Amtrekker

Hey Team,

Today was a super productive day! (In the sense that taking two steps forward and two steps back is productive. See, it’s funny cause it’s not.) My Florida plans officially, although temporarily, fell through so I spent the better part of the day frantically trying to find somewhere to be where I can make some progress.

There are a couple of really good leads though. I may try to head over to Goldsborough, NC this weekend to take part in a Civil War reenactment. I have a place to stay and there’s definitely a reenactment going on, it’s mostly a matter of getting a hold of someone that can give me an idea of whether or not I can participate. I am armed with phone numbers for tomorrow though!

Other options include horse riding in Alabama, hill climbing in Florida and sailing in Virginia. Wish me luck.

On an actually really for real productive note I finally managed to finish cataloging ten hours of video and send off the used tapes and some other peripheral items to free up some space in my backpack. (I realize I have a tendency to anthropomorphize my possessions, especially if I spend any appreciable amount of time with them…but doesn’t it seem like my backpack should have a name? Of course if it had a name then Charley would always be traveling inside of someone else. Maybe that’s a bad idea. Your thoughts?)

AND I went geocaching today with my friend Josh! He’s an awesome guy and one of my best friends from high school, who I unfortunately only get to see once every couple years lately. Still, I’ve been futon surfing his place in Charlottesville the last couple days. Good times.

I’ll leave you with my non sequitur for the day: You know what my favorite thing about new shoes is? New shoes = no weird insole holes. (I pop my toes in my shoes a lot so I tend to wear a hole in the insole where my big toe rubs and once that happens I keep catching my toe on it whenever I try to pop.)

I’m done.

Brett.

If you liked this post feel free to buy me better song lyrics!

Don’t let me stop you.

Hey Team,

It seems the cranberry bog podcast has led to me getting the same question from different angles over and over again, so here I am to lay to waste your curiosity. The question goes a little something like this:

“What happened with the cops?”

I don’t want to make you work for it so here’s the lesson you should be pulling from the following words: Speak quickly and don’t stop smiling.

I was still in the box truck putting on my pants and shoes as the officer pulled up behind me and stopped near Michael.

“Hey, are you guys traveling around in that thing?” Bare in mind, all that’s in the truck is a lantern hanging above a coffee table with three chairs set around it, a futon mattress pushed up against one wall like a couch and some dude putting his clothes on.

Mike looks at the cop and says, “No.”

“You sure? It looks like he’s sleeping in there.”

“Nope.”

“What are you guys doing?”

“Hey Brett, could you come here?”

“Hey officer,” Don’t forget to smile. Who would believe that anyone just caught red-handed doing something they know they shouldn’t be doing would be happy? “My name’s Brett. I’m traveling around the country…not in this truck obviously. Haha, that would suck…(blah blah blah you guys better know this part of the story by now)” I told my story as quickly as I could, trying to stay in control of the conversation and answering or side-stepping any questions to the best of my ability.

Then, (and here’s the amazing, only in my world, part) as soon as I finished my story I handed the officer my card, to look official, and gave him his cue to leave by stepping away from the window and saying, “Okay officer, thank you so much for your time. Hope you have a good day.”

And for some reason that worked. Without another word he just decided he had all the info he needed and drove away.

And this is officially the first time I find myself thinking, “I wouldn’t be that hurt if he doesn’t check out the site.” But if I happen to have a new fan with a badge, “Thanks so much for being so cool the other day, officer! My unblemished record and Amtrekker fans the world over thank you too.”

I’m done.

Brett.

Help contribute to the Amtrekker bail fund, today!

Since get out of jail free cards don’t come cheap.

Hey Team,

The last 24 hours have been pretty uneventful as far as list progress goes, since everything that’s been going on has been behind the scenes, but that’s no reason to keep you folks in the dark.

Today was mostly spent cataloging hours of raw footage that will probably never be used but can’t be thrown away or taped over (Then how would I be able to put together a documentary?) and HAVE to be shipped away. With winter upon us…or at least upon me (In a totally non-sexual way. Perv.) I had to grab some extra clothes, generously donated by the Boston guys, and turns out when you’re carrying more than two t-shirts you have a LOT less space for technology. Sad.

I also spent quite a bit of the day searching for new ways to promote the site and if you have any ideas you want to share or if you just want to take things into your own hands don’t hesitate. Just do it. (Please don’t sue, Mr. Nike.)

That’s about it, these are the kind of days I don’t usually share but since I’ve been doing so much video work I was in the mood to just sit and write again. (Sucks for you guys!) Tomorrow will be pretty slow too, mostly just a day of geocaching, but maybe I’ll have some time to throw together one of those videos that have just been sitting around waiting for me to have the time to do something about them. Another little song and dance from the Wayback Machine. Something Mr. Peabody can be proud of.

Hey, quick thought: Leave a short comment and let me know if you guys care about days like this. Too boring? Would you rather I just skip it or do you like to have a peek behind the curtain every now and again?

Okay, I’m done.

Brett.

Welcome to the wonderful world of kindness to strangers.

Why NOT be a kind stranger?

Hey Team,

I made it to Charlottesville, Virginia this morning safe and sound after driving straight through the night with Ryan, a Mansfield, PA resident, suffering from only very minor exhaustion. (And by minor I mean I only slid into unconsciousness against my will when I was sitting down or standing still, never when I was walking. Of course that made for a pretty embarrassing stretch at a local Starbucks. Lucky for Charley, I don’t drool.)

I was planning on writing up a rundown of my holiday layover spent under the care of the Pennsylvania ladies (Up, down, over, under…geez, I’m clever.) but I had a little extra time this morning and managed to finish up the cranberry podcast.

So, I’ll just say I had a great time with all of Jena and Theresa’s family members over the last few days and I’m a little disappointed I had to say goodbye again. Easily the toughest aspect of this adventure is constantly saying goodbye to all the awesome people I meet.

Okay…let’s get right to more of Brett being a sissy and making a fool of himself.

Leave comments, digg the page and podcast and…enjoy!

Here’s the youtube link for those precious few folk that can’t stream from the site or download on iTunes.

I’m done.

Brett.

Any donations received today will go towards a new set of toes.

Frostbite is not a game, kids.

Hey Team,

I’ve had a pretty awesome few days in Nowhere, PA, unfortunately my internet connection has been pretty spotty. So before things cut out again…

Here’s a quick video update.

And I’ll fill you in on the details tomorrow.

Thanks, everyone!

I’m done.

Brett.

Welcome to the wonderful world of kindness to strangers.

Why NOT be a kind stranger?

Hey Team,

I had a fun-filled, turkey-fueled day with the Fiamingo family in Mansfield, PA. Not only did they take me in on what is traditionally more of a family holiday (which frankly, I’ve always thought was strange since basically it was all about taking in people in need when those pilgrims first flunked winter) but they fed me what was (don’t read the next ten words, mom) quite possible the best Thanksgiving dinner I have ever had.

That was followed by a two-hour food coma and dessert was served in the midst of them letting me win at a grueling 24 hour (I’m just going off of how long it felt, I didn’t check the time) Trivial Pursuit game. Which, by the way, makes me 2 for 2 in Trivial Pursuit for this trip. That’s right…Amtrekker’s undefeated. Bring in on people.

Basically it all comes down to this: my gain, your loss. As a result of all the food, folks and fun (please don’t sue me, McDonald’s) I didn’t have much time to get any video work done today and that filthy fun killer tryptophan is doing a number on my ability to stay conscious. (Upon rereading I see it has also done a number on my ability to write coherently and stay focused enough to not throw in parenthesis every twelfth word. Oh well, all part of the charm of an Amtrekker story, right. Right?!)

Luckily, the California Aggie has swept in to save the day. They heard about all the excitement and did a quick “Alumni Corner” Q&A piece in the paper. So it’s their job to entertain you today. (Cause I can almost guarantee the last four paragraphs aren’t doing it for you.

Here’s the link.

Enjoy.

One last thought. Yeah, I gave the interview, but I only knew this article had been printed because I back-traced some traffic to the site that was caused by it. So let it be known that when you folks talk about Amtrekker.com on other sites or otherwise find awesome and inventive ways to let people know what’s going on it definitely has an effect. So keep doing it…or start doing it. Or better yet…do it LOTS! Every new eyeball helps.

Thanks a ton for all the help and support and especially for the ridiculous amount of Thanksgiving well-wishing I was on the receiving end of yesterday. It’s unbelievably flattering to know that people care about how things are going and whether or not I’m being treated well during the holidays. Keep being awesome, people!

I’m done.

Brett.

Any donations received today will go towards a tryptophan detoxification program.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz