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The Joy Trip Project

The Joy Trip Project

The Joy Trip Project

Reporting on the Business, Art and Culture of the Active Lifestyle

The Unhidden Minute

The Joy Trip Project

The Joy Trip Project

Reporting on the Business, Art and Culture of the Active Lifestyle

by James Edward Mills

Parks Paid Forward

Parks Paid Forward

Black Waters

Everest Gateway

Creatives of Color

JTP VW Images 001

Sponsored by Volkswagen of America

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Banff, Film Festival, Film preview, Interview, Podcast / 07.01.2019

From the opening frames, a recent movie by Canadian adventure film maker Heather Mosher lets viewers know exactly what they’re in for. World class rock climber Kevin Jorgeson mugs at the camera and chuckles while his partner Jacob Cook holds up a bloody finger. This particular pitch on the Tom Egan Memorial Route in the Bugaboos of British Columbia was first climbed by Will Stanhope and Matt Segal back in 2015. Blood On The Crack is a pencil-thin fissure on a sheer vertical slab of granite. It’s the...

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Interview, National Parks, Podcast / 01.01.2019

Hey everybody! It’s January first, 2019. Happy New Year! If you’re anything like me you’re excited to make this year better than the last and if you’re listener to this podcast that means getting into the outdoors. But at the moment of this posting, the United States of America is in the second week of a partial government shutdown that’s expected to last for at least a few weeks longer. In addition to the federal employees who will go throughout this period without a paycheck every national park...

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Capitol Christmas Tree, Choose Outdoors, Photography, Uncategorized / 24.12.2018

It’s Christmas Eve and I have a lot to be thankful for. Even though back home in Wisconsin I’m lamenting the fact that there’s not a flake of snow on the ground and it’s unseasonably warm for a late December day in North America, there is still so much joy in the world. After many long months of travel I’ve seen a lot of our great nation. Following the path of the United States Capitol Christmas Tree I connected with some truly wonderful folks from one end of...

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Books, Commentary, Diversity, Essays, Madison, Outdoors For All, River Restoration, Special Events, Wisconsin / 08.11.2018

  At the end of October I had the great honor and privilege to host a distinguished guest to the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Author and explorer Eddy L. Harris made a rare appearance on campus to share his experiences paddling the Mississippi River from its source in Lake Itasca, Minnesota to its terminus in the Gulf of Mexico at the City of New Orleans. Depicted in his film “River to the Heart” Eddy paints an intimate portrait of what awaits those willing to venture out into the unknown...

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Climbing, Color The Crag, Diversity, Special Events / 23.10.2018

At first I was afraid I’d have to say no. When the organizers of the Color The Crag Climbing Festival reached out to me to be the keynote speaker at their second annual event, I was already heavily booked. I was scheduled to make presentations at the Adventure Film Festival in Boulder and the Society for Wilderness Stewardship Workshop in Gunnison in early October. Hurricane Florence had forced the rescheduling of a photo story sharing project in South Carolina to the week before. And I had promised my...

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America's Forests, Capitol Christmas Tree, Choose Outdoors, Commentary, Environmental Journalism, PBS, U.S. Forest Service, Yoga / 15.10.2018

The call sheet posted a meeting time of 9:00 AM. After 10 days on the road I was already run pretty ragged. With only four hours of sleep the night before after a long day, the alarm on my iPhone toned at 7AM with the words of “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence (circa 2003). As I lay there staring up at the ceiling I thought about all that the next 12 hours had in store. Inwardly I cringed as I imagined what lay ahead. I have 12...

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