One of the questions that will probably come up often is: where does one start in planning a round-the-world road trip?
The answer really is very simple: by the beginning. It seems like a smart ass answer but someone smarter than me put it more eloquently:
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
I am lucky that I am DJ who has a strong business background. So what?
As a DJ, I organize a few projects yearly. Some are simple like a DJ mix release and promotion while some can be rather complex like organizing a Summer, Sunday weekly barbecue.
As a marketing person, I have launched businesses, marketing campaigns and crafted competitive strategies for my businesses or those I am affiliated with.
So you could say that I have a somewhat knowledge in project management and strategic thinking.
I see the Big Journey as a project just like I would organise a record tour promotion or a PR campaign. I certainly do avoid to think at how humongous it is because that’s the fastest way to get overwhelmed and discouraged.
It’s a journey. And every journey is compilation of moments. For instance, I will not sit and plan the DJ world tour from the first gig until the last. I will break down the tour into legs and legs into sub-legs and so forth.
Yes, I have a grand plan, that I will reveal in a future post, that I will follow but from a logistical aspect, it has to be done leg by leg otherwise it is becomes unmanageable.
All that said. Where did I begin precisely?
I took one day off from whatever I do and day dreamed. I really thought about what is it that I would like to do and how I would like the fantasy journey to be like. The point of that exercise was to turn the dream into a concept.
I am not good with words but I know that there’s a big difference between a dream and a concept. A dream is more vague than a concept. Even though the concept is also intangible, it is the beginning of solid ideas.
My dream was to travel the world, exploring, sightseeing and socializing during the day and DJing at night. But I also have an inner-drive to use my talent and skills for the well-being of those who may have not the same privileges.
I had to turn the dream into a concept. It became a world tour by a DJ that would go beyond promoting himself and his interests but to use the attention from the nature of the trip and the performances to raise awareness, support and funds for organisations doing great humanitarian work around the world.
Now, I had a solid concept that I could bring to life.
You should be aware that I am pretty well-traveled by world standards. In my opinion, I still have not seen anything. At this time of writing, I have been on all continents and in over ten countries but there are 195 in total so I feel like I have been nowhere.
I should also add that I have traveled to places where I stayed for a long time. For instance, I stayed in Rio for three months and did visit some of Brazil and performed at certain clubs.
I went to Rio (Brazil) once for 3 months with the objective of sitting around and do absolute nothing. After two weeks, I got bored and would work on some web projects at night while sightseeing and going to the beach during the day. I was born a worker and could not sit still and just enjoy time out .
I have already lived the dream on a small scale and this time, it’s all about going Big or just giving up.
So where does one start with such a big project that is a world tour by car? By crafting the concept. With a solid idea, then can I move from wonderland into reality (the real physical and tangible world) and bring the trip to life.
