I remember reading Brock Groombridge's first e-mail to me while I was sitting at a computer in the reception area of Casa Kiwi Hostel in Medellin, Colombia last year. He was planning a trip around the world to begin in January 2010, and had been reading up on my experiences at this blog.
His writing reflected his enthusiasm, and I enjoyed taking the time to answer his questions regarding how to go about setting up a great travel blog for his impending adventures.
The result of his efforts is Backpack with Brock, a straightforward and stylish WordPress-based video blog using a Woo Theme.
His tagline says it all:
Follow one guy around the world in HD video & learn how you can to
That's right, Brock wants to video blog his way around the world to over 20 countries on 6 continents.
Less than 24 hours from the time this post is published, he'll be flying over the Pacific toward New Zealand, which should be a good bit warmer than his native Toronto. From there, his itinerary indicates a swing through Australia before heading to Southeast Asia and then China and Nepal in April, and India in May. From there, he'll head up to Europe, and then back down to Africa, hopefully hitting Kenya before jetting off to Brazil and exploring a bit of Latin America before stopping off in New York City en route back to Canada.
Here's one of his pre-departure videos where he highlights 5 New Year's resolutions tied to his RTW trip:
Bet Brock is a way to share in the experience. He's putting himself on the line for some challenging (or more likely, funny and embarrassing) activities. He'll video his attempt to complete the bet and post it to the blog. In exchange, you the reader, offer up a donation via PayPal to make it worth his while.
I find that once I'm invested in a traveler's experience, I'll follow him or her for months, if not years. I have a feeling it'll be a lot of fun to watch Brock head off into the great unknown.
Be sure to check out Backpack with Brock, subscribe to his RSS, follow him on Twitter, or join his Facebook Fan Page today!
It's amazing how different fellow bloggers have their own unique way of telling their interesting side of the story.
GOOD LUCK Brock!!! Can't wait to see more videos, esp once your on the road. Say hello to the Hobbits for me and if you can get one on HD film that would be sweet to!! lol :)
Another inspired soul going around the world. Fantastic! Looks like he's got the perfect temperament for it. Can't wait to hear more from the field.
Hi Nico,
I'm excited to see what kind of trouble (I mean fun) Brock gets himself into as well. There are a lot of countries where it will be darn near impossible to upload high definition video (such as Nepal, for example).
Hi Nico,
I'm excited to see what kind of trouble (I mean fun) Brock gets himself into as well. There are a lot of countries where it will be darn near impossible to upload high definition video (such as Nepal, for example).