Walk To Connect
After a childhood of moving from one suburban neighborhood to the next, Jonathon Stalls felt starved for connection–to anything or anyone. In a quest to find community, he set out with nothing but his own two feet to carry him from Delaware to California. The awkward, exhilarating, and at times terrifying challenges he faced over the next 8 months helped him tear down the walls around his long-standing isolation.
You can learn more about two projects that Jonathon has started, Walk2Connect, which hosts 50-70 walks across the country each week, and Intrinsic Paths.
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Caterpillar by Little Glass Men • American Dream by Jason Tyler Burton • Big North by John Berry • All Together by Cleod9 • Gotta Keep Movin! by Publish the Quest • Harbor by Kai Engel • Anxiety by Kai Engel • Happy Little Dance by Ken Christianson • Moved By You by Cordelia Zars
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive or with permission from the artists.
Novel Inspiration
After falling in love with John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Charlie and Leon set out to recreate the 1,615-mile journey described in the novel – but on bikes. In July. With camera gear and a few buddies in tow, they followed historic Route 66 from Oklahoma to Southern California. And along the way, they found a place that really brought Steinbeck’s book home.
Watch the Bikes of Wrath trailer.
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • October Morning by Bradley Carter • Snippet #3 by Jacob Bain • Walk By Night by Ketsa • What’s Inside by Publish the Quest
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive or with permission from the artists.
The Year of Big Ideas 2019
“For better or for worse, ideas are infectious. They become our goals, and the struggle to realize them becomes memory, the story of our lives,” says Fitz Cahall.
When Brian O’Dell decided it was time to stop driving his Honda Civic, he didn’t list in on Craigslist. Instead, he posted in to outdoor forums in the PNW. The cost? Free, but there was one catch. This year, we hear how Brian’s idea for engaging with his community changed another person’s life, and what goals contributors, staff, and community at the Dirtbag Diaries have for 2019. Our ideas are what make us keep growing as individuals–and as a community.
Happy New Year!
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • The Approach by Chumples (Bradley Carter) • Little Lily Swing by Tri-Tachyon • Underdog by Bradley Carter • Desert Castles by Bradley Carter • High Country Waltz by Bradley Carter • Primary Colors by Ken Christianson
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and with permission from the artists.
Mountain Hollow Dreams
“I’d built it up in my head a lot–being a professional climber. This felt like the consummation of those dreams. I found the valley, I envisioned the trip, I got the funding, made it happen, stood at the base, picked the line, climbed it, sent, we were at the top and it wasn’t feeling the way I wanted it to feel,” says Chris Kalman.
Chris, Austin Siadak and Miranda Oakley got to go on what should have been a climber’s dream trip–fully funded first ascents of granite big walls in the Coast Range of British Columbia, helicopter transport in and out, minimal struggles and good team dynamics. But, by the end, Chris realized that this dream trip left him feeling a little hollow and he needed to redefine how he pursues meaningful adventures.
Want to hear more from Chris? Listen to his Shorts, “Vanlife” and “The Journey Within,” check out his website, ChrisKalman.com or order a copy of his book “As Above, So Below: A Climbing Story”
Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto • Cold War Echo by Kai Engel • I Dare You by Little Glass Men • Sunset by Kai Engel • Rewire Your Cables by Little Glass Men • Freaks by Bradley Carter • The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan by Chris Zabriskie • Hollow by Hopeless Jack • Lost Forever by Little Glass Men • Novacaine by Fog Lake • Hope! by The F*cked Up Beat • Manly Nunn Steps Out by Doctor Turtle • Lau by Richard Smith
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and with permission from the artists.
The Shorts–Saving Santa
“To work in tourism is to witness the human comedy,” says Joe Aultman-Moore. “Every guide has stories that start with, ‘You’ll never believe this…’. Nowhere, it seems, do people go further from the familiar than on cruises to Alaska.”
Working as a seasonal guide at a remote camp in rural Alaska with ten other men, Joe also discovered that nowhere would it be harder to find a girlfriend. He figured it would take nothing less than Santa and his team of flying reindeer to meet a girl. Can Christmas wishes still come true?
Give a listen to Joe’s first Short, The Swallow and the Anchor.
Music: Graze by Evan Schaeffer • Break by Little Glass Men • Frontier by Canyon Kids • Anxiety by Kai Engel • Little Black Balloon by Fog Lake
Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and with permission from the artists.
