AJ Papa’s Blog

Meet Brett, aka Amtrekker — a self proclaimed unemployed vagrant with nothing more than a list of goals and the aptitude to complete them before he goes home. He’s been making his rounds on the Interwebs for some time now and has even been a guest on Fox News Channel’s “Happy Hour.” This guy is my hero. Seeing as I am unemployed at the moment, packing up and traveling is a little tempting. You know what? Screw it. I’m writing a list and not coming home until I complete it:

• Interview an Internet celebrity.

Brett was kind enough to take some time to answer a few questions and allow me to post it on my blog! I’m sure Brett gets the same round of questions all the time; In fact, he answers a lot of them on his video podcast, so I tried to ask him questions that maybe he hasn’t heard before.

Would you recommend an Amtrekker life to someone? Perhaps to someone who is unhappy with their 9-5, and who would like to just create a list and pack up and go just like you?

Only if you are unhappy with your 9-5, would like to create a list, [would like to] pack up and go, and are stupid. Never underestimate how important personal stupidity is in the success of this trip.

I’m actually REALLY curious to know what a trip like this would be like in someone else’s hands. I think it would really take a specific type of person with a very open mind and an overall friendly affable character to have a similar trip [like] mine. No matter who you are I think the twists and turns would be completely different.

Do you ever consider going global and traveling outside of North America? Perhaps you can become Globetrekker?

If I gain enough viewers to cover the costs of Amtrekker, then I would have no reason to stop traveling in the near future. I love what I’m doing and all of the people I get to meet along the way. Plus it’s a new adventure everyday. How can you go wrong with that? And it would be AWESOME to see the rest of the world.

My naive mother has this notion in her head that every corner is lurking with thieves. Do you find this to be the case that most random people should be distrusted? Or do you find that people you meet in your travels are generally friendly and nice?

That’s one of the sad things about this trip. In the US we are constantly taught to fear each other from a very young age. Not that I believe that kids should talk to strangers, but it’s important once you reach a certain age to realize that people are pretty much universally incredible and happy to help a stranger in need.

Are there certain things or luxuries you miss that a stationary, more settled life has to offer? I know for me I’d miss just being able to bum on the couch, put my feet up and play video games.

The three things I miss the most are my bicycle, In-N-Out Burger and comic book Wednesdays. Other than that I’m LOVING life right now.

Have you ever been arrested for vagrancy a la Rambo First Blood style?

No…BUT I HAVE been picked up by police officers (three times) for looking suspicious while walking down the street. Apparently throughout the better part of America, walking is a very suspicious activity.

Seriousness aside, I decided to ask Amtrekker some “unconventional” questions. Why? Because Brett comes up with some of the best banter about anything when you speak with him.

Have you had to kill or hunt for your own food? And if you have, do you find that cunningly setting up traps is the best method? Or do you prefer asserting man’s physical dominance on the food chain by man handling the beast?

I’ve yet to kill or hunt for my own food and frankly I’m not sure I could. I’m kind of a sissy when it comes to killing things. The last time I went fishing I spent the rest of the week feeling like the biggest jerk on the planet.

So now I prefer to assert my physical dominance over tiny pieces of green paper, wrestling them onto counter tops in exchange for calories.

In the event of a zombie invasion, what would be your optimal strategy or plan for survival?

As it turns out, I just recently spent several hours learning survival skills in Utah. So first I would seek shelter –possibly a lean-to built from the carcasses of brainless dismembered corpses. Then I would spend the next hour failing miserably at attempting to start a fire using my shoelaces and two sticks (As usual). Then I would set zombie traps using sticks and rocks. OR…maybe I would just PRETEND I was a zombie, then I would be the world’s smartest zombie and become King of the Zombies.

How many times have you had to fend off knife wielding polar bears on your trip?

Funny you should ask that. If by “knife” you mean “drink” and by “polar bears” you mean “creepy old men,” then the answer is exactly twice!

Well there you have it. I suppose I’ll go home now. I’d like to especially thank Brett for taking time from his travels to answer some of my questions! Check out Brett’s site, Amtrekker.com, and support his cause by donating or offering him a place to stay!

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 4:06 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.