2013 - My Storytelling Roots

New Logo - Gregg Bleakney Visual Storytelling

Lip biting, gear sorting, list making, camera prodding.  My standard pre-assignment ritual.  Tomorrow I'm hopping a bird to Colombia for seven weeks.  If there's a place on the planet that feels like a second home, it's Colombia.  I've been shooting there every year since 2008--but this trip is different.

2012 was surreal for me. A flurry of around-the-world flights to 13 countries.  Big goals, big projects, intense assignments, and killer new clients.  It all blew by so fast.  When I close my eyes, my memory spins, I get dizzy on experience.  Now it's time to press pause.  

This year I want to re-connect with my roots as an adventure travel visual storyteller, when my spirit was unfiltered, peripatetic, sniffing butts (see below) and wandering on a Ribbon of Road.  So I'm kicking off 2013 with a completely re-designed website and blog that better express my personal brand.  Most importantly, I carved out a block of time to journey back to my second home for no other reason than to follow my visual curiosity.  No assignments, no deadlines, slow down, anticipate.

Below, I've re-published an interview I did with National Geographic Adventure Magazine as I was pedaling from Alaska to Argentina.  This shortlist of lessons learned while I established my storytelling roots (but before I knew that I would become a visual storyteller) are just as viable today as when I wrote them down in 2006.  A perfect guide for my 2013 endeavors.  Let the serendipity begin. 

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Seattle reader Gregg Bleakney and his friend Brooks Allen are pedaling the Americas from tip to tail to raise money for diabetes research, in a project they dubbed Ribbon of Road. Bleakney gave us a few pointers during a pit stop at Machu Picchu in Peru.

Be Nice. "In 100 Mile House, a former South Cariboo gold rush town in British Columbia, I camped with a 78-year-old Russian military captain. Over a few beers, he shared his most important safety rule for traveling in foreign lands: 'Always remember that nobody wants to fight, cheat, or rob a nice guy.' Sometimes it's tough to be nice when you've ridden 80 miles in 100 degree heat through the Peruvian coastal desert and you're attempting to order dinner for the tenth time from a women who claims that your money is fake. But I've fully embraced this rule and it hasn't let me down so far."

Sniff Butts.  "Be like a dog--sniff butts.  Smell things, stare at things, touch things, taste odd-looking food, and talk to strangers. At some point during my middle-class American upbringing, I lost touch with my animal instincts. When traveling on bicycle you are much more exposed to the elements than when traveling in a car or bus. Engage all of your five senses to better protect yourself and interpret the world around you."

Surround Yourself With People Who Support You and Your Dream.  "While cycling on a jungle road in Chiapas, Mexico, I was assaulted and robbed by machete-toting banditos. As a result, I lost a substantial amount of gear, my cycling partner, and my self-confidence. My sponsors immediately sent replacement gear and my friends and family gave me the emotional support I needed to continue with my journey. Without their support, I would likely be nine to five-ing it right now, daydreaming about what could have been. Brooks rejoined the trip a few months later."

Simplify.  "The less stuff you have, the less you have to worry about. My bike and gear tipped the scales at 135 pounds when I started this trip in Alaska. Through a large 'mail-home' package, misplacements, and mysterious disappearances, my kit now weighs in at under 100 pounds. I don´t miss anything, especially when climbing 16,000-foot passes in the Andes.

Surrender Yourself to Your Dream. After about nine months of being on the road, I finally realized that this experience was not just a temporary departure from my real life, but that my dream had actually become my life. At that point, I became more flexible with my planning. I let my dream pull me forward, rather than me attempting to push it forward. Since this 'surrendering,' I've been much more relaxed, happy, and able to cope when things go awry.

Ditch Logic - A Podcast from the Dirtbag Diaries

 

Listen to the Podcast on Patagonia's Cleanest Line

I had a great time working on this podcast about how my two year "out in the world" bicycle trip changed my life.  I think that Fitz and Becca did a great job of keeping my thoughts in line--heck, they even got my big bro to speak without mumbling!  This, more than anything I could write in a portfolio bio section, explains my path to photojournalism.

G

Article in American Photo

The May/June issue of American Photo has a nice article about how photography changed my life...with some of my pictures and chat about my book too. The issue is devoted to travel with a section on some of the best places in the world to photograph. I've been a fan of the American Photo since I started taking photography seriously and was stoked to learn that there are a great group of people behind the scenes making it all happen. You can read the article online or pick it up in May at most magazine stands in the States.

Public Slide Show @ REI - Ribbon Of Road - March 15

I'll be helping to kick-off the American Diabetes 2008 Tour de Cure event on March 15 at the REI flagship store in downtown Seattle. The invitation card is pasted below. This will be the first non-private public photographic slide show that I've given about my Alaska to Argentina bicycle ride. If you are interested in attending please email Klound@diabetes.org to reserve a spot.

I hope to see you there!

G

On Books and Birthdays

In 2005, my birthday stopped functioning as a marker for age, but rather a reminder to be thankful for my time on the planet during the past 365 days.

This year, I'm especially thankful for being in a position to document my life's experiences from the seat of a bicycle, both photographically and editorially in the pages of a coffee table book. A few weeks ago, Rich Clarkson and Associates, offered to package this book for me. Rich was the former Director of Photography for National Geographic Magazine. He also used to make pictures for NCAA Track and Field and spent a lot of time at my alma matter, the University of Oregon--where I spent 5-years as a track man. The people he's teamed me up with to put this book together are all truly amazing. I couldn't imagine a better group to work with on this project!

Last year, I spent December 6th camped behind a shack in the middle of dessert in Northern Argentina. It was cold, windy, sandy and miserable. Two days before, my traveling companions and I ran out of food and water and had to turn around and bicycle back to the closest village to avoid dehydration. But the sunset was perfect.

Yesterday, I spent my birthday scribbling outlines for book chapters in the comforts of my Seattle loft and then reminisced at diner over a bottle of Argentine Malbec at a tapas bar in Seattle.

Ribbon Of Road Selected "Best Of Seattle"

Good news from this month from Seattle Magazine. They called to inform me that the Ribbon Of Road tour was selected for "Best Of The Year" issue under the category of "Best Good Deeds". Check it out at the Seattle Magazine Web Site.

What's Next?

*Taken from my most recent post at www.RibbonofRoad.com*

It's been 5 months since touching down on US soil in June.

I've posted this to answer some of the most common question that I've been asked since reaching the end of my Ribbon Of Road journey

1) What's Next for you Gregg?

About 9 months into the trip, I realized that my journey was no longer a temporary departure from my life back in the "real world" but that the journey itself had actually become my new "real world".

The momentum from this "understanding" has led me to become a full-time photographer with a focus on bicycle and human powered adventuring. In the 5-months since I've been home, my new career has continued to transport me and my bicycle around the globe. From another cycling trip down the Pacific Coast, to France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and most recently to some of our great National Parks, it has really been an amazing path for me.

You can see my latest work at:

www.GreggBleakney.com

and follow my ongoing adventures through my blog at:

http://gbleakney.blogspot.com/

2) How can I get prints of some of the photos from your trip?

I've partnered with Imagekind here in Seattle to provide professionally framed photos from my trip. I'm adding new prints on a regular basis. Don't see something you like? Email me with your request at gregg@ribbonofroad.com. Of course, a percentage of the profits from these prints will be donated to the Ribbon Of Road 501c3 Foundation to help find a cure for diabetes.

To order prints go to:

http://GreggBleakney.imagekind.com/

3) Rumor has it that you are writing a book, when is it coming out?

In the past few weeks I've been incredibly fortunate and have met some people in the publishing industry who have offered to help me put my book together. It will be a book of short photo-essays and will include many of the stories presented in the blog from this web site and new stories in a clean, well-edited but fairly raw format. I expect the book to be finished in 2008. To follow my book progress check out my new blog at:

http://gbleakney.blogspot.com/

4) How are you adjusting to life back in the States?

Actually, my adjustment period has been smoother than expected. I have a great network of friends and family who have helped get me up to speed on life on US soil. The truth is that I really haven't stopped traveling since finishing Ribbon Of Road. Last week, I rented an apartment in Seattle and have a home for the first time since June of 2005. However, with my new photography career, I think of it more as a high-priced storage unit with a bed rather than an apartment. There isn't a waking hour of my day when I don't stop to daydream about my travels during the past two years.

Ok - That's all for now. Thank everyone again for supporting and following this adventure!

P.S. - I've had a server crash and lost several email addresses from friends I met along the way. If you have made it to this point in the post and have not heard from me for a while then please email me with your contact info. so that I can stay in touch!

Gregg

New Road

Since finishing my 2 year RibbonOfRoad bicycle trip earlier this year, I've been fielding a lot of "what's next" questions about the future direction of my life. In response to these emails and phone calls, I've decided to publish a blog about my current noodlings, whereabouts, and adventures. To make a long story short, during the past two years I've taken a lot of photos (30,000 or so) while pedaling through the Americas. I've spent the past few months sorting, cleaning and organizing those photos for a coffee table book that I am going to call "Postcards from the End of the World". Hopefully, I'll have the book sorted out sometime in 2008. I've also decided to pursue photography full-time. I've been warned not to quit your day job when starting out in photography--but that's kind of tough to do when you don't have a day job to begin with! My solution has been to reconnect with my old boss in the Software world, Bob. In the past few years he's started a really cool wine company and I've decided to sign-up for a part time gig there, slinging high-end, custom wine. So that's what I'm up to in a nutshell. Future posts will be added as the road goes on.

Cheers,

G