This blog's for ME

Almost 25 years old, asking my parents if I can sleep in their bed with them. I had thought I was going to be the 25th Prime Minister of Canada. Things had changed. 10 years later, I was still a scared little boy. The time had come to slap myself awake. One Saturday morning, November 19th, 2009, I declared to the world I would be riding my 10 year-old motorcycle from Vancouver, BC Canada to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, and back.

The official departure was August 28th, 2010. A group of well-wishers saw me off at 8:03 am.

I arrived in Rio de Janeiro around 6 pm March 1st, 2011.



My return to Vancouver came on July 5th, 2011 about 2:00 pm.

Drug & alcohol abuse, ADD, social anxiety, health, chronic pain, night terrors.

So many concerns. But I am far more interested in this question: Do I have the capacity to make this trip despite all my shortcomings?

My mission: To inspire myself to face my fears, enlighten myself on how all living things can peacefully co-exist, enjoy every moment, and see the world as plentiful and generous.

Go ahead. Call me crazy. Call me anything you like.

I'm out to save my world.



I LOVE YOU ALL



Questions, comments, concerns, threats? Contact me: jason.chapman99@gmail.com


What it's all about

I'm actually writing this on April 15th, 2010 and thought it wise to go back and give a brief history of the nexus of this trip. In February of 2002, I was working as a construction worker, in a bachelor's suite of about 500 sq. feet, on anti-depressants, and working for $11 an hour. In the 6 years previously, I had graduated from university, quit 2 jobs, got fired from 2 jobs, started and shut down 2 businesses, married and divorced, bought and sold a house, and pretty much alienated my family and friends. When I was 'discovered' by a talent agent in a movie theatre as someone who might succeed as a model, I was so excited. I thought this was my big break. Thousands of dollars in photos and travel later, my agent suggested I become an actor as well. I moved to Vancouver, BC from Edmonton, Alberta in September 2002 to follow that dream, but with a few hundred left on a credit card, I thought it necessary to start a business. On a whim, I named the company Donna Maintenance, to honor my mother and the love she had shown me over 30 years without fail. 3 years in, I had 7 guys haphazardly completing a 2 month, $80,000 painting job in Richmond, the experience being enough for me to call my client, and friend Terry to say the job would be my last. With some money, and time in my hands, I took some the fall of '05 off, and took the University of Cambridge's CELTA 4 week intensive course, which prepared me somewhat for a 1 month substitute stint at an English as a Second Language School in Vancouver that turned into 16. I was falling behind in my preparations for teaching, and foresaw a breakdown, perceived or real. It was enough for me to say goodbye to a dream that I had created myself. It was a time of optimism, and hope for my place in the world, and it was suddenly shattered by my own hands. In the summer of '07, that same friend and client basically forced me to come and work for him in the property management business. It started out as a difficult, but necessary climb out of the anxiety-filled self-hatred that enveloped me during that time.
3 weeks cleaning out a fish pond, and me standing there thinking "I've got a university education, and now I'm cleaning pond scum. What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I make anything work?" This time, I felt I wasn't going to run away, thoughts be damned. So, that's what I did. I just went about my business, and let my thoughts come, and go. I then realized, "heck, I can create anything I want." When I had let myself fall to my own personal low, I came to see that what I feared was not so bad after all. I began to take on challenges, small ones at first. I saw the time as an opportunity to create my life again, from scratch. I told jokes to people obviously not interested, complained about chicken bones in my salad, and flirted with attractive women. With people I didn't know, I always played it safe. Only the closest people to me ever really knew me. A whole new exciting world opened up to me.
When I was promoted that fall to manage my own building, i saw it as a 2nd chance, and I took full advantage. I created my whole world there, from dealing with people, to buying what I wanted, to working how I wanted. I had some loose guidelines, but that was about it. After 2 years of successes (and lots of failures too) I felt ready to take on the biggest challenge of my life: ride my motorcycle from Vancouver, BC to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That Saturday morning of November 19th, 2009, the wheels were set in motion, whether I wanted them to be or not. My friend Michael Ilyin was the first to hear my declaration, and my parents the 2nd and 3rd.

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