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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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National Monuments, National Parks, New Century Vision, Politics, Public Land / 08.05.2018

Within minutes of my flight touching down at McCarran International Airport I felt that unique buzz of kinetic energy. Like a force of nature the city of Las Vegas, Nevada seems to vibrate with the thrum of living creatures writhing in a primeval forest of tall buildings. Throughout an ecosystem whose atmosphere teams with the smell of cigarettes, the sound of slot machines and the fuzzy glow of neon lights, the temperature was relatively cool, even pleasant on this day in early spring. A gentle breeze wafted across the...

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Books, The Joy Trip Project Reading Circle / 03.05.2018

  At the core of her 2015 book Trace, author Lauret Savoy aspires to reconcile a profound contradiction. Though settled under the belief that all people are created equal, the American landscape is fraught with cultural restrictions that deprive both individuals and communities of the right to live and travel freely throughout the natural environment. As a writer and educator Savoy explores her own family’s experience and history to better understand the disparities between the various expressions of humanity and their ability to form an enduring and substantive relationship...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Environmental Justice, featured, Interview, Podcast, TED, Walking / 16.04.2018

   Hey everybody! Yeah I know it’s been way too long since the last edition of the Joy Trip Project podcast. As it happens I’ve been crazy busy traveling, writing and yes conducting interviews. But most of the audio I’ve been recording over the last several months has been going toward a series of profiles for Outside Magazine. Check out the May 2018 cover story, which I wrote, called “The New Faces of Adventure”. This wonderful spread edited by Michael Roberts with photographs by Joao Canziani features 12 emerging...

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Uncategorized / 11.04.2018

Typically when I write about diversity in outdoor recreation I get hate mail. Ever since I started following this topic more than a decade ago, with every story I’d publish, either in print or online, I could count on a steady stream of haters from across the country detailing with very colorful language how I’m what’s wrong with America. In my all-time favorite rant a reader referred to me as “an articulate douche bag with good literary skills”. Truthfully I was flattered as I had nonetheless impressed him...

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Diversity, Outside Magazine / 09.04.2018

When Outside Magazine editor Michael Roberts contacted me in the late Fall of 2017 I was thrilled beyond words. At the time I was on the road working my annual gig for the nonprofit Choose Outdoors reporting on the journey of the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. Michael called me out of the blue while I was shopping at a Walgreens in Helena Montana. As I roamed the aisles looking for alcohol wipes, Altoids and AA-batteries he asked me to write the cover story for the May issue.  Let’s just...

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In Memoriam / 14.03.2018

After 5 days on the ice I discovered we had WiFi. Camped on the frozen expanse of Lake Winnipeg my tentmates and I sat eating dinner in the light of our headlamps. Comfortable in each other’s company we settled into the quiet routine of passing the time before bed reading or listening to music. With a steaming cup of rehydrated chili in one hand, I thumbed through a series of recent photographs on my iPhone with the other. Suddenly I realized that I had access to the cellular...

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