A.D.
01-24-2008, 06:27AM
- from atop a skateboard
His younger brother found him boring.
"Your e-mails are dull," he told Rob Thomson. "You need to get out."
So Thomson got out of his office job in Japan and onto a bicycle that he rode across much of Asia and Europe before switching to a skateboard, then a sailboat, and now a skateboard again.
And that's how he came to Pensacola, en route from Key West to San Diego.
"I really enjoy being with people, but I really enjoy being alone and being challenged, too," he said.
Thomson, who resumes his journey today, told his story Friday to about 150 students at Ferry Pass Middle School, and it was no time-filler for the teachers. Instead, it was a smart opportunity to let students hear of Thomson's adventures and then apply the experience to writing, geography, math and other subjects.
Jamey Jones, a language arts teacher, already had several exercises in mind for the students. After Jones' stepdaughter told him about Thomson, he invited the New Zealander to stay with him for the weekend ? a welcome invitation because he's trying to survive on $5 to $10 a day, which may be an even bigger challenge than transcontinental skateboarding.
The students fired questions at Thomson, 27, who was on Day 540 of his trek. He was equipped with a PowerPoint presentation, along with a Web site, www.14degrees.org (http://www.14degrees.org/), which documents his travels through 30-plus countries.
Many people travel around the world, he explained, but he is using mostly human power. It puts him closer to people and nature.
"You see the sights. You smell the smells," he said.
"The idea is the world is an extremely safe place," he said, reporting that, "99.9 percent of the people I've met have been kind, generous, helpful." They often offer him food and a place to stay, saving him from another night in his tent.
He rode the recumbent bicycle for 6,000 miles before switching in Switzerland to an unusually long skateboard with a dip in the middle. "You don't need to use as much energy when you're pushing," he said.
The students wanted to know about the wheels ? good for 2,000 miles ? and if he gets lost ? more often in cities ? and if he had ever sailed before he helped crew a sailboat from France to the British Virgin Islands ? no. His backpack holds about 30 pounds of clothing and gear.
But the question that drew the biggest response: "How often do you bathe?"
He told them of a 21-day stretch in Asia when he went without a bath or clean clothes. "Ewww!" the audience exclaimed.
"It was pretty gross," Thomson said, before noting that people in many countries frown on deodorant or frequent baths.
Thomson is driven by "a passion for understanding how other people live." He was a translator in Japan and speaks Turkish, Chinese and Russian well enough to communicate.
He hopes to break the Guinness Book of Records title of 3,600 miles for skateboarding across the United States.
But even if he doesn't, that's OK. "I'll still be happy because it's been such an adventure."
taken from pnj.com (http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/NEWS01/801130319/1036)
His younger brother found him boring.
"Your e-mails are dull," he told Rob Thomson. "You need to get out."
So Thomson got out of his office job in Japan and onto a bicycle that he rode across much of Asia and Europe before switching to a skateboard, then a sailboat, and now a skateboard again.
And that's how he came to Pensacola, en route from Key West to San Diego.
"I really enjoy being with people, but I really enjoy being alone and being challenged, too," he said.
Thomson, who resumes his journey today, told his story Friday to about 150 students at Ferry Pass Middle School, and it was no time-filler for the teachers. Instead, it was a smart opportunity to let students hear of Thomson's adventures and then apply the experience to writing, geography, math and other subjects.
Jamey Jones, a language arts teacher, already had several exercises in mind for the students. After Jones' stepdaughter told him about Thomson, he invited the New Zealander to stay with him for the weekend ? a welcome invitation because he's trying to survive on $5 to $10 a day, which may be an even bigger challenge than transcontinental skateboarding.
The students fired questions at Thomson, 27, who was on Day 540 of his trek. He was equipped with a PowerPoint presentation, along with a Web site, www.14degrees.org (http://www.14degrees.org/), which documents his travels through 30-plus countries.
Many people travel around the world, he explained, but he is using mostly human power. It puts him closer to people and nature.
"You see the sights. You smell the smells," he said.
"The idea is the world is an extremely safe place," he said, reporting that, "99.9 percent of the people I've met have been kind, generous, helpful." They often offer him food and a place to stay, saving him from another night in his tent.
He rode the recumbent bicycle for 6,000 miles before switching in Switzerland to an unusually long skateboard with a dip in the middle. "You don't need to use as much energy when you're pushing," he said.
The students wanted to know about the wheels ? good for 2,000 miles ? and if he gets lost ? more often in cities ? and if he had ever sailed before he helped crew a sailboat from France to the British Virgin Islands ? no. His backpack holds about 30 pounds of clothing and gear.
But the question that drew the biggest response: "How often do you bathe?"
He told them of a 21-day stretch in Asia when he went without a bath or clean clothes. "Ewww!" the audience exclaimed.
"It was pretty gross," Thomson said, before noting that people in many countries frown on deodorant or frequent baths.
Thomson is driven by "a passion for understanding how other people live." He was a translator in Japan and speaks Turkish, Chinese and Russian well enough to communicate.
He hopes to break the Guinness Book of Records title of 3,600 miles for skateboarding across the United States.
But even if he doesn't, that's OK. "I'll still be happy because it's been such an adventure."
taken from pnj.com (http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/NEWS01/801130319/1036)