“Road trippin' with my two favorite allies
Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies
It's time to leave this town
It's time to steal away
Let's go get lost
Anywhere in the U.S.A.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Road Trippin”
Well, let me clarify. Not anywhere in the U.S.A. Everywhere in the U.S.A. And Canada. But this isn’t your parents’ road trip, complete with minivan, family-friendly jams and the inevitable question of “Are we there yet?” Because with @alexandluke’s road trip, the journey truly is the destination.
Meet Alex Sabine and Luke Vigeant, two twenty-somethings setting out on a social-media powered adventure to visit every state, province and territory in North America (minus Alaska and Hawaii. The German engineering on their Volkswagen Rabbit isn’t THAT impressive.)
On March 20, the two friends will pack six months worth of clothes and supplies into their Rabbit and head out for the open road. But they have no idea how that will happen. Their route will be almost entirely determined by votes taken on the pair’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages.
“Our ultimate goal is to see how much we can do with social media and travel, which is an area that social media has touched on, but not necessarily explored its potential,” says Alex.
Their master plan naturally began with the help of technology. Luke sent Alex a text message telling her he wanted to quit his job as a consultant. Alex, having weathered a move across the Atlantic from London, and a fire that gutted her family home all within four months, told him to come on a trip with her. The two put their self-professed “nerdy technological” and “nerdy intellectual” heads together.
“It’s not a business venture. It’s a venture we need awareness for, it’s not a venture we’re hoping to profit from. It’s an adventure-venture,” says Luke.
The pair’s website will be a main portal for communicating with followers. There, you can help them decide everything from travel attire (Scouts uniforms, jumpsuits or Blue Jays hats) to the name of their car (Burt Reynolds was the final choice).
But aside from hipster garb or celeb namesakes, Alex and Luke are hoping this adventure gives them the chance to explore North America and turn virtual connections into real-life ones.
“It (the trip) is most successful if we’re able to be the first people to successfully engage perfect strangers in every state, province and territory and build some sort of relationship with them. Even if the relationship spans ten pins of bowling, that’s still a win for us, and if we replicate it in every region, we’re happy.
“As long as we make millions. Ha ha” says Luke.
You can contribute travel funds to help this online dream team, in exchange for a section of real estate featuring a sticker of your choosing on their car. A quarter of all donations will go to charity.
Alex and Luke will be leaving Toronto on March 20. They know there will be bathroom breaks, flat tires and fights. But at this point, that’s about all they know for certain.