Format

This is the maiden voyage/output of Project 1:1000, “…a movement, a community, a resource, and an outreach program centered around the notion that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’…”  Except for the Preface, the Acknowledgments, and Resources (end of book), all entries are presented using this same ratio – 1 picture: 1000 words.

In the spirit of Project 1:1000, these are not necessarily the “best” images of the roadtrip.  Nor do they tell all of the stories of the entire journey.  I long battled mightily towards this want, feeling obliged to include all places, all people, all moments.  Finally, I surrendered to the impossibility of this.  The only way to finish the book was to realize it would never be perfect, all-encompassing.  It could never be everything.  In the end, I chose to tell some stories in the spirit of this website/community, which was largely conceived during this very journey.  

As the website FAQ states,

“This is neither a photography nor a writing competition.  You don’t have to have a camera, your pictures don’t have to be perfect, and your writing doesn’t have to be eloquent.  What we are after are real stories about real pictures taken by real people.  There need not be perfect lighting, nor should there be fiction.  These are actual memories, accounts, estimations, alterations, and the like.”

We hope this is the first of many collections published under the auspices of Project 1:1000, a great resource and outlet for writers, photographers, readers, educators, community groups, and social justice causes.

For more information, please see Resources at the end of the book.

Climate Change

It is hardly lost on me the carbon footprint that was left during these travels and their tales told herein.  If there would have been an economically feasible way to travel such a distance without such an impact, I would have done it.  I ask you to suspend your disbelief, to overlook one man’s singular selfishness, as I pursued the dream of half a life.  Perhaps it would be as simple as “carpooling”, placing as many people as possible within the contours of that one destructive footprint.  I would ask that you do as I say and not as I did, and trust that I was as great a steward as I could be every single place I went.  

I can speak to the earth in some great, unbroken contexts.  She’s a beauty.  Forgive me.  I hope these stories do as much good as any harm I might have caused.

For more information, please see Resources at the end of the book.

"America"

Some people might say that all of these travels were in “America.” I, too, had this reaction, which proved to be a bit of a guilty chip on my shoulder, in the early weeks/months of my journey. How dare we think we’re the only inhabitants of America? The further I traveled south, the less this became an issue, for others and so for me. The consensus was this: Mexicans don’t say they’re from America; they say they’re from Mexico. Chileans don’t say they’re from America, they say they’re from Chile. But yes, I did travel through The Americas. I get it.

- David Overturf