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"Maybe you can meet us somewhere along the way..."

Scott and Zack, posing for a fond farewell with yours truly.

INSPIRATION: Zack Hill and Tip to Tip

(continued from page 3)

PUTTING PURPOSE BEHIND WHAT YOU DO...THAT'S SCARY

LIZ: What are you afraid of?

ZH: I’ve always been afraid of failure. It’s a scary thing to try to do something and come up with nothing. Whether that be surfing in a contest and getting last place, or in school, trying really hard but not passing the test.

I was trained as an artist. I had a lot of fears of really showing what I wanted to do creatively, but then having it be blown off. It’s easy to make something look nice, but it’s hard to make something look nice and represent something more. That was scary for me as an art student--making artwork that conveyed something, not just looked nice.

I mean, some people can look at art and say, “Well, it doesn’t have to mean anything… it can look nice and be perfectly fine.”

Other people don’t believe in that and they want to know, “What does that mean? What does that image represent?” That was scary for me, and that still is… putting purpose behind what you are doing.

And the same thing goes for this trip… I mean it would be easy for us to get in the car and drive the entire coast and just enjoy it as travelers and tourists and not get anything more out of it. So that’s scary for me, too. The idea, “What if we go to these places and nobody wants to participate in our project?” Just insecurities, I guess.

I T WAS LIKE AN ADDICTION...

LIZ: So it’s not that you’re fearless, it’s not that you don’t have these concerns, but there’s something about you, something in you, that’s stronger than that, that’s pushing you to do it anyway.

ZH: I hope so, yeah. For example, I went on a trip seven years ago, we went to Central America, and I had never been there before. I was nervous to go, because of the reputation that the country had that I was going to. But we went, and my friend that went with me hated it and he left--we were scheduled to stay for a month, and he left after a week and a half. So, for me, I was really scared to be there by myself. But I did it, and I felt so good afterwards, it was like this addicting thing, “Wow, I did this!”

And even though I was scared, I ended up having the best time, and I learned how to speak more Spanish than I had before, and it was like an addiction, “I want to do that again, I want to feel that sense of independence again.”

That’s what’s brought me back to traveling, and now I try to do something like that every year. I don’t know how many years I’ll be able to do that, but that’s what’s been really neat for me. Seeing the fear, feeling it, and then getting over it, “Ok, I can do that—I’m OK to go to a different country for a month,” and realizing how heady that fear can be actually in the end. “Wow, why was I scared of that?” There’s no reason to be scared. But yeah, I have fears, I mean I have a lot of fears.

LIZ: I find you such an inspiration, as I’m thinking about going to Central and South America, and I hear the same stories you hear, and I would be traveling solo. But I know what you’re talking about, I know that sensation of being concerned, and then leaping into it, and seeing that you can land on your feet.

ZH: It’s huge. And anyone can do it, it’s just a matter of doing it, I guess.

LIZ: Just having the faith that you’re capable of it, even if you don’t have any proof.

ZH: Yeah, exactly.

* * *

Be sure to check out Zack and Scott's progress on their big adventure...

For more information, visit : www.tiptotiptrip.com

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