks, knowing there is only minutes to spare.

It’s 07:26:54.

Can he make it to platform 2, use the (seemingly empty) machine over there and then get back in time for departure at 07:29:00?

Too late, his legs are already moving; two, five, eight steps up. Rucksack strapped tight he bounds over the footbridge… ‘Must be quick, must be quick!’.

These ticket machines are not new to him, in fact he knows exactly what parts of their screens to touch and when: Mid-bottom left, Zones 1-6 travel card. Confirm selection, bottom right. Card in, PIN number, payment and Print! The whole process should take no more than fifteen seconds. He notes (as he dashes past fellow commuters, oblivious to his challenge), the merits of majoring in something so seemingly minor could be a point of amusement later today, but this is lost on him now, all he can hear is the train, there,  already arrived on the now opposite platform.

‘Must be quick, must be quick’, he repeats his speedy refrain, ‘I must be quick, I must be fast. I mustn’t miss my train!’

Button, confirm, card. It’s so simple, he simply can’t complain.

‘I must be quick, I must be fast. I mustn’t miss my train!’

Alas, he can. ‘Coins and notes only’ the wretched contraption says ‘No payment cards today’. He has the cash, there’s a twenty in his wallet, he saw it there this morning. ‘£14.80’ the machine says, ‘Coins only, no payment cards today’. Time creeps forward, slowly ticking by. The purple note, it shines and glistens in this early morning Sun. Cash in, ticket out – ching ching sounds his change, now go – GO GO! You’re going to miss your train!

Three, six, nine steps up – swiftly swerving the elderly woman, as he reaches the top – race fast, quick now –

….

He laughs, loudly when at the start of his descent he hears the high pitch beep of the doors. Still grinning when he reaches the bottom, the train pulls away.

07:28:47

Damn thing left early.

______________________

Today is Friday August 21st, it’s now 12:59 and I’m sat at The Tuttle Club typing this all up. This morning I was a brief guest at Likemind, good chat and new people too. Then I was a guest of my new best friend, Dan Light at London’s IMAX for the ‘experiment in social marketing’ known as ‘Avatar Day’, (more on this later).

The footage was saw was simply stunning and, thanks to the really nice guys at Vue Cinemas, I’m going to see it again later on this evening.

I can’t wait.

As I said – More, later… I promise 🙂

6000 miles from home: Cape Town

Apologies if this is a little out of time, but – as I mentioned in my last post – that’s how things are going to roll around here for a bit, at least, when it comes to talking about my epic Summer of travel.

Cheers and as always, your comments and questions are welcome 🙂

_______________________________

Moleskine entry: July 5th, 2009

All aboard...

Day one of my epic Summer of travelling so far has consisted of… well not very much really.
Admittedly, I’ve moved a certain distance, what with hurtling through the sky at 500mph and everything, but I’ve actually spent most of the time sleeping.

Night flights are my favourite kind.

There are six of us on this trip. Me, your official storyteller. Sam, my partner in crime and also my one and only constant over the next ten weeks… and of course our first four competition winners.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Lucozade Energy Challenges as a concept, let me tell you that it was a brand new one on me too. One winner, plus four of his/her friends, every other week taking a particular challenge for which a new skillset is required. Each activity is set in a different far-flung part of the world and they all require the chosen four to learn said skill quite quickly before partaking in a competition of some kind. All in the name the new Lucozade Energy tag-line ‘Do More’.

The full list of competition details can be seen on the Lucozade Energy Challenge website, meanwhile – let’s get back to our story shall we?

Me, as you know, got this gig just a couple of weeks back. Sam? The same. However, his role is different to mine in that he to be the group’s designated ‘Chaperone’ over the coming weeks and, judging by the first few hours, he’s going to be good very company indeed… 🙂

Time to meet the winners of the first competition; Manzoor and his three friends, Shofat, Suhel and Foyce.

They’re a good bunch of lads. Football players from Brum would you believe, and they’re just a little bit excited.

Heh.

At the time of writing we’re about 10mins from touchdown in Cape Town, Shofat’s just woken up and we’re discussing the prospect of seeing some Black Rhinos over the next few days. You see, this particular challenge – Sandboarding in Namibia – isn’t all about the taking on the extreme sports of the Skeleton Coast, it also involves tracking down the aforementioned huge beasts as part of a desert safari.

What?

There’s got to be something to fill in the gaps between all the epic sandboarding, right?
Next stop: Namibia!

Plans for the Summer

About a month ago I entered into the running to be Lucozade’s Social Media Reporter this Summer, covering each of their ‘Energy Challenges’ as they happen across the globe. Phase one was an initial email pitch that answered the question ‘why should we pick you?’

I threw some words together, detailing some of my social media credentials – or ‘whuffie‘ as my dear friend Vero calls it – and was soon after awarded a place in the next round.

Phase two stepped it up a bit. This time we had to create a ‘multimedia diary’ based around reporting on a physical activity.
The requirements were as follows:

  • One two minute video
  • Footage of the physical activity
  • Interview with the person undertaking the activity
  • Piece to camera introducing your diary
  • A written blog of no more than 150 – 200 words
  • 10 photographs

With that I went off and spent the afternoon at a secret location with my good friend and neighbour, Richard Mills. I think you all know how that turned out.

😉

“James Whatley meets: Richard Mills” got me through into the third and final round; a sit down face to face with the Lucozade team. Two hours later my phone rang.

“Hi James, we’d really like it if you could be the Lucozade Energy Challenge Social Media Reporter…”

That was two weeks ago.

My feet haven’t really touched the ground since.

The Lucozade Challenge is one big competition. You can enter right now. Each week winning a place to on one of the challenges for you and three of your mates.
There are five challenges in total and they are as follows:

  1. Sandboarding in Namibia
  2. Cattle ranching in Wyoming
  3. White water rafting in Zambia
  4. Yacht racing in the Caribbean
  5. Glacier climbing in the Alps

Over the Summer, I’ll be blogging, tweeting and filming every single one of them… and I cannot wait!  😀

Thing is, I leave for Namibia on Saturday.

Best pack really…

Los Angeles – – > 9000miles

I’ve been away.

This entry – originally written in long hand at around 32,000ft on April 30th – might explain why things have been quiet of late…
__________________________________________________________

It’s official. I’m on Holiday.

The last time I took any kind of break like this was in the gap between my last job and this one, some 20months ago in fact.
Sitting on this plane mere hours from my destination, eagerly awaiting my arrival, I look forward to days of Sun, sea and sand along with a smattering of sight-seeing & shopping.

The City of Angels is where I’m headed.

Plans ahead, although few in number, are making me smile; Dinner with friends, drinks with others.

Plenty to see, find and do and yet – there’s no urgency around any of it.

There is no rush.
There is no fuss.
There is only L.A.

And I like it.

Here’s to good food, damn good company and here’s to having a bloody nice time!

__________________________________________________________

I’m back now and, as seems to be the norm l whenever I go away, I’ve been catching up with a lot of writing.
Stay tuned.

Whatley out.

When does Batman sleep? – Part 1

Back in September last year, fresh from the awesomeness that was Nokia OpenLab in Helsinki, I found myself at the Web 2.0 Expo, NYC.

It was day two of the conference and Brian Solis was taking us through his presentation on PR 2.0. It would seem that in today’s ‘2.0’ environment, that PR was no longer about Public Relations, but Personal Relationships.

Brian’s written and talked extensively about this subject in the past and while I have a great respect for him and his work, this particular session was faltering.

You see, the presentation wasn’t anything new to me. Having studied his work in the past, I was just hearing everything I’d read being spoken back to me.

Admittedly this was not Brian’s fault. He had to speak to the lowest common denominator in the room and he was doing a very good job of it. However, some of the attendees were losing interest. Actually, my good friend and blog designer Vero Pepperrell touched upon this in her most recent post on That Canadian Girl.

Upon her return from the South by South West Interactive (SXSWi) festival, in Austin, Texas – Vero had this to say to the organisers:

Mark panels as Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced on the pocket schedule and ask speakers to stick to that level. The vast majority of panels I attended were far too Beginner level, which sometimes felt like a waste of time. The panelists aren’t necessarily to blame, as they aimed to be as inclusive as possible, but when every panel is lowest-common-denominator, it can be tricky to learn new things.

Good point, well made. So… What’s up with the Batman reference?

Well jumping back to New York for a second, the PR 2.0 session at Web2 was coming to an end and Mr Solis had opened the floor to questions…

A few short ones at first;

– “Should we be using Twitter?” (Yes)
– “What if people start talking back?” (Talk back to them)
– “Can I have a copy of your presentation?” (Yes)

And then this one guy came up to the mic, rather shy fella actually, and quietly told Brian and the audience around him, what he did for a living. This man was a developer who, after spending some time wandering the world wide web, had discovered that people were talking about the company he worked for. Sometimes good, sometimes bad and, being the nice human being that he was, this man decided to do something about it.

At first, starting small; just fixing little bugs here, offering help and guidance there. Soon, word spread that this was the go-to guy online if you had any questions regarding the company he worked for. Again, being the kind man that he was, he found himself answering query after query and question after question, not once being mean or nasty or just plain rude. This man cared:

“Sometimes Brian, I find myself stuck in front of the laptop at like 10pm on a Sunday night. The kids are in bed, the wife isn’t far behind and there I am answering customer care questions over Twitter with some guy in Geneva! This isn’t my day job. I’m a developer. My question to you is sir; when does Batman sleep?”

This prompted a huge round of applause from the majority of the room. Being the face of your brand isn’t supposed to be a 24hr job (is it?), so when are we supposed to take time out? What about those of us to whom this isn’t even their job?

I have answers, mainly through my own experiences.
But first I wanted to ask the question to you, dear reader:

When do you think Batman should sleep?

.

Part 2.