Adventuring Off the Grid
Wander Girl Kali Hullsiek and her sidekick, Damian, plan to go off the grid and roam many parts of the world. They would like to take you with them, by taking pictures and filming their many adventures, and putting the videos they make up on YouTube. You won’t have to budge out of your chair in order to see all of the weird, wonderful and beautiful places they will go. You will be able to share their meetings with people in remote places. They promise that you will laugh, you will cry, and you will go places you have never been before – all from your own comfortable armchair, of course, because Kali and Damian will do the actual traveling.
But nothing comes without cost – and that is especially true of film making. Kali and Damian have saved the money for their food, lodging, plane tickets and other travel expenses. But their savings will not cover all of their anticipated costs – particularly those for good equipment, and insurance to cover breakage or theft.
That is where you come in. Your contribution to Kali and Damian’s Off the Grid crowdfunding campaign2 will help purchase more cameras, film, insurance and pay for production costs. In return, you will receive sponsorship credits, a digital download of the season, postcards from any country along the way,
t-shirts created by the Off-the-Grid crew, a meeting either over Skype or in person with the team, personalized video footage, journal notes and finally guest star in one of the episodes. All perks are matched to donation amounts. If that were not enough, they will endorse an organic product (the team reserves the right to refuse inappropriate products), or you can become a co-producer.
There is always some risk with setting off on a big filming adventure. Although the team plans to research locations and routes carefully, International travel is always a bit unpredictable. Travel with expensive equipment could be an issue – but that is why the team will insure their cameras and accessories.
One thing they are sure is not a risk is that they will create a wonderful and wanderful travelogue that you can share from your comfortable chair at home. You will not have to miss even the smallest comfort found in your normal sphere of life, but you will be able to travel right along with Kali and Damian. If you are not able to contribute financially to their project, then “like” them on Facebook, Tweet about them, or otherwise advertise their adventures on your chosen social media.
They have determined that they will be able to go on the trip, and that they will make the film. They have already acquired some things. But with your help, they can make it so much better. They want to create a masterpiece of film-making so that all their armchair traveler friends can join them on their wild and wacky adventures.
This first trip will focus on Central and South America. If it is successful, then subsequent Webseries adventures might include Europe in 2016-2017, Asia 2017-2018, and Africa 2018-2019. Their goal is to be able to say that they have set foot in every country of the world and to show people the things that lie beyond their own front door. They have chosen to make the journey in person so that millions of other people can join them from home. From Marco Polo to Wilfred Thesiger, travelogues take us from our comfortable times and spaces into worlds we would otherwise never encounter. Kali and Damian propose to not only write words for us, but to bring to us their adventures with movement3, sound and color. Would not Marco Polo have delighted in having such means of recording his travels? The world might be made smaller by the Internet, by the nightly news and by telephones and airplanes – but for those who choose to go off the beaten path, it is still as large as it ever was.
About: Kali Hullsiek, a recent graduate of UW Madison, wants to fulfill her lifelong dream of seeing the world. If you visit her Facebook page, you will see that she has already marked off one item on her bucket list: Skydiving.
Kali Hullsiek
Off the Grid
www.facebook.com/voteglobal
email us here
1 http://kck.st/1FErgMu
2 http://kck.st/1FErgMu
3 http://kck.st/1FErgMu
