What is JaBig’s Big Journey?

JaBig’s Big Journey is an upcoming all-in-one epic round-the-world adventure travel road trip, DJ tour and a global awareness & fundraising campaign in support of the United Nations World Food Programme, the largest humanitarian charity on the planet fighting hunger worldwide.

This multiple world record-setting high-profile global expedition by car will see JaBig, a House Music DJ from Montreal — Canada, drive to all four corners of Earth visiting as many of the 192 (UN-recognized) countries as possible to realize a lifelong dream to travel the whole wide world, and perform for thousands of people in different countries, cities and communities all while fighting global hunger by raising awareness, funds and support for the one billion people on the planet who go to bed hungry every night.

The Big Journey will begin in Montreal, Canada, JaBig’s hometown and set for a multi-stage and multi-stops tour around the world with a number of regional legs:

JaBig’s Big Journey Itinerary

• Prologue aka The Warmup: Montreal + Quebec (Canada)
• Stage 1: North America (Canada & USA)
• Stage 2: Europe + Western Asia
• Stage 3: Asia (Northern, Central, Southern, Eastern, Southeastern)
• Stage 4: Oceania + Antarctica
• Stage 5: South America
• Stage 6: Central America
• Stage 7: Caribbean
• Stage 8: Africa
• Stage 9: Western & South Eastern Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, England, Germany)
• Epilogue aka The Home Run: USA (DC, NY & MA) + Canada (ON & QC)

JaBig’s Big Journey Project List

JaBig’s lifelong dream not only consists of seeing the world with his own eyes but to use his God-given talents, expertise and knowledge to make it a better place for current and future generations.

He immediately saw this adventure on the world’s roads as the ultimate opportunity and platform to launch projects that would allow him to reach millions of people on the planet thanks to the general interest nature of such a journey and use the attention to raise awareness to the hungry billion.

JaBig’s Big Journey consists of a number of projects, initiatives and campaigns namely:

- Big Radio Tour (the flagship project): as he circumnavigates the globe by car, JaBig will attempt to set multiple world firsts and world records notably in FM broadcasting history for the most guest appearances on different radio stations (as an interview subject, co-host or live DJ) by a single individual.

Additionally, JaBig will giveaway a top secret prize on every single radio shows he appears on so don’t touch that dial for upcoming details! At this time, JaBig is setting for a 500-station North American radio tour in just under 18 months! (Find out more about: JaBig’s Big Radio Tour)

- Beats for Life World Tour: a world traveling benefit party featuring famed international DJs and cultural icons who will join JaBig to entertain hundreds of thousands worldwide at events that will be held in nightclubs, parks, at festivals, as block-parties, at beaches, as poolside parties and much more in hundreds of cities globally with 100% of ALL the event proceeds benefiting the World Food Programme and local hunger relief organizations.

- JaBig’s DJ Tour: a series of club performances by JaBig as he drives from city to city, country to country and continent to continent to realize his lifelong dream.  100% of his DJ fee is donated to the WFP’s Fill the Cup (an initiative to feed millions of hungry children worldwide and keep them at school) while the clubs reach out to their patrons to raise awareness and funds for local or international hunger fighting programs.

- DEX 101: the first DJ educational program ever to offer free hands-on workshops to the youth all around the world to introduce them to DJing as an art, culture and as a prospective professional career.  These fun, two-hour clinics are held in high schools, youth centers, and select locations all over the globe that book a DEX 101 visit.

Upon workshop completion, participants are given a certificate and a free goodie bag, and stand the chance to win a cool prize. Furthermore, they are called to volunteer for and support local, national or international hunger relief charities. (Find out about DEX 101 DJ workshops at www.DEX101.com)

- POST500 Project: an unprecedented 18-month blogging marathon initiative in which JaBig will contribute 500 original posts to 500 different blogs and give away 500 free prizes to 500 POST500 readers. When not behind turntables, the Montreal DJ is in front of his trusted notebook most of the time as avid blogger, writer and heavy social media user.

Each one-time post will focus on the scope of each blog, on the tour or on JaBig’s Big Journey and his global hunger fighting efforts as a WFP’s Bloggers Against Hunger member. (Read more: JaBig’s POST500 Project)

- Hotel Hopper: pop quiz: how many hotels will someone driving around the world check-in in a four to five-year period? Answer: many!  Hotel Hopper is an effort to document, provide overviews, honest reviews and ratings, photos and share other pertinent details on over the 1000 hotels that JaBig will call home for a few days (or hours!).

What makes this personal pet project more interesting is that 100% of his hotel bookings are suggested by his BIG JRNY community, one of the many aspects of his world tour that will be crowdsourced (the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call. Read more about crowdsourcing).

- Speaking: during his adventurous journey across the globe, JaBig will give talks and make presentations  to select audiences on topics such as the pursuit of personal passions, axing self-limiting excuses, world travel, social media marketing and social entrepreneurship.

JaBig’s talks are based on his background, experiences and knowledge, and extensive travels that have given him a unique perspective on the world and an equally unique sense of humor.

- Charitive: Imagine a world where small charities, nonprofits, NGOs and independent social change agents all over the world are able to carry out their mission without the constant, colossal challenges of limited awareness, funds and volunteers.

As a record label owner, social entrepreneur and chief architect of The Big Journey, JaBig founded Charitive as a publishing house of free how-to help books for small charities worldwide on topics related to running effective organizations by being efficient.

- The Big Journey in Photos (Book Series): JaBig’s Big Journey official and personal travelogue of the DJ/adventurer sharing highlights (the good, the bad and the ugly) of his attempts to tour the world by car as well as stories from long road, DJ booths, cities, countries and continents without forgetting encounters with its different peoples and diverse cultures and finally his trials, tribulations and triumphs in his mission to make the world a better place.

Updates will be provided periodically in text, audio, photo and video formats at www.JaBig.com, the official website.

- More exciting projects are in the works but will be formally introduced once solid!

Sidebar from JaBig: at this time, you must be wondering whether I am full of it, unrealistic or crazy. A world tour by car is a grueling expedition in itself  for starters. So how am I going to be able to run all these projects?

• “Am I just making all these projects up to impress?”
• “Will I have time to sleep and have fun?”
• “Am I taking on too much?”
• “Am I being too confident in my own ability?”
• …

I knew these questions were going to pop up sooner or later and trust me, I have been planning this trip all my life and am not smoking anything legal or illegal

See the FAQ for answers!

JaBig’s Big Journey in Numbers (North America)

You like numbers? So do we (JaBig and his Big Journey team). And as it turns out, so do many more people! For those obsessed with figures and stats, here’s some data pertaining to the North America (USA and Canada) stage of JaBig’s Big Journey.

Be aware though that due to the nature of this huge project, these numbers can change without notice. They’re updated on a constant basis so check back often to see what’s new!

JaBig’s North America (USA+Canada) Tour in numbers:

• 50 million people reached (live events + New/Old media)
• $1.5 million in prize giveaways
• 1000 restaurants
• 500 radio appearances (Big Radio Tour)
• 500 hotels
• 200 cities in USA
• 200 youth workshops (DEX 101 DJ programs)
• 150 DJ performances
• 100 cities in Canada
• 70 talks/workshops/seminars with small charities (Charitive)
• 51 US states + Washington DC
• 50 university campus visits (Beats for Life Campus Tour)
• 20 benefit parties (Beats for Life events)
• 18 months touring North America (US & CAN)
• 13 Canadian provinces + territories
• 1 car

Still hooked? Watch out for the complete list of JaBig’s Big Journey in numbers (available soon).

JaBig’s Big Journey and Beats for Life Project: The Team

JaBig’s Big Journey and the many projects that fall under the Beats for Life banner are big initiatives that require the same planning and resources as a large-scale international festival.

To bring it to life and to ensure that it runs as smoothly as possible (keeping in mind that everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong, to quote the popular adage), JaBig and his trusted team have been working hard on the Big Journey since late 2009 until JaBig drives back home to Montreal in a few years after a successful round-the-world trip by car.

The full list of the wonderful people who are bringing the Big Journey and Beats for Life to work will be featured on the soon-to-be-completed Beats for Life website.

To stay up to date with JaBig’s world tour and Big Journey projects, simply become a BIG JRNY community member, like JaBig on Facebook and follow JaBig’s tweets on Twitter.

You will also also stand a chance to win great prizes every month presented by JaBig’s Big Journey partners and have an opportunity to make your own difference in the lives of hungry millions worldwide.