Kerouac Journey

Jonash Loh, Luke Kaspar, and Nina Kadjar are traveling west on their own Kerouacian-style trip to enjoy "la bonne vie" in the often forgotten corners of western United States.

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Zombieland #2

The map below covers a road trip where Chrissy, Paul, Greg, and I felt is a suitable road experience paralleling the film Zombieland. We will utilize a Winnebago as our transportation across America. Most of our stops relate to a challenge we would have to confront in order to continue our journey to Disney World. Ultimately, our experiences will inevitably bond us together creating a new family-like bond between us all. Come join our thrilling adventure!


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Steinbeckian Journey Across America

We want to take a journey together the way Steinbeck took his journey
in "Travels With Charley." We want to get a taste of different regions of America and learn what only the locals know. We want to check out cute little cafes,bars, churches, and festivals to get to know the “real America” in all its
diversity and quirkiness. We’ll be taking a van to fit all four of us along with our luggage and necessary camping gear to use at a few of our stops. The main idea is to have a relaxed but intentional journey where we make the stops that we planned from the beginning but enjoy the surprises and the
friendships with the people we meet that may occur along the way.



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Group 1- Zombieland

Not only was the movie, Zombieland, hilarious, but its inner meanings were some of its greatest attributes too. Alex, Chris, Greg, and I decided to incorporate these themes into our own road trip that would promote, among several things, lasting friendships. Below is our complete set of planned route and destinations!


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Thelma and Louise

In the spirit of Thelma and Louise, Amarah, Julie and I created a trip from Austin to Vegas and the Grand Canyon and back. This is our idea of the type of trip Thelma and Louise would have taken themselves had things not taken a bad turn at the beginning of the movie.



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Travelin' Whitman Style

Below is the final map of a road trip we believe that Walt Whitman himself would take! After analyzing his well-known poem, "Song of the Open Road", Spencer, Jose, and I created our own version of a "Whitmanesque" journey. Check it out!


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Thelma and Louise: Proposal

Our group is following the theme of “Thelma and Louise.” Our goal is to bring out the bonding and freedom/self-discovery while relating back to the movie. Our journey will start from Austin, Texas to Las Vegas, Nevada and then back to Austin, Texas. Our main point where we plan on spending the most time is going to be the Grand Canyon. We chose this route because we firstly wanted to start off from where we live now just like Thelma and Louise started off from where they lived and we chose the Grand Canyon as our main point because that is where Thelma and Louise finished (except we won’t stop there). Our goal of bonding relates to the movie because throughout the trip, both Thelma and Louise learned more about each other and became closer after going through so much. In our trip, Julie, Kim, and I will definitely bond because it is a long trip and we will get to know more about each other and we will all have stops where we will get a chance to bond with each other and do things that we all like to do. This trip will also give us a chance to escape from studies and let us have the freedom to explore, have fun, and choose a perfect spot to be ourselves. Throughout our trip, we are going to have many stops that will relate to such themes which were the major themes of “Thelma and Louise.”

Zombieland #1

For our group (Claire, Greg, Alex, and myself), we're following our road trip based on two themes from Zombieland: reconnecting with our youth and bonding with one another. We're all classmates who hardly know each other, just as the main characters from the film hardly know each other prior to their journey. Our trip begins in Austin and continues to Orlando, FL; New York City, NY; Akron, OH; and ends in Hollywood, CA. Along the way, we'll be incorporating one rule from the film with each stop. Each of us has a particular stop we want to take during our trip--these stops allow for one of us to reconnect with our youth and allow us to share our pasts with each other, thus leading us closer and closer together. Between these "youth-seeking stops," we'll be stopping at various places across the country, where we will participate in team-building experiences such as rock climbing. On the other hand, danger lurks at some of these stops. When we stop in New Orleans, for example, a drunken man attempts to assault Claire, who is quickly saved by one of her travelmates. This ties into one of Columbus's rules: Get a kickass partner.

We'll be stopping first in Orlando, Florida to visit Disney World. It's a place I go to about once a year, and all four parks give me many, many great memories. I'll show everyone the ins and outs of the parks as well as how to "enjoy the little things."

Next up is New York City, New York. Alex actually got the hookup from Roger Federer while planning for the trip, so we'll all be able to get behind the scenes of the US Open, a tournament that Alex has always dreamed of attending.

The crew from Zombieland got to meet a celebrity in his own house, and our crew is no different. Our third stop is Akron, Ohio, where Greg takes us to meet his hero: Lebron James. King James actually has a bowling alley and a casino in his house, making it an ideal place to relax together. If we have time, we might even catch a Cavs basketball game before we hit the road in the morning.

Our final stop is Hollywood, California, home of one of the world's most famous theatres: Grauman's Chinese Theatre. This Hollywood must-see landmark features The Walk of Fame, but it's a very special place for Claire, who actually grew up in Hong Kong. Here, Claire can remember her life in China and fill in her companions about China's culture.

Allons! (Let's Go!)

Jose, Spencer and I have decided to journey “Whitmanesquely” from Brooklyn, New York down on to New Orleans, Louisiana and then back up north, ending in Camden, New Jersey. These destinations were chosen after researching and learning of Whitman’s own personal travels throughout his lifetime. In order to travel “Whitmanesquely” we have decided to keep the trip as simple as possible. The plan, for the most part, is to resist the big inner-city life and travel lightly. Thus, we have decided to take our camping (and fishing!) gear and rest on public camp grounds throughout our journey. We believe Whitman would coincide with this idea as Song of the Open Road does say: “Now I see the secret of the making of the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.” Indeed, we all agree that “the earth…[shall be] sufficient” for us. Moreover, we feel that camp ground areas and the like would be the perfect place to meet interesting folk to invite to travel with us, or to simply encourage to take their own journey some time. Although Whitman does emphasize the need for companionship, we felt that he ultimately pushes more for self-discovery. The line “I am larger, better than I thought; I did not know I held so much goodness” embodies this theme of learning about oneself along the way. The multiple stops we plan on making while on the road will encourage this growth and allow us to become more open to new thoughts and ideas, perhaps even leading us to being “reborn”.


When it comes down to it, our road trip will not occur at a fixed pace. We will come and go as we please. Of course, our final destination shall always be kept in mind. However, there will never be any sense of urgency. The purpose of this trip is to be free and do as we please and if one place calls to us more than another, then so be it: “You but arrive at the city to which you were destin’d, you hardly settle yourself…before you are call’d by an irresistible call to depart.” Whitman gave us this basis in thought in regards to the road: The world is at our [the traveler’s] feet and is ours for the taking, if we will but take it:


To conceive no time, however distant, but what you may reach it and
pass it,
To look up or down no road but it stretches and waits for you,
however long but it stretches and waits for you,...
To see no possession but you may possess it, enjoying all without
labor or purchase, ...
To take the best of the farmer's farm and the rich man's elegant
villa,…
To carry buildings and streets with you afterward wherever you go…
To know the universe itself as a road—as many roads—as roads for traveling souls.

Zombieland Proposal

Using Zombieland as an inspiration, our group has designed a trip in a Winnebago from Austin Texas to Disney World in Florida. Keeping with the spirit of Zombieland, each of us has chosen a stop where we will attempt to introduce outside and alien experiences to other members of the group in the hopes that some piece of that experience becomes part of the group as a whole.
Some of the stops along the way will include Denver Colorado where I will introduce everyone to the concept of survivalist/minimalist backpacking; even though we will be traveling in a Winnebago hopefully the experience that will stick with the group is that less is more. Another stop along our journey is Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta we will try to find the World of Coca-Cola (a stop inspired by Tallahassee's obsessive quest for a Twinkie) and Crissy will attempt to convince at least some of us that Diet Coke actually tastes good.
Our last stop will be Disney World where, even though we can't ram the gates with the Winnebago and shoot the zombified occupants, I'm sure we can play laser tag or at the very least ride the roller coasters.

Steinbeck Journey Proposal

Our group is using the Steinbeckian type journey as a template for our exploration of America. We are going all around America, starting in Austin and hitting some iconic areas along the way until we get back to Austin. The idea is to get a taste of every region of America and learn what only the locals know. We want to check out cute little cafes, bars, churches, and festivals to get to know the real America in that region. The idea is to find where the natives hangout, not where the tourists go. This is very much like what Steinbeck did, but we are following a different route as well as looking for areas frequented by the younger natives of the area.
Jackie suggested an awesome website, couchsurfing.com, that would give us the chance to get to know America in a way Steinbeck did not necissarily have access to. The premise of the site is you search for someone who is willing to let you sleep on their couch for a few days, and they show you around the area. This would be an absolutely terrific way to really get to know at least a few people in each area, and form ties to most of America. Which is really the whole idea of Steinbeck's journey, discovering an America you have become out of touch with. In our case we are discovering an America we may not really know yet, but definitely want to discover.

Proposal

Proposal for last group (group 6?): Nina, Jonash, Luke

We are taking a Kerouac-ian road trip across southwest America. Our stops include: Denton, TX; Norman, OK; Colorado Springs, CO; Denver, CO; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; and possibly the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We are investigating to find locations within these cities/areas that are normally unseen, interesting, off-beat attractions. For example, while in Los Angeles, the group will be visiting the Museum of Death, a peculiar small business on the end of Sunset Strip owned by a married couple. Within this project, we are projecting themes of hedonism and self-discovery, parallel to those in the novel On The Road. We are also visiting friends along the way: Jonash has friends in Denton, Luke has a friend in Colorado Springs military base, and I have a cousin and friends in Los Angeles.  Along the way we are faced with a few difficulties/road blocks, such as lack of financial funds.  Overall, we are traveling where ever the road takes us.

Roadtrip with friends

It could be because I chose to write my last paper on Thelma and Louise, but if I were to take a road trip I would like it to resemble theirs.
To begin, I would load up my car with a close friend or friends, the more the merrier. Like Thelma and Louise, the comfortable friendships bring a sense of safety and security, so even though we would be doing something we never had before, we would be there to support one another. We could together choose our main destination- if it were up to me, I'd choose a beach, so we could head somewhere warm like Orlando.
I like the idea of experiencing new things on the road, but having a sense of familiarity along the way, as we saw in Zombieland, and On the Road. On our trip to Florida, each person on the trip could choose someplace that is comforting and familiar to them, whether visiting relatives and friends, or revisiting someplace they had gone on a previous trip.

zombies are real...and ones in the back seat

I like the idea of taking a road trip with a buddy and having to take on the hurdles that come along the way. The challenges you face may not be zombies, but being stuck in a traffic jam when you need to go to the restroom is almost as terrifying. The one main thing that this road trip does not address the major issue of getting suck with an a$$hole as a travel buddy. I have gone on a trip with someone who I could not stand the very sight of much less having to sit and talk with in a small space with no escape. By the end of this trip I was just wishing that I had a gun to put this bastard in a box where he couldn't bother anyone anymore. So for me I would rather have a zombie in the car than this person, because it is not socialy looked down upon to throw a zombie from a moving car.

A sense of freedom

I was really inspired by the journey of Thelma and Louise: how they try to overcome such obstacles as escaping from her husband, robbing a store, getting away from the cop, etc. The idea of women power is really eye catching in this movie and the feeling of being able to choose your way is what makes the movie exciting. I believe the idea of change is what makes this roadtrip: how Thelma changed into a stronger, daring, and a much bolder at heart woman from a woman who always did what her husband expected her to do. Being able to become a different character given the chance that no one is there to tell you what to do and choosing what you want to do is what I would hope for in my idea of a road trip; leaving out the craziness (robbing a store, shooting, etc) that Thelma and Louise did.

You're Stuck With Me, and I'm Stuck With You

I guess I would want to take a Zombieland style trip. I would pack up my things, gather my closest friends, and head off toward Colorado. I've never been on an across the country road trip--let alone with other people. I don't know what to expect. Maybe the people I travel with will become annoying, or maybe I'll learn a little more about who they are, but I do know I have people by my side who are there to help us get where we need to go. The characters in Zombieland couldn't predict where the next zombie was quietly lurking around the corner, but they figured they need one another to survive. This is the only way to travel. To be around people you love will make the experience richer, happier, and more enjoyable.

On the Road

The road trip Sal took in On the Road was the one that was most appealing to me through all the texts. His trip was encouraged by his need to be around something more, and along his journey he met new people and experienced things he would not necessarily be able to at home. I think that being able to take part in these unfamiliar experiences is what makes a road trip. Being able to be around new people, and having a chance to be someone different, whether you are or not, seems like a great opportunity to take advantage of. There is a greater sense of freedom when you are in an environment that is foreign with no one around to really be held accountable to. Though, I may not approach a road trip in the way that Sal did, I would hope that the outcome would leave me with a better/different perspective on life as well as great memories to cherish. 

Free Sprit

Any road trip I would take would most likely be similar to Sal's journey in On The Road. The main reasoning behind Sal's travel is his thirst to be with "mad" people and just go across the country and experience an invigorating sense of life. That's what I want. I want to just be around unusual/out of the norm folk, work a random job somewhere far away from my actual home, travel with and get to know people I've never met before, and possibly fall in love with some one that I meet along the way (but then again Sal never REALLY fell in love, did he?). I wouldn't really know exactly where I'm trying to get to. It sounds like the ultimate hippie experience but I'm all for it. Sure, it's a risky situation but as T.S. Eliot once said, "The journey not the arrival matters."

So my journey would be just to see where the road takes me.

Out On the Road

The text that appealed to me the most was On The Road. Sal didnt make too many plans for his road trip and was more or less spontaneous in how he got from place to place. He met up with friends and partied with them but he was also not reluctant to make new friends with complete strangers and have a good time with them as well. Mainly Sal just wanted to break the monotony of his normal life and get out and experience a new world.

This is the kind of trip I would take. I love his destinations of Colorado and California and would definitely stop in those two places. I wouldn't hitchhike necessarily and probably wouldn't go alone but I wouldn't hold myself to only the people I know. I would meet friends in Colorado but make plenty of new ones on the way. The trip would be carefree, enjoyable, relaxing, and a hell of a good time. I would check out the scenery, the mountains, the ocean, and everything in between. Good times would never be far away. I would stop in Vegas and do a little gambling, then head on to LA, San Francisco, and end up in San Diego before returning home. It would be enjoyable to really get out of the everyday routine and do my own thing for a few weeks. I might even learn a thing or two about myself. Overall the experience would be something that only a road trip could deliver.

Whitmanesque

The journey whose spirit inspired me the most was that which Whitman describes in his "Song of the Open Road." While I don't know if I would drop everything and become a traveling street person, the almost religious epiphanies which Whitman speaks of that can only happen onthe road are almost dreamlike to me. I don't know if I would welcome complete strangers to travel with me but I also wouldn't travel with a group of friends. Possibly only myself or one friend. The thing that got me most about Whitman's messages was how much the road can change you. The beautiful nature that will surround you and hold you which can inspire a person to great heights. The complete strangers that you meet along the way that will impact the rest of your life. And of course the wisdom that a Whitmanesque traveller will come back with. The road in a sense can become one’s home because of how much it provides a person, spiritually, intellectually and physically. I think there is so much in Whitman's words that rings true to most people's inner soul. I think that this is why he is still read and studied and admired and loved by so many. I need this kind of journey. I don't know what I would do or where I would go but I know that I would not take any of it for granted and I would be completely open to everything that came my way. I would have to travel somewhere in which a stop to Monument Valley was made. I am a big fan of John Ford Westerns and I have always wanted to go here, where a hero of mine was inspired so greatly to have filmed roughly 85% of his Western pictures within this region. Maybe some of the magic of this place could rub off on me and inspire me to think about life in a different way or enlighten me in another way. I would have to take this trip with only one friend or myself because I think that otherwise I would miss a lot of the journey along the way. I would be too caught up with them, in something I already knew, to truly make this a Whitmanesque journey. I’ve been too dormant for too long.