RV Road Trip Inspires Collegiates

Posted by RV Pro on Jun 26, 2009

“What do I want to do with my life?” That was the question that sparked a summer road trip that has inspired a generation of collegiates. When three college buddies — Mike Marriner, Brian McAllister and Nathan Gebhard — graduated from college in 2001, they had no idea what they wanted to do or how they wanted to spend their lives. They borrowed an old family RV from one of their parents, painted it bright green and set off on a summer-long road trip to find some answers.

Crossing the country in their RV, they interviewed people from all walks of life and a wide variety of careers, from the inspiring to the seemingly mundane, asking what made them passionate about what they did. Filming as they went, they captured not only their personal journey of self discovery, but, in interviews, the inspiring stories of an eclectic group of people, including Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, award-winning winemaker Robert Mondavi, and a Maine lobsterman. 

By the time they returned home, after logging 15,000 miles in their RV and accumulating 456 hours of film footage, their trip had become a grassroots movement. In 2003 they published a book chronicling their travels, Road Trip Nation, which led to the PBS documentary series Road Trip. More books, an online community and a network that encompasses more than 350 college campuses have followed. The green Road Trip Nation RV now tours college campuses throughout the year, encouraging collegiates to go on their own quest to discover their personal passion in life.  Camera equipment and grant money are provided to assist college students with travel expenses as they film indie versions of the great RV road trip that started it all by inspiring a generation to search out their passion in life.


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