Life on the Road proves ‘Yes I Can’ for journalism student

“It all started with four friends and one dilemma: "what do I want to do with my life?" Fresh out of college and unsure about the career paths in front of them, they were determined to expose themselves to more than just the traditional life roads. They hopped in an old RV, painted it green, and hit the road to talk with inspiring people from all walks of life to find out how they came to do what they love for a living.”

That introductory paragraph on the Road Trip Nation website www.roadtripnation.com was the inspiration for Journalism and Communication student Su-Yin Chan to put her studies to one side for a semester and travel across the USA to interview “successful” people about their life experiences.

“Roadtrip Nation advertised the project on the my.UQ website during semester two, 2007 and I was still unsure about what I wanted to do with my life, so I thought it would be an amazing opportunity,” Su-Yin says.

She says that at the end of the application process she actually didn't get the job in Australia but was invited to go the USA.

Su-Yin travelled to Los Angeles with two other Australian girls to embark on the six-week road trip across the States, finishing up in Portland, Maine. The aim of the project? “We'll be meeting with people we find inspirational along the way to find out how they defined their road in life. Currently, we're doing major cold-calling, which is proving quite difficult,” Su-Yin reported in an email to UQ SJC Journalism Internship Coordinator, John Austin.

Now back studying at UQ, Su-Yin says the project enabled her to improve her confidence at interviewing, cold-calling and being in front of a camera; as well as meet the most amazing people.

“There were so many inspiring and emotional moments on the trip, but mostly it was surprising how generous people were and how much they wanted to help us on our journey, whether it was providing us with a shower, or enough snacks for a week, or a bike that needed a home.”

“One of my favourite interviews was with Elaine Kwon, who is a talented concert pianist, but also a former tae kwon do champion, model and television presenter. We visited her at her Manhattan apartment in New York, where she offered us chocolate cake and performed a piece for us. I came home wishing I had had the same courage as her when I was 18, but she taught me that there is no age limit to living your dreams.”

“And there were so many other once-in-a-lifetime experiences like scoring a personal skate lesson with David Miles, the godfather of skate in San Francisco. He is arguably one of the most passionate men I have ever met! We rode camels at Doug Baum’s camel ranch in Texas and ate nitrogen-frozen coleslaw from the futuristic kitchen of Chef Homaru Cantu in Chicago.” …..

The series has been televised on public service television in the United States and a trailer can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_-kUzGXd4E.
Episodes from season six of Roadtrip Nation are released online every week and will continue until December. You can watch the series at http://roadtripnation.com/watch.  

Su-Yin is organising her final semester of journalism to be spent on exchange at the University of Texas at Austin, which she briefly visited whilst travelling.

"If I could give any advice from what I learnt on the road trip, it's the same advice I wrote on the RV wall. 'Discover what sings to you, embrace what brings you joy, and remind yourself of forgotten dreams because they are never lost'. Don't be afraid to take the big risks now and even more so because we're young and invincible. Don't listen to people who say you can't, instead surround yourself with people who say you can." 

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