Happy Friday, y’all! You know what that means, it’s time to hear it from the expert.
To celebrate the first week back from the holidays, I asked a friend of mine who’s working on an incredible online adventure project to chat with me about what he’s got going on.
As you’ll see, I reversed the roles a bit and made him the interviewee. It’s a long one this week, but I recommend taking a break on this snowy day, curling up with your cup of joe and diving in head first. You won’t be disappointed.
So let’s get to it. Today we’re talking with John Jurko – the writer, producer and creator of Traventure Man (TM).
*Photo by Sandy Weltman
Hey John!
TM: Hey Ashley, first off I want to thank you for all of the support you have given me on your blog. I’ve been keeping up on your posts ever since we met, and you have a great thing going on here. I’m sure there are a lot of skydivers out there that appreciate your perspective, so keep up the good work!
SDC: Thanks John! I really admire what you’ve got going on over at Traventure Man. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about that.
TM: Where to start… Traventure Man in concept is an online interactive Travel and Adventure show. The finished web site will allow viewers to communicate with me through blog comments, Twitter and Live Ustream video casts. The audience will be able to participate in the making of episodes and the asking of questions in live interviews. Eventually I hope to be travelling around the world visiting cities and natural wonders while shooting episodes with a focus on adventure related sports and activities. I want to bring awareness to adventure lifestyles and world cultures. Using social media I want to make the process as real-time and interactive as possible for the viewer.
The three main goals of Traventure man are to inspire, educate and entertain its viewers and participants. I want to show people that anything is possible, and I want to educate them on how they can restructure their lives with a balance that includes the spirit of discovery and a connection with the world around them. Ambitious maybe, but it’s what keeps me plugging away into the unknown.
Traventure Man is still in its early stages, and most of my recent exploits have been more like experiments and test drives than the making of real episodes.
SDC: This is a great idea – clearly it’s something I’ve become a huge advocate for. What inspired you to start this venture?
TM: I came up with the concept of the web show this past summer as a way to combine my interests of adventure and filmmaking. I was inspired by a couple of blogs that I began following in late ’08 – Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV and Nick Campbell’s Grey Scale Gorilla. I realized that the format of a blog would give me the capability to start my own show and iron out things as I went along. I can produce my own content and put together my own web site, and as it becomes more popular I can seek out sponsors and advertisers to help kick it up a notch.
Right now I’m only a couple of months into making Traventure Man a reality. I have already learned a ton. One thing that I have realized is that it’s not a good idea to try and turn a vacation with family and friends into a Traventure Man episode. It never really works out, due to time constraints and the fact that everyone just wants to relax. I’ve also learned that my current equipment setup is not great for keeping things mobile. I’m planning on selling some of my gear and investing in a smaller video camera in the near future. I’ve also realize that I need other people to collaborate with. I originally got caught up in attempting to put together a website that was out of my league in terms of programming. But now I have a great designer who will be putting the full-featured web site together after the holidays.
Despite any setbacks I have had I am extremely excited for the future of Traventure Man. I have the mindset that there can be no failures in this process, only learning experiences. I’ve finally found a way to combine my passions and put them together in a format that I believe will eventually allow me to support myself and grow.
SDC: Can you tell us some of the things you’ve got your sites set on for future posts or is that top secret?
TM: No secrets here 
Right now I’m hoping to put together a 3 month tour of the United States this summer. I want to focus on adventure sports such as skydiving, BASE jumping, kayaking, rock climbing, surfing, and everything in between. My goal is to setup some great interviews with beginner, intermediate and professional athletes in each of these areas, and then go out with them into their environment and video tape the experience.
Until then I will probably do a lot of blog posts on climbing, which I recently got into, and general adventure news that I pick up as I research and learn. Once the new website is up I hope to keep up three posts per week. Once I’m on the road I hope to be posting new photos, videos and blog entries every day. Right now it’s just a battle between making enough money to survive, putting together the new web site, learning more about adventure sports, and learning how to get my own sponsors and advertisers.
SDC: So let’s ask the question that all the readers are dying to know (ha!), how did you meet me, Ashley, the Skydive Chick?
TM: Great Question! Our first encounter was through Twitter. My first real Traventure was to Bridge Day in West Virginia this past October – which also happened to have it’s own Twitter handle. So a couple of days before the event I Tweeted that I was looking for people that would be willing to do an interview. You agreed to participate and we met up near the Landing Zone on Bridge Day. You did an awesome job answering my questions, and I’m planning on finishing that little episode when I get home from the holidays.
SDC: On a side note, I’m super excited to see the final episode. What a great experience that was – both Bridge Day and meeting John in person. Here’s the link to a two minute teaser that was put together. The initial footage looks awesome! Okay, now back to the interrogation!
SDC: What first sparked your interest in skydiving?
TM: I lived a bit of a sheltered life growing up, but I loved walking through the woods and dreaming about adventure. I think that I always knew one day I would go skydiving, I just never set a date. After meeting at Bridge Day, I thought about your offer to jump with me at Canton Air Sports and that Rick would video it for my website and I realized, no time is better than now. I emailed you and called CAS to setup my first skydive! Wow, was it an amazing experience!!!
SDC: Is it something you plan to do again?
TM: Heck yeah! I definitely want to skydive again. I really want to get my license now, but I need to save up some cash for that. Maybe I will be able to convince some sponsors to put up for a 3 month Traventure Man show about me learning how to skydive 
I think it would be interesting to see someone go through the process and be able to ask them questions as they go. Your blog has been a great resource in that respect. I read your posts, get excited about jumping again, and learn a lot at the same time!
SDC: That was definitely one of the goals – glad to hear it’s working on converting someone into a skydiver . So of all the adventures you’ve done so far, what has been the most rewarding?
TM: Well, I don’t feel like I have gone on enough adventures yet, but my skydive was probably the most rewarding so far. There is nothing quite like flying up to 10,000 feet and then jumping out of an airplane into the big blue sky! I also had the pleasure of experiencing a cut-away when my primary chute malfunctioned. So I got two rides in one! The only complaint I have is that it went too fast. So yeah, I think I’m hooked. If you’re interested you can watch the whole jump on my Tumblr site.
*Photo by Sandy Weltman
SDC: Yeah, skydiving is addicting that way. There’s never enough freefall!
TM: I also had a great time bouldering in Chattanooga this past week with a good friend. It was my first time climbing on real rock, and what a difference. I had a blast and everyone in the South was super helpful and friendly! Hopefully one of these days I will be able to combine these two sports so I can climb a mountain and BASE jump back down!
SCD: Is that something you plan to stick with, or are you dabbling in everything at this point?
TM: Right now I’m dabbling in everything, but I think skydiving and climbing will be sports that I will stick with and concentrate on in the future.
SDC: What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done yet that is on your list of to-dos?
TM: One thing… Hmm, there are so many! Right now making Traventure Man a success is at the top of my list. But if I had to pick an adventure, I would say summiting a big mountain. Of course I could say climb Everest or K2, but any reasonably hard mountain would be a great start. The reward of completing such a physical and mental challenge would alone be well worth the effort, but you also get to enjoy an amazing view at the top.
I recently saw video of Dean S. Potter wingsuit BASE jumping from Mt. Eiger in Switzerland for a 3 minute flight to the valley below. That would be an amazing experience! Maybe that’s the one thing, if I had to pick, that I would most want to do. I have a long way to go before I get there, but I’m up for the challenge!
I know you’re asking the questions in this interview, but I’m curious, what’s one thing that you want to do that you have yet to check off of your list?
SDC: Ah, you’re going to make this truly interactive, aren’t you? Well one sport I’ve always considered trying is snowboarding. As a decent skier it never made much sense for me to switch, but this winter my freefly partner, who also is an avid snowboarder, is insisting I get on a board. Hopefully this weekend will be my first experience with that.
Aside from that I’m excited to travel more and skydive everywhere I can. I’d love to BASE jump in Switzerland on day too.
TM: Thank you so much for this great interview, Ashley. Keep up the great work on your blog. I hope everyone will stop by and check out Traventure Man. Right now I’m at traventureman.tumblr.com, but by the end of January my full-featured site will be up at www.traventureman.com. Happy Traventuring!!!
No, thank you John! What a exciting venture you’ve got going. This is a great example of making your own dreams come true.
Hope everyone enjoys the weekend.
Blue skies and snowy mountains!
Ashley
*Photo by Lonnie Kirk
(One of Ken’s shots before takeoff – Rick and I loading up for a freefly jump.)