SPIRITENTERPRISE.COM

















Thursday, December 4, 1997


DJ - Welcome to Times Square, New York City, the United States of America, Thursday, December 4th, 1997. Carl and Don with you having completed our Journey Around The World and we're standing here at 2:30 in the afternoon on a sunny, crisp December day in the heart of the American culture, Times Square. The signage is brilliant and the traffic is congested. They say that one million people pass through Times Square everyday. We're here taking photographs and visiting with representatives of the Times Square Association, who saw us off when we left to go to Paris, and they're here to welcome us back to Times Square. We're joined by Chris McKenna and Drew Fellman of the Discovery Channel who have joined us for a reunion. We're going to impose on Chris and Drew to comment on our web site. Drew, good to see you again. What are your recollections of the Peking to Paris experience.

Drew - The Peking to Paris experience really illustrates how so much the world is changing. During the first rally, people were transmitting their stories through telegraph lines and in this one, we watched in amazement as Donald Jones and Carl Schneider buckled down with their satellite phone and told the world the story of their adventure directly beamed into the computers on children worldwide. It was truly a beautiful and spectacular event and creation.

DJ - And from a creative point of view, Drew, and from a people point of view, what are your thoughts about the journey? You made the entire trip yourself, often at times in a clandestine way, but nonetheless, you completed the journey. What are your thoughts about the creative experience and the people that you encountered.

Drew - Well Don, the people I encountered are people that I'll certainly never forget. There is only a select group of people that have the nerve and the sense of adventure to park their cars on the subway grate in New York City and risk the lives of thousands of commuters. But seriously, to travel the world and maneuver a car across the planet is something that only somebody with a lot of leisure time and an incredible amount of will and fortitude could every accomplish and that's something I'll never forget.

DJ - Well thank you for your courtesy of visiting with us. I must say that Drew is brilliant with graphic and photographic expression. His brilliance with the spoken word is not quite up to the par of his other creative skills, but nonetheless, he's a good guy. Now here is somebody who has the gift of the spoken word and the written word, Chris McKenna. Chris posted daily dispatches, along with the Discovery Online Team, throughout the journey. I've had a chance to read the accounts and they were really quite gripping. The use of the vocabulary, the insight into the people, both the people on the journey and the people that we encountered who lived in the cultures that we had the privilege to visit. Chris, you're back in the New York, life is back to some normalcy, what are your thoughts on the experience that we all shared.

Chris - Well, I guess I would have to say that what I'll remember of the Peking to Paris Rally will be the fortitude of the people that I was with and how surprised I was that people could rise to the occasion again and again given the obstacles, which were tremendous, both physical and mental. And to watch people never give up even though at times they desperately wanted to. I was just really impressed with the people above all and how beautiful the world is. It is amazing. Every day was another stunning visual landscape, the mountains, it was just phenomenal and you can't have that kind of experience without renewing your passion for life.

DJ - My choice of words were that it was a privilege to have the experience and to have the access and that the people we encountered were really quite extraordinary, both amongst the travelers and the people in the countries that we visited. Did the journey, as an American, live up to your expectations? How did it impact you as an American who became more globally aware?

Chris - It was interesting. As an American I did experience the trip differently and I learned a lot about being an American by traveling in the international crew that we were with. I learned to appreciate Americans and their openness. Watching the different ways different nationalities reacted to what they were seeing and experiencing was really interesting and it made me respect Americans. They didn't have the colonial views, there was a lot less judgement and they were really open to the others on the rally, as well.

DJ - The video accounts tend to demonstrate, when the participants are interviewed, the differences in the cultures and it sort of really stands out. Thank you for participating. This account would not be complete unless Come Along With Carl and Don features the comments of Carl Schneider. Here's Carl standing with me in Times Square, New York City.

<>Well Don, we made it around the world. A lot of people didn't think the old Packard would get that far, but it not only got there, but it got there with everyone else, and there were a bunch of them. I'm certainly glad it's over with. I keep thinking about the different things that we saw along the way and every once in a while an image will flash into my mind of the sun setting on Mount Everest, or the millions of people in China that lined the roads and cleaned the sides of the cars off for us, threw flowers at us, the desert of Pakistan and the monkeys of Nepal, the interesting people we met in Iran, the countryside of Turkey, the beautiful part of northern Greece that I was very surprised at, the fabulous ferry trip to Italy and then all that great German food we had in Germany and then to Paris. Those are the things that I think about as I stand here and remember last July when we were here in Times Square before.

DJ - All very precious memories and even more precious because so many came along with us. So many experienced, as we did, the insights, the understanding of the experiences and because of the technology, even standing here in Times Square with a wireless telephone as we are, accepting that as a normal way of communicating here in the latter end of this century. Two hundred million people in the world today have cell telephones and that's increasing at the rate of 50% a year. And we're using a telephone that's smaller than a package of cigarettes. And on this journey we used a telephone that transmitted to satellites back to our family and friends. And we stayed connected and never felt that we were really disconnected, although we were certainly distant, literally halfway around the world. So the technological insights and experiences, both on the trip itself and those who followed it back home, is a memory that will always, always be with us. We live in wonderful times and we're very fortunate to live in peaceful times and we're very proud to be Americans and have completed this journey along with people from 22 countries who shared our dream and shared our journey. Well this journey is now at its ultimate conclusion. We have gone around the world, beginning in Times Square and ending in Times Square. The heart, if you will, of American culture. We're just humbled by the fact that this has even been possible in our lifetime. For Carl it is the completion of what he set out to do as a youngster, seeing the ancient and modern wonders of the world. And for myself, it was a fulfillment of a desire to understand beyond the window and beyond the horizon what is out there. And now we have done that and now we know. We're so glad that it was possible for you to share this moment with us and we thank you for coming along with Carl and Don. So long from Times Square, New York on December 4th, 1997.