The media is us! Tom Thumb and his fellows from RoadJunky.com are travellers from all over the world and they state that since nearly everyone has a camera on their cellphones and an internet connection available we are all potential journalists with the camera as a third eye showing our view on the world. Such views will be presented from May 28th-30th during the Road Junky Travel Film Festival in Berlin.
Your pen name is Tom Thumb – what does this name refer to?
When I was 20 Jears old I hitchhiked from England to India with no money. When I arrived to Goa I slept on the beach all season while writing the book and friends suggested I call myself Tom Thumb to sell more copies. The name stuck!
What does hitchhiking mean to you?
Hitchhiking is a strange, solitary, sacred thing. You stand by the road at the mercy of Fate, waiting for angels in to come and pick you up. It’s one of the best ways to lose and find yourself. It’s also a sure way of getting to know the underbelly of a country.
As far as you are a real „Road Junky“ – why did you than, after 14 years of travel, decided to stay in Berlin?
Most longterm travelers long for a home. For me it had to be somewhere international so I could feel like I was still traveling while staying still. Berlin seems to me like a place that has created its culture and identity on its own terms, a thriving example of how creative humans can be when they’re not burdened by high rents and stifling bureaucracy… I couldn’t think of a better place to set up the Road Junky headquaters.
What’s the connection between travel and film?
One of the great things about running roadjunky.com is that we get to hear from amazing travelers from all over the world. Film is a way of seeing their perspectives through the „third eye“ of the camera. Every time you put yourself in someone else’s shoes your world is changed.
Do you think that the internet has changed the face of travel?
The internet has given travelers a sense of community. Road junkies all around the world can now share their stories, their tips, their dreams online with like-minded souls. But why stop there? So we founded the Road Junky Travel Film Festival to bring all these crazy travelers together under one roof.
Yes I heard about that the Road Junky Travel Film Festival will take place – tell us what you had in mind when planning the festival and why you chose Berlin as the place.
Berlin is the only place in Western Europe we could get away with this kind of thing. We’re bridging genres here with a film festival and a travel convention and this is the only city openminded enough to understand that. The festival uses film as a medium to change the way we see the world and that’s a theme we want to focus on throughout the weekend with storytelling, photography, discussion groups, talks from adventurers and music at night to encourage as much crossing of personal and cultural frontiers as possible.
If you had the power to change three things in our world – what changes would you make?
I’d like to see ethnic identity abandoned for a global identity. It’s time to stop thinking we belong to a certain tribe, religion or nation and consider ourselves citizens of the world. We need another motive other than profit. The big corporations that are destroying this world aren’t evil, they’re just ruthlessly efficient at making a profit no matter the cost to humans and wildlife. After that? I’d probably give Berlin a tropical climate so that I could stay here year round.
Road Junky Travel Film Festival May 28th-30th @ betahaus Berlin (U-Moritzplatz)
Text Tilly Gerriam
Redaktion
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