World Rovers: Building
a Backpack Nation
It is September 11th 2002 at the Monticello Inn, a
boutique hotel just off Union Square. The local literati refer to the
Monticello as the “Algonquin of the west,” a reference to
the New York hotel where Dorothy Parker and her circle of writers used
to meet for drinks and gossip. Free appetizers and wine flow. The Monticello’s
events room is filled with a who’s who of the Bay Area travel
literature community, a burgeoning field of writing whose best known
names include Paul Theroux, Jan Morris and Bill Bryson. However, the
writer that people have come to see tonight isn’t even a household
name in his own town. Stranger yet, Brad Newsham doesn’t even
have a book to launch. Instead, the evening is a launch for his odd
new project called Backpack Nation. The audience is rapt.
Inspired by Newsham's vision of a Backpack
Nation, writer/photographer Liz Scherle is planning to take her next
trip to Central and South America as a goodwill ambassador. Scherle
finds hope in the idea of ordinary Americans representing America
and lending support to developing projects. (photo
© 2003 Lori A. Cheung )
“We’ve had some big gatherings here
before,” announces hotel manager Chris Holbrook to the SRO crowd,
“but nothing like this. I gather Brad is a really popular fellow.”
“I think I can truly say that Brad Newsham
is one of the nicest guys in the world,” says Larry Habegger,
executive editor of Traveler Tales, a Bay Area-based publishing house
whose travel literature anthologies are big sellers in the genre. “I
think what Brad is on to really touches the core of what many of us
want to find, a way to do something real for a real person, not just
send money to some organization without knowing who really benefits.”
Newsham, a 52-year old salt-and-pepper bearded adventure
writer, has created a cult following with his two books, All the
Right Places and Take Me With You; A Round the World Journey
to Invite a Stranger Home. These days Newsham is consumed with
a vastly different project than writing travel narratives. While U.S.
troops remain bogged down in Iraq and America becomes ever more disliked
around the world for its increasingly belligerent foreign policy, Newsham
is launching Backpack Nation, his novel idea that an army of backpackers
can counteract the damage that American foreign policy has created.
When the World Trade Center came tumbling down September
11th 2001, Newsham was aghast. The sight of people on television in
other parts of the world clapping their hands in glee at the death of
thousands of ordinary Americans astonished him. It also prompted him
to do something to “make a difference,” and to inspire others
to do the same.
“At any given moment there are two to three
million independent travelers dispersed around the globe on extended
trips,” says Newsham. “Travel writer Jan Morris talks about
a ‘Fourth World,’ a global diaspora of empathetic souls
who form ‘a mighty nation,’ if they only knew it. Anyone
who's been out traveling recognizes that such a nation already exists,
and that most of its citizens carry backpacks. I think people recognize
that the name works.”
The basic mission and strategy of Backpack Nation
(www.bradnewsham.com)
is to transform the world’s dire political situation by sending
‘roving ambassadors’ to developing countries, each funded
with $10,000 for a trip up to one year. At trip’s end each ambassador
will be required to tell Backpack Nation where to deliver another $10,000,
whether to an individual, family, organization or village somewhere
in the Third World.
“I think, given half a chance, Americans are
warm, generous and open-hearted,” says the ever-smiling Newsham
with a twinkle in his eye. “People around the world don’t
dislike Americans. It’s just our government and foreign policy
they don’t like. Al-Qaeda has made an enormous impact with an
army estimated to be much, much smaller. I like to think that Backpack
Nation can overwhelm the world with kindness, which is theoretically
more powerful than terror.”
Newsham’s kindness is stuff of legend in the
writing community. A taxi driver when not traveling or writing, he keeps
money in his cab to give away to people poorer than he is. He offers
free cab rides to people waiting at bus stops. He offers motivational
talks – for free, of course – at kindergartens and writer’s
clubs. His book Take Me With You, A Round the World Journey to Invite
a Stranger Home, describes his 100-day odyssey through villages, shanty
towns and barrios on several continents to befriend a total stranger.
Newsham finally chose a one-eyed rice farmer from a small village in
the Philippines named Tony Tocdaan and invited him to visit America.
It took Newsham years to raise the money out of
his own pocket. Newsham and his friend took off across America in a
borrowed taxicab, with the meter running, to see the land of the free
and the brave. They drove the cab from San Francisco to New York City
seeing all the sights. Newsham reports that all along the way they were
shown incredible hospitality by ordinary people. His new friend even
received a new prosthetic eye from a generous doctor. When the weary
pair returned to San Francisco Tocdaan was agog at American hospitality
and the meter on the cab read $20,644.90. Newsham waived the fee, of
course.
Those who know Newsham tell similar tales about
his generosity, but if you ask Newsham he’ll tell you that he
isn’t the only American sharing his life with others.
“I have become convinced that mainstream media
are missing a huge story, the groundswell of thousands upon thousands
of individuals and organizations working diligently at grassroots levels
to make the world a more equitable, more workable place,” says
Newsham, who was immediately inundated with hundreds of applications
to become ambassador when word of mouth first spread about Backpack
Nation. “A national magazine recently referred to this movement
as the Second Superpower. My intention is that Backpack Nation will
help shine a light on all that.”
While Brad Newsham is not a well-known name to the
general public, many of his fans and supporters certainly are. Internationally
respected writer Herbert Gold, whose fiction, essays, non-fiction and
travel literature dates back to the Beat Era in the late 1950s, has
become a big Newsham fan.
“When I read All the Right Places
I didn’t know who the heck Brad was, but I was impressed by his
spirit. I immediately wrote him a fan letter and we’ve been friends
ever since. Since then, my first impression of a wonderful spirit has
turned out to be true. He has a real, genuine affection for people,”
says Gold. “I was aware that he was driving a taxi cab, so I phoned
him up and asked if he would like a fare to the airport. He seemed genuinely
happy to get the fare. When we got to the airport, I wrote him a check
for more than the cost of the ride. I found out later he donated it
to a foundation. Well, that’s Brad for you. He seems to approve
of humanity as a whole. He’s not a rich man, you know. Sometimes
I wonder what is wrong with him. I can just imagine Brad being in a
Third World country and being stopped on the street by soldiers with
AK-47s. Even if Brad didn’t speak the language, I can imagine
them all sitting down to a cup of tea together. Brad has this bizarre
affect on people he meets.”
“I first met Brad through his first book,
which I found in a North Beach used bookstore,” says Travel Tales
publisher Habegger. “I knew he was a local writer but had never
seen him around. Through some idiotic inefficiencies of a small company
working virtually out of various home offices, we somehow went to press
using an excerpt from his book without obtaining permission from him.
One day we got a letter from an agent suggesting that one Brad Newsham
was upset with us, but that he was the nicest guy in the world and we
needed to meet and make things right. So we did, and he was one of the
nicest guys in the world. And then, again inexplicably, one of the issues
we promised to him to didn't get done. Boy, were we embarrassed. After
all that, do you think Brad would have any interest in us? Well, a few
years later we ended up publishing Take Me With You, and now, I can
truly repeat, he's one of the nicest guys in the world.”
At Mill Valley’s Book Depot Café, the
sun is shining through the trees. Literary agent Robert Stricker stirs
his coffee thoughtfully. Rumors have it that Mill Valley, with over
100 published novelists, has the highest per capita number of writers
in the world. Stricker represents some of the best and biggest sellers;
he also has represented humble cab driver Brad Newsham.
“I met Brad from a century past, when people
still wrote checks. I was buying a pair of running shoes in New York
City. I had to show some ID and when the clerk saw I ran a literary
agency she told me her brother-in-law was a writer. I flew home and
I get a call from Brad. He says he has written a book. I told him to
leave his book in my lobby. At three a.m. I picked up All The Right
Places and I couldn’t put it down,” says Stricker.
“I took it to an old-school editor, a big name in the business.
She sent me a long note, saying she loved it too. Of course they didn’t
publish it, but it was a great rejection letter. Brad has this gift
for engaging people. He has an ability to make a connection, to put
you there in his shoes.”
Flash forward one year to 2003. September 11th is
once again approaching, a date many Americans would rather forget. Backpack
Nation has been in operation nearly one year. It has been featured on
NPR and featured in Hope Magazine. Money has been raised from hundreds
of ordinary people sending in tens and twenties to launch the first
ambassador. The selection of the Backpack Nation committee is a 46-year
old former Peace Corp volunteer. Ellen Sheeley took off on her round-the-world
quest in early June. She will visit the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos
and Vietnam, the Middle East and Central America, and report back on
her selection of a project, clinic, village or school to fund.
Meanwhile, the second-place finisher from the original
137 applicants, Adam Carter of Chicago, refuses to accept that he won’t
get to act as an ambassador for Backpack Nation. Carter decided to begin
raising his own money. He has appeared on NPR, published and circulated
a pamphlet and launched his own web site. He is inspired by Newsham’s
vision, and doesn’t think that Newsham needs to personally go
out and raise money for hundreds of other people all by himself - although,
of course, that’s exactly what Newsham is trying to do. Carter
thinks that would-be ambassadors could raise their own funds.
“People in the Third World have this preconceived
idea of the stereotypical American. We aren’t all bad or greedy.
My own dream is to help street children in Brazil,” says Carter,
“but more importantly I’d like to create a blueprint for
other Backpack Nation ambassadors to follow. How to raise the money,
how to raise awareness. I think aspiring ambassadors should be inspired
to go to their own community and help make this happen.”
The idea is rapidly catching on. San Rafael’s
Liz Scherle has been so moved by Newsham’s vision she plans to
take her next trip as a goodwill ambassador. “Brad is an inspiration
to me. I hope in the future to serve in some capacity for Backpack Nation.
I will be launching my own fundraiser here in Marin and heading to Central
and South America soon. I think the idea of ordinary people representing
America, choosing a project in the developing world to support, is a
great model to follow.”
Scherle is already an accomplished traveler, just
back from four months in Europe. A graphic artist, web site designer,
writer and photographer, she has already launched a web site (www.whereisliz.com),
a veritable “how to guide” for other people -- especially
women -- wishing to travel but lacking a clear plan of action. Since
Scherle launched it, she has received over 100,000 ‘hits’
a month. She is now writing a book on other goodwill ambassadors.
Scherle has already shared her advice with two other
young Marin travelers and filmmakers, Zack Hill and Scott Cherry, whose
own form of goodwill ambassadorship is just beginning. Their new 8-month
project (www.tiptotiptrip.com)
started in August. It will see them driving from Alaska to Tierra del
Fuego, working with school children in small villages in 14 different
countries, teaching kids about America and the outside world.
“We want to show these kids that not all gringos
are bad,” says Hill, climbing behind the wheel of a battered Toyota
and heading north to Seattle. “Most people we’ve met on
our trips aren’t negative to ordinary Americans, just our government.
But they say we voted for Bush, so we are responsible.”
Tip to Tip has already lined up commercial sponsors
like Oakland-based Clif Energy Bars, Patagonia Clothing, and a wet suit
and shoe company.
“We hope to come out of this trip with a lot
of cool information that we can pass on to others, show them how to
do it,” says Hill. “We hope this whole idea of actively
going out there and representing your country really catches on.”
While representing your country in a positive light
is one thing, handing out cash is another thing. Newsham’s Backpack
Nation has already come under fire from magazines like USA Today, which
questioned whether Newsham was “playing God and being totally
naïve, creating a Sally Strothers venture that exists more for
the conscience of the givers that for the good of the receivers. It
would be more effective to channel donations through existing local
organizations than to have money dispensed by a traveler who just parachutes
in and out.”
Frequent traveler Marc Gold of Oakland (www.100friends.com)
has been carefully selecting people and projects in the third world
to support for 13 years. “How you give money is everything. It
takes work and time, building relationships, doing research. You have
to get to know the culture, and what the impact of the money will be.”
Internationally known travel writer Jeff Greenwald
is another critic of Backpack Nation, although he sat on Newsham’s
advisory committee to pick the first ambassador. Author of several best-selling
titles (Shopping For Buddhas, Scratching the Surface) Greenwald
is himself organizer of a newly created global travel organization (www.ethicaltraveler.com)
that also encourages people to act as ambassadors for their country.
But a big part of his campaign is to educate travelers about their responsibilities
in developing countries. Although he thinks the world of Newsham as
a person, Greenwald is very leery of well-meaning projects that may
do more harm than good.
"There's scant evidence that any good has come
from Americans -- or Germans, or Japanese, for that matter -- going
into developing countries and doling out money,” says Greenwald.
“One has to be very careful who the money is given to, and certain
it won't do more harm than good. Though I admire Brad's good intentions,
I suspect he'd agree that Backpack Nation doesn't yet have the ability
to oversee its ambassadors in a sensible, sustainable way."
But Muir Beach’s Anne Jeschke shares the same
positive spirit as Newsham and sees things differently. A life-long
traveler now retired, along with several other North Bay residents Jeschke
applied to be the first Backpack Nation ambassador. She understands
the criticisms people levy towards Americans traveling abroad who give
away money like royalty.
“When we were touring Vietnam, people told
us not to give to beggars. But you know, we all play God all the time
with our own kids, with our own government. I’d rather be the
one making decisions that George W. Bush,” says Jeschke. “I
see Backpack Nation as an opportunity to make direct one-on-one contact
with people. The money itself isn’t important, nor is Brad’s
vision of changing the world. He is dreaming with his idea of funding
thousands of backpackers all from his own efforts, but his project is
growing. It has struck a chord with a lot of people. I’d never
thought of doing something like Backpack Nation, but now I’ve
learned a lot of people are thinking about doing things like this.”
Although he is still trying to figure out how he
can raise the money to put hundreds of ambassadors out on the road spreading
the message, Newsham is pleased to hear that his vision is starting
to catch on.
“I've done almost all of the grunt work but
now I realize that I've taken this as far as I can alone,” says
Newsham. “I've spent most of my life working alone or with groups
small enough to fit inside a single taxicab, so, to me, creating a big
organization seems like visiting a new planet, but you know what? There’s
nothing stopping anybody from doing the same thing.”
