BorderVenture: Apr 11, 2011

Statement of Purpose and Intent

On March 12th, 2011 I began a 400 mile trek along the Arizona-Mexico border from Agua Prieta to San Luis Rio Colorado, an adventure with a purpose I am calling BorderVenture.

Through BorderVenture I hope to raise awareness of border issues, expose exaggeration of border violence, combat the racial profiling, discrimination, and often outright racism that seems prevalent of late, and to record and recount personal stories of people living near or trying to cross the border. I will record my experiences and stories in this blog, and hope to have them further covered by supportive media, organizations, and other websites and blogs. I plan to aggressively publish my experiences through media outlets, interested groups, the Internet, and through whatever other avenues I am able. I will write tirelessly and advocate my findings to all who will listen, publish, and share them.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Thanks!

My undying gratitude, I am forever indebted to:

Friends and Family (for support, love, encouragement, discouragement, advice, criticism, cautionary words, beers, a couple hangovers, personal connections, a SPOT beacon, for following along, for rides, places to stay, for promoting BorderVenture, for answering frantic phone calls, for talking with me through the rough spots and hard times, for guidance, for food, for being wonderful people, for tolerating my ridiculousness)

All the generous and wonderful people I met along the way (for the support, encouragement, food, water, for sharing a bit of your lives with me, for great conversation, for places to stay, and for everything else- all of which you did for some dumb Gringo you didn't even know)

Run Flagstaff (for supplying much of my nutritional needs, water bottles, an awesome shirt, some new shoes, encouragement, and for being all-around awesome)

Peace Surplus (for making my drinking water safe, for meeting some of my nutritional needs-Luna bars are delish!- and for protecting my noggin from harmful UV rays)

Aspen Sports of Flagstaff (for providing a means of conveying food to my mouth and for lighting my way through my darkest hours (most literally-a headlamp))

Team Run Flagstaff (for advice, excellent training workouts, and the positive vibes of a great community of runners)

Tohono O'odham Police Department (for allowing me to stay on the reservation despite my failure to obtain proper permitting)

U.S. Border Patrol Agents of the Arizona Border that I met along the way (for directions, water, food, Gatorade, rides, conversation, etc, all in the middle of nowhere, and for generally being good people doing a difficult job honorably)

The vast network of buses and shuttle vans that make up Mexico's public transportation system (for giving me an affordable way to get around Mexico)

The Sonoran Desert (for ever so generously deciding to not kill me)

Everyone else that I'm forgetting to mention (and there definitely are some, please forgive my forgetfulness, and know that I truly value any support and assistance you provided along the way- I truly could not have done what I did without all of the help I received)