麻豆影院

When Toyota and Stevinson Toyota, a Denver dealership, and other businesses decided to underwrite聽Steve Bouey鈥檚 (PolSci鈥�99, MPubAd鈥�01) and聽Steve Shoppman鈥檚 (Fin鈥�00) ambitious plan to literally drive around the world, they were probably looking for a little positive public relations.

So just imagine what the sponsors thought when they received photos of the pair sitting cheerily with Congolese rebels in central Africa 鈥� territory on the U.S. State Department鈥檚 鈥渄o not travel鈥� list.

鈥淲e camped with them and we sent Toyota these photos of guys sitting next to us with AK-47s,鈥� says Bouey, 32, with a chuckle. 鈥淚 guess they were probably surprised.鈥�

But then, 鈥渢he Steves鈥� themselves were constantly, pleasantly surprised on their epic two-year, 147-day journey that took them 77,000 miles across six of the world鈥檚 seven continents. The journey began in New Zealand after two Toyota trucks had been shipped by boat from California. It included treks across the vast, empty outback of Australia, plunges into the jungles of Laos and Cambodia, as well as China, Eastern Europe, Norway, where they reached the Arctic Circle, descended into Africa and then motored north from South to North America. And since their trusty Toyotas could not swim, the adventure included three boat trips 鈥� from New Zealand to Australia, Australia to Indonesia and South Africa to Argentina.

Not long after embarking in 2007, they realized the trip to 67 countries was more than just the adventure they had initially conceived.

鈥淭he trip started out as something completely selfish, just to satisfy my curiosity about the world,鈥� says Bouey, who worked in the Denver state auditor鈥檚 office for six years before taking the trip.

鈥淭he only thing most people know about the rest of the world is what they see in the news, and it always seems to be the worst thing ever,鈥� says Shoppman, 31, a Denver-based graphic designer. 鈥淏ut 99.99 percent of the people in the world are pretty good human beings.鈥�

Take, for instance, the nomads they met while roaming the high steppes of Mongolia. Traveling outside the country鈥檚 main city, Ulan Bator, they discovered people living a life 鈥渘ot much changed from the days of Genghis Khan,鈥� Bouey says.

Arriving in a 2007 Toyota Tundra and a 2004 Sequoia 鈥� worth more money than the nomads make in two or three generations, Bouey says 鈥� and hobbled by an insurmountable language barrier, the Steves were welcomed as fellow travelers.

鈥淭here is an unwritten nomadic code that you take care of people because you might need help yourself some day,鈥� Shoppman says. 鈥淭hey invited us to stay inside and fed us. We couldn鈥檛 communicate very well, but with handshakes and smiles we made do.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if you were backpacking in the U.S. how many people would willfully open their door to a complete stranger, invite them to eat with the family and pitch a tent in their backyard,鈥� Bouey says.

Even Congolese rebels welcomed the pair 鈥� once they explained the concept of 鈥渢ourist鈥� in halting French, a task that took 20 minutes.

Hospitality was the rule almost everywhere they went, although the Steves agree that people who live in the countryside are friendlier than those in the cities. After giving a group of Buddhist monks in Thailand a lift, Bouey and Shoppman were invited to stay in their temple.

Along the way the two received the help of some 30 crew volunteers from many nations, typically six at a time, who learned of the trip from Craigslist and YouTube. Bios for 22 crew members 鈥� including a monkey doll named Swinger that was photographed at exotic locales around the globe 鈥� can be found at . Crew and volunteers helped drive, set up camp and essentially became part of the journey for a few days, weeks or months at a time.

鈥淧eople submitted information to sign up,鈥� Bouey says. 鈥淯ltimately the people we picked were the people we felt we could get along with.鈥�

When asked, both Bouey and Shoppmann say they would be willing to visit any place on their itinerary again. But when pressed, they grudgingly acknowledge two countries that left them a little cold. The former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan was an unfriendly, crime-ridden society where 鈥測ou either have millions in the bank or you don鈥檛 know what a bank account is,鈥� Shoppman says. Someone smashed a truck window and stole their cameras and other equipment. They also didn鈥檛 appreciate being 鈥渟haken down鈥� for money every 30 or 40 miles while traversing Honduras.

But most of the people and cultures were so welcoming that the Steves say they wish more Americans experienced the world as something other than 鈥渦s vs. them.鈥� They note that just 20 percent of Americans have a passport and only a puny 5 percent have crossed an international border.

鈥淭he world is completely different from what average people think,鈥� Bouey says. 鈥淢ost people get a skewed media view.鈥�

The pair returned home with a deeper appreciation for the opportunities afforded them, shadowed by concerns that Americans don鈥檛 always appreciate what they have, and not just materially.

For example, they visited a Swedish aid project where Laotians were learning how to be journalists. Journalism, as historically practiced in the communist Southeast Asian nation, was a sham 鈥� government-written propaganda read word-for-word over the radio and published in newspapers, say the Steves.

鈥淭hese people were so excited to learn,鈥� Shoppman says. 鈥淭hey wanted to build their country, make it a great place.鈥�

But Americans, he says, are moving in the other direction, listening only to views with which they agree instead of questioning.

鈥淲e have had a free press for hundreds of years,鈥� he notes. 鈥淲e have this freedom of speech 鈥� take advantage of it.鈥�

They realized their privilege of even pondering such an adventure in a world where billions live on the equivalent of $2 a day. Driving 4x4s around the globe might seem extravagant, and indeed, some criticized them for burning fuel and adding carbon to the atmosphere.

But one of their sponsors provided 鈥渃arbon offsets,鈥� they say, and in the end, their net resource use was less than what it would have been staying home.

鈥淲e were driving the trucks, but we were living in tents, sharing resources and food,鈥� Shoppman says. 鈥淧er person, we were emitting half as much carbon a year as the average person [in the U.S.].鈥�

Shoppman and Bouey say the trip has changed them forever. Although returning broke in the middle of the worst economy in 70 years forced them to take 鈥渞egular鈥� jobs, they hope to use the expedition as a launching pad to educate more Americans about the world. Each is writing a book about the experience and they are working on a joint video and speaking to schools, service clubs and elsewhere. They hope that The World by Road will become a true vocation 鈥� they want to take people on trips to unexpected places.

鈥淲e can help change the perception that the world is a horrid place,鈥� Shoppman says, 鈥渙r that we need to be sending troops everywhere.鈥�

Travel is often thought of in the U.S. as 鈥渆scape, screwing around, avoiding reality,鈥� Bouey says. But both men say there is a growing hunger for engaging with the world on a deeper and more genuine level. Bouey often refers to 鈥渨alkabout,鈥� the ancient Australian aborigine rite of passage in which young men leave home to live in the wild, returning with new knowledge to help the community.

After their own 鈥渄riveabout,鈥� the two men seem almost at a loss for words when asked about the wisdom they bring back. The lessons are too broad, too deep to be easily summed up but include: don鈥檛 be afraid of what you don鈥檛 know, people really are the same everywhere and appreciate what you鈥檝e got, whether it鈥檚 clean water or a free press because billions of people in the world don鈥檛 have it.

鈥淭he U.S. is great 鈥� don鈥檛 get me wrong,鈥� Bouey says. 鈥淚t gave us the means and resources to take a trip like this. But people here take for granted a lot of the opportunities they have. If Americans visited other countries where the opportunities are few and far between, they might think differently.鈥�

Photos by Steve Bouey and Steve Shoppman.