All Jokes Aside

Traveling is hard and I've only been doing it for a day.

Theres something absolutely terrifying about waking up in a strange place where you dont speak the language and where everyone looks at you like youre an alien. I woke up yesterday in Peru and looked at my lime green hostel walls and asked myself "what the fuck am I doing!".

Fast forward an hour to me in a cafe, trying to force down a sandwich while fighting the nausea of knowing I gave up a great job, a great apartment, great friends, and a comfortable bed to travel in smelly buses and sleep in hostels that more resemble a rave than a place to catch a nice nights sleep.

Its enough to make you sick.

This is my life. For the next year and hopefully when I'm done I'll realize that the comforts of home were really the things making me sick.

Being scared is fucking awesome.
Stepping outside of your comfort zone is completely terrifying.
You should try it sometime.

Holy shit. Here we go.

Glow sticks and ear plugs.

Lets play a little word association here.

I say hostel.

You say (if you're the blonde I talked to for far too long at our LA going away party): Hostels? Aren't those for like homless people?

Then I would say: No i think those are called shelters, but close.

Then on your second guess (assuming I gave you one) you said: Oh HOSTELS...you mean the places where Swedish guys like to blast techno music ALL FUCKING NIGHT LONG at volume levels that would make dead ravers twirl their dusty glowsticks...then yes my friend you would have answered correctly.

Theres a reason stereo types exist children, because theyre true.

Failure to Launch

Plane ticket - check

Vaccinations - check

Cool new digi camera - check

Countless going away parties - check

Passports, clothes, travel books, backpack, prescriptions, power converters, check book, travel towel and basically everything a person would need to survive a year traveling around the world- LOST.

Thanks to the folks at Virgin America.

(Until we have our bags in hand I'm placing the blame solely on them... It's your move Mr. Branson)

Anyone see my meth / extra tank tops?

Funny thing happened on the way to our storage unit.

Turns out the unit next to ours (seperated by a piece of plywood) is / was a meth lab and we might be part of the reason it no longer is.

We went to the unit a few days ago to drop off some more stuff, and noticed some condensation collecting on the ceiling. Using the detective powers I developed through years of watching COPS, I immediately figured out that the condensation had to be from a near by meth lab and/or a leak in the ceiling.

We go back today and the unit is covered in letters from the DEA and local police. The unit has been siezed due to the overflowing amounts of meth found inside! And it was siezed 1 day after we noticed the condensation.

A fucking meth lab! How awesome is that!

I have since deputized myself and bought a cowboy hat and gun. I am the law now.

To my dissapointment..Brazil looks alot like Beverly Hills

Heres a fun fact. When youre at a country's consulate you are technically in that country. So in a way, bums can travel the world for free.

Hooray for international bums!

Sorry if my underwear stinks...

I'm only packing enough for 5 days. HAHAHAHAHA!

For the next 365 days I will be living out of the 65 liters on my back.

In it?

2 pair of jeans

3 t shirts

1 polo (popped collar and all)

1 dress shirt

2 pair of shorts

1 bathing suit

6 pairs of socks (extra short thanks to Cam. He told me my somewhat short socks looked stupid)

1 pair of convertable pants

1 set of pajama pants

annnnnd...a whole lot of deodorant...for Sabrina...she can get pretty ripe.

Hell hath frozen over

I have joined Facebook. I blame all the excitingly exotic friends I will meet across the globe.

That's right Ugandu, I'm talking to you.

Check out my totally self indulgent page at www.facebook.com/rhoverkamp

Tonight we party, tomorrow we puke

If a dead lady ever leaves a box full of liquor to you in her will...don't take it. Trust me on this one.

SF going away party pics below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoverkamp/sets/72157622693224512/

If you've ever asked yourself

if your entire life, all worldly possesions, everything you own could fit in a 8 x 20 tin box in the middle of the desert. The answer is yes.

Is that freeing or incredibly sad?

Not sure.

Check out this handsome young man!

You can be handsome too! Be the envy of your friends and enemies. Buy your official Sabrina & Reece World Tour 2010 t-shirt today!

Shirts are available through cafe press. They come in Black and White (coming soon). Available in Mens, Chicas, and little runt sizes.

Black shirts feature our tour logo on front.

White Shirts feature tour logo on front and tour cities on back.

Buy yours today! Do it. I dare you.

Visit http://www.cafepress.com/worldstore2010

Thats http://www.cafepress.com/worldstore2010

One more time http://www.cafepress.com/worldstore2010

Hooray I'm Indestructible

Guess who got their travel vaccines today?

Doctor: Mr. Burns, I'm afraid you are the sickest man in the United States. You have everything.
Mr. Burns: You mean I have pneumonia?
Doctor: Yes.
Mr. Burns: Juvenile diabetes?
Doctor: Yes.
Mr. Burns: Hysterical pregnancy?
Doctor: Uh, a little bit, yes. You also have several diseases that have just been discovered - in you.
Mr. Burns: I see. You sure you haven't just made thousands of mistakes?
Doctor: Uh, no, no, I'm afraid not.
Mr. Burns: This sounds like bad news.
Doctor: Well, you'd think so, but all of your diseases are in perfect balance. Uh, if you have a moment, I can explain.
Mr. Burns: Well...
[looks at his watch]
Mr. Burns: [the Doctor puts a tiny model house door on his desk]
Doctor: Here's the door to your body, see?
[bring up some small fuzz balls with goofy faces and limbs from under the desk]
Doctor: And these are oversized novelty germs.
[points to a different one up as he names each disease]
Doctor: That's influenza, that's bronchitis,
[holds up one]
Doctor: and this cute little cuddle-bug is pancreatic cancer. Here's what happens when they all try to get through the door at once.
[tries to cram a bunch through the model door. The "germs" get stuck]
Doctor: [Stooge-like] Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo. Move it, chowderhead.
[normal voice]
Doctor: We call it, "Three Stooges Syndrome".
Mr. Burns: So what you're saying is, I'm indestructible.
Doctor: Oh, no, no, in fact, even slight breeze could...
Mr. Burns: Indestructible.

Thanks Jack

This is my boss. He makes an awesome ultimate cheeseburger, and in his spare time he's been gracious enough to employ me for a year.

In that time I've been able to save up enough cash for this trip. I'd be a real A-hole if I didn't thank the people who made this trip possible.

So thank you Jack. Thanks Dick. Thanks Pat. Cam and Leah, thanks for letting me hang around. You guys are the goods, and I truly appreciate you getting me to this point.

This is Jack's head.

You'll see it a lot cause he's coming along for the ride. I mean I need a concept for this blog right? So that's mine. Take pics of Jack in all the places I visit. Impressed? I thought you might be. Onward!

If it wasn't for the girl hiding behind these Hippos

I'd end up wandering a bus station in Uzbekistan shoeless, selling my psych meds for bus change.

Thanks lady behind the hippos!

MIght have to add Houston, TX to the trip.

Well played Mr. Loverkamp...well played.

A year is longer than I thought

So it hit me the other day. I'm traveling the world for a year. 365 days of wondering where I left my passport, or how I'm going to find a toilet I can use that won't give me hepatitis. Made me really think about how long a year is.

So I made a list of things I could do in a year, besides traveling.

Watch an episode of Dexter 11,680 times

Get 2920 hours of sleep

Eat 365 apples

Check Canestime.com 7300 times

Log into my facebook profile 0 times

Masterbate 121 times (really ? That seems low)

Spend 780 hours working (HAHAHAHAHA)

Pay $22,500 in rent

Call my sister 91 times

Listen to my sister complain about my mother 91 times.

Call my mother to explain why my sister was complaining about her 91 times.

Hit the snooze button 1040 times

Stare at my Iphone for 2190 hours.

Curse at my Iphone 143 times.

Do 60060 situps

Drink 265 beers.

Fight 17 hangovers.

Swear I’ll never drink again 17 times.

Ride 1560 miles to work.

Fly 41600 miles back and forth from LA to SF.

Play 2354 hours of Madden 2009 and still suck at it.

Swallow 104 bugs while sleeping…8 of those would be spiders.

Shed 1.5 pounds of dead skin

Drink 2920 glasses of water.

Take on average 4,380,000 steps.

Sneeze 200 times.

Take 730 craps (averaging two craps per day)

Wow I lead an exciting life.

P.S. Feel free to add to the list. It's fun and free.

From frosted tips to crows feet.

I used to think California was another planet. Living in Florida it seemed so far away. I was sure it wasn't physically connected to the rest of the country. There had to be a great valley or chasm that swallowed up station wagon after station wagon as they foolishly tried to travel West. It had to be another world because the people who lived there were aliens. Or ghosts. Or alien ghosts.

All of my friends always had an "Uncle from the West Coast" that they hardly ever saw. Even though they never saw them, they would always describe them in the same way. He was always the strongest man alive. He knew how to roll his own cigarettes. And he also had a 2 foot long mustache that he could dangle old timey weights from. As a boy these didn't sound human. Not anything like the humans I'd grown accustom to. My uncle lived in Florida, he smoked packaged cigarettes from the gas station and while he too had a mustache I doubt he ever practiced dangle weights from it.

As far as I could tell I'd leave California to the aliens and men with strong facial hair.

My mother always told me if I went to Mexico I'd die. No strike that, I'd be arrested for no apparent reason and be thrown in an underground jail guarded by devil dogs and forced to make illegal copies of popular American movies for the rest of my life. Or maybe it was that I would die. Never the less, I never wanted to goto Mexico. I believed everything my mother said. If I stared at the sun too long I'd go blind. If I masterbated too much I'd go blind. And if I played with fire works or ran with scissors I'd probably go blind. So understandably when she filled my head with visions of Mexican labor camps and devil dogs I wasn't dying to make any trips south of the boarder. I liked my eye sight, and copying American movies is illegal.

Europe is filled with pot heads and whores. Sounds good to me, but again not so much to my mother. Why would you want to go to Europe? Everything you'd ever need to see is in this country. Go to EPCOT if you want to get a taste of the world. You know they have French Crepes there?

Thailand?! What's in thailand? Do you know they have typhoons there every three minutes, and 50% of the people there have AIDS?

But I've been to Mexico, several times. And Thailand. And Europe. And now I actually live in California, eyesight and all.

Fear is a great motivator, but it can also be paralyzing. Ignorance is Fears best friend. Unfortunately they like to hang out at the bar together and throw back a few drinks and then tell you all the reasons you shouldn't travel. All the reasons you'll die if you go one state over. How they like to eat college students in Mexico...alive! Or how once you goto Thailand you'll never be heard from again and spend the rest of your life dressed like a woman giving handjobs to soldiers in Thai bathhouses.

I spent half of my life fearing the wrong things. Now, I have a shiny new fear. One that motivates me, and gets me going. Wanting to gas up my station wagon and drive it right off the face of the earth. That fear is the fear of missing what's out there.

It's funny how time can change you from the kid with the frosted tips to the "Uncle from the West Coast" (with the lackluster facial hair.) Eh one out of two ain't bad.

Producers vs Art Directors

Producers get things done. Like coordinating Around the World trips to places I can't pronounce.

Art Directors pay for said trips. And wear really cool shoes.

All systems go...

About a half a year ago I came home with a great idea*. What if Sabrina and I took off for a year? Just left our jobs, bills, tivo and gym memberships behind. To travel. The world.

Strap on some sandals and a back pack and call it a day. Head out for a year around the world going where ever we wanted, whenever we wanted. No rules. No deadlines. Nothing. Just traveling. The entire world in front of us.

The idea didn't go over too well.

"What! I'm not quitting my job to travel the world. You've lost your mind."

But I'm not insane. Insane are the people that never leave their zip codes or have never seen the Atlantic Ocean. Insane is not owning a passport or never having had food poisoning in a foreign country. We're not insane. We're just a couple of kids who want to get lost for a while.

So that's what we're doing. And this is our story.

*the whole idea thing was actually Sabrinas and I may or may not have been the one that freaked out. Could have gone either way really, I can't remember.