Operation Smile (the charity which every team on the Moto Taxi Junket is raising money for), had a mission in Lima during our time there so we went to check it out. These kids are some of the ones who benefit from people´s donations and having seen the families who come, and met the volunteers and staff that make it all possible, it was really a heart-warming time in Lima.  It´s midnight in Huancayo, Peru and I have had a hell of time getting this computer to work so I am signing off until tomorrow with another update on our pending mototaxi junket from Huancayo to Paraguay via Bolivia and Argentina.

““Remember what Bilbo used to say: It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”” - J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings

As I head out the door on an adventure, here is a quote from my one of my favourite book(s) when I was a kid, Lord of the Rings

Okay, so I am still up at 2:15 in the morning on the night before I leave for my trip. I also am getting up to do a magazine shoot in the morning, and filing it before I take off to the airport. Life is a tad bit hectic at the moment, to say the least. To give everyone an overview of what I will be up to, read below, which is taken from The Adventurists website: http://mototaxijunket.theadventurists.com

We have raised and will raise money for Operation Smile http://www.operationsmile.org/ as well, and also I will be checking out and hopefully photographing some of their missions/operations in our destination(s).

“Take the smallest and least practical vehicle available in an entire continent and throw it at some of the most ridiculous and least hospitable terrain on our good earth. From the driest desert in the world, to the most dangerous road in the world, to the biggest rainforest in the world the Mototaxi Junket is rarefied adventure in a handy 2 week-so-you-won’t-get-fired punch in the guts.

The machine of choice is the humble Mototaxi. Invented in Peru and not really perfected anywhere. Built from a motorbike and a few bits of pipe these hardy little ferrets are designed for pootling around the back streets of cities. Which makes them perfect for dirt tracks, waist high mud, the Andes and sand dunes.

Starting in Huancayo, Peru and finishing up in Asunción, the difficult side of the Chaco region around 4000km later. The adventure kicks off with a party on the 24th of October and finishes, with another night of fine revelry in Asunción the capital of Paraguay on the 7th of November. Is it possible to get so far in such small machines over such completely ridiculous terrain? Who knows, but that is exactly why you need to help us find out.

As with everything we do this adventure will help to save the world. So every team taking part has to raise a minimum of £1000 for our fine charities. ”

Went out to Point Roberts with Luke and Ellyse last Monday, here are some of the photos. Spent the day ripping around on motorbikes, taking pictures, and adventuring in some cool locations. All in all, a pretty damn good way to spend a day. In fact, one of the best ways, in my humble opinion.  I can see a lot of these being awesome in B+W but I don’t have the time to convert them properly right now. Thanks for an awesome day guys!

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” – Morrie Schwartz, Tuesdays with Morrie

I have been re-reading Tuesdays with Morrie recently and always find it such an inspiration. I think this is partly because I have a strong attachment to the situation I was in when I picked it up. I had just been robbed of all of my possessions, (including my cameras and 3 months worth of my work) in a crazy-ass knife-point robbery/mugging/kidnapping in Managua. Needless to say, I needed something to lift my spirits.  The next day, after buying my bus ticket to Guatemala, I went to the one English bookstore in Managua and waded through a bunch of terrible English titles and finally landed on Tuesdays with Morrie.  While reading on the 13-hour trip to Guatemala, I went through and underlined a lot of the inspiring parts in the book and although I had already been thinking a lot about some of the themes the book touches on, it was amazing to have it crystallized in such a simple and touching story.

Through reading it, I appreciated my family, friends, and the world around me so much more and managed to put the loss of my cameras and photos behind me.

Went out of town to Pt. Roberts with Luke and Ellyse on Thanksgiving Monday for a motorcycle trip to shake myself out of the self-induced turkey coma from the night before.  Here is the video, stills to come in a following post. Full quality in HD here: http://www.vimeo.com/7088694

Got my International Driving Permit, one of the million things I have to do this week before taking off to Peru next Tuesday.  Now I’m off to call the embassy of Paraguay before getting my shots at the Travel Clinic. The amount of hectic scrambling will surely pay off when I have 125cc’s of pure mototaxi power between my thighs thundering across the Bolivian Salt Flats.

An epic fall sunset as the rain sprinkles down on Vancouver. Hey Vancouverites, we are incredibly lucky to live in a city like this!

I, along with 3 other photographers, shot this video on September 12th outside the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver. It was a flash mob style UFC fight on one of the busiest streets in Vancouver. It was shot with four Canon 5d Mark II’s and I edited it in Final Cut Pro. The video was shot for Versus Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness www.versus21.com/ an awesome gym located in Gastown. I can’t wait to get in there for some kickboxing lessons!

It also looks a lot better in full HD, link here: http://vimeo.com/7049838

July 14, 2009 – Gambella, Kenya. – All the little dudes laughing it up while one of them sports my nerd glasses in the village we were working with.