Another reason to travel

I can list plenty of reasons why traveling is awesome, not the least of which is the excitment of adventure and the unseen. However there is one subtle reason that is not very apparent. I noticed recently that whether im flipping through a magazine or browsing online, i automatically gravitate and pay much more attention to the articles that relate to the countries and locales i have visited. An example you say? Sure, here is a good one: yesterday i read the paper and from a bunch of articles i read i remember most clearly the articles about Singapore’s prime minister and Northeast Brazil’s ascension in regional progress and wealth. This applies to all other places i was fortunate to have visited.

I think this is a positive byproduct, a legacy of travel and can definitely be used as an excuse to travel more (for those needing one). Traveling and seeing new places makes you aware of complexicity and existence of faraway locations much more than reading about it or even watching a film. Experiences you bring from there make you see new information through a different, a more relevant, lens. Why do i write about this? I think this is an important motivation to travel and see more, experience more of the world unseen and start to better understand the role you play in the world. But wait… maybe the gravitational interest toward these faraway places is what brought us there in the first place?

StartupBus community is about to get much larger

Last February my friend Julie brought to my attention this article on TechCrunch about this 48-hour hackathon on a bus, known as StartupBus. Of course I signed up, as the idea passed my personal threshold of “crazy enough to fly across the country”. Within just a couple of weeks from signing up for the StartupBus 2010 I flew to San Francisco and joined a bunch of cool people. They came from across the United States, including NYC, Cleveland, Florida and… of course Chicago. What’s more - people hailed from across continents, some from UK, others from Australia. They marched with all kinds of skills: hackers, designers, community managers and non-techies like me who like startups and can do numbers and marketing. The experience was surreal and here’s a really good story plot of what happened (thanks to Justin Wilden who also participated last year). 

(Crunching numbers on a bus at 60mph in the Texas dessert)

Aside from having a really good time on the bus and at the SXSW conference we witnessed a network of entrepreneurs emerge. Some of them went on to found startups, like Whereoscope and Opzi, others quit their jobs and joined various startups. All of us are involved in a number of different cool projects and the value of the network only keeps expanding over time. I moved from Chicago to the Silicon Valley party because I was now in a group of like-minded individuals who were willing to help each other. 

That was with 25 people last year. This year we’re doing it again but this time it’s going to be 150 people! I cannot tell you what ideas will be born at 60mph on a bus, but I can guarantee you that an amazing network of buspreneurs will emerge. 

I am also stoked about the rivalry that will light up among the US tech regions this time around. Five buses (SF, NYC, Miami, Chicago and Cleveland) will compete to produce the best ideas and implement the best prototypes in time for SxSW, where a panel of VCs and a team from a local incubator, Capital Factory, will judge to determine the best businesses. I will not be surprised if some teams will come home with real investments to take their 48-hour-bus-born-babies to market. 

You think you’ve got what it takes? Apply: StartupBus 2011

Related articles

• Looking for a Ride to SXSW? Get on the Startup Bus (readwriteweb.com)

Nicolas Rapp’s drive around the world

Click the photo below to read Nicolas’ blog.

Quits job as Art Director @ AP and will drive around the world! →

I will definitely be keeping tabs on Nicolas. Hope you will too!