Three Guys On An Epic Road Trip In An Old VW Bus

Driving across country is one of those great American rites of passage and while it might not be on everyone's bucket list, going on a road trip was the first thing Todd Whitaker, Kevin Goulding, and Dan Nazzaro wanted to do after graduating from East Lyme High School in 2003.

They decided to do it old school, in a  VW Bus that had seen better days. Coming from the digital generation, however, they also decided to document their adventures on camera. They have now edited that footage into a film entitled North of Liberty.

The film will be shown in a special screening at 7 p.m. on Friday at Cafe Sol on Main Street, Niantic. Admission is $5, which includes appetizers. You can find out more about the project and see a trailer for the film on their web site.  

The Back Story—A Q&A With Todd Whitaker

How long did you think the trip would take and how long did it take?

When we left, we had about 7.5 weeks till our first class. We ended up going for 6 weeks, 40 days and 40 nights to be exact, but definitely not on purpose.

What did you expect/hope for when you set out on the trip and did it meet your expectations?

We hoped for an adventure, and we sure as hell got one. Even our wildest expectations were far surpassed. Chances are, even today, North of Liberty will still come up in a job interview! Heck, I quit my last job to continue this project, with the goal of helping to inspire some of America’s youth to go for their own “North of Liberty” experience.

I think our expectations were wildly exceeded in four arenas; the actual trip itself, the mechanical knowledge gained, the change in philosophy/outlook on life, and the long term impact it had on our decisions moving forward. All of these were directly impacted by the car we chose to try and do the trip in.

First of all, what ever happened to auto repair shop in high school?  We were completely mechanically inept when we started out; changing our cars oil was a challenge.  We had to slow down, to get used to things not going our way, taking longer than expected, and learning manuals with real world “tests” at the end.  Even before we started driving west, we had already started to tune into our own “go with the flow attitude.”  But man, when we blew the engine day 3 in Iowa, it sure felt like the hand of the almighty was trying to teach us a lesson. We had started to drive fast on a hot day, knowing that it was a bad idea, and we didn’t double check our work from a morning tune up.

The rush?  Potentially pretty girls at a Tom Petty concert east of Omaha. In our misfortune, we tapped into something extraordinary; a registered community of VW enthusiasts willing to help out fellow VW travelers in need.   

What surprised you the most?

Driving this particular car.. It was like traveling with a friendly dog (as in, Travel’s With Charlie by John Steinbeck.)  This poodle could get Democrats, and Republicans, baby boomers and young children to want to walk up and pet it. Everyone had a VW story, or dream, and was able to identify with our trip as if it was their own. From the mom and pop mechanic shops to the extraordinary network of vintage VW enthusiast out there, this bus allowed us to meet people and do things we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

You traveled with friends you knew well but did the days and nights of spending so much time together in the van create any challenges? Moments when you really got on each other's nerves?  

Absolutely. This was probably the most challenging part of the trip, even more so than the engine, or the crotchety attitude of a 1975, broken blinkered, falling off the frame, always a line behind it, 67 horse power, sliding door not working, top speed 55 mph, VW bus. This part gets lost in the movie, and it probably should be in there because the really transformative experiences are not easy, they are tough!    

This was a unique moment in time, where the three of us all threw down and said, we are doing this. I don’t care what it takes. I don’t care what people think. I don’t care if it pushes me to the bitter edge, or causing me to go insane, we are fixing that damn bus up and driving it cross country. Without this attitude, we would never had made it.

Why did you want to make a movie of the trip?

I think you would get three different answers for this, but for sure, the idea was inspired from our trip the summer before. After H.S. graduation, four of us hit the road with $350 each and 3 weeks till our summer jobs started. We each had a different version of a new digital camera, and had field day documenting our trip. We saw states like Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Montana & South Dakota for the first time. Itinerary? Schedule? Reservations? Our plan was to have no plan. A rough loop out west and back was good enough. We slept in Walmart parking lots, camped in America’s natural wonders, and met lots & lots of amazing people. The experience was life changing, but the idea of another trip and movie didn’t happen till later; when all ended up freshman at UCONN, found a broken down bus, and came together on a new goal; fix that baby up and drive cross country.  And man, imagine if we were able to capture the spirit of the trip, the essence of thrifty, unpredictable adventure, and then share it?    
What do you hope to achieve with the film?

Again, I think you will get three different answers from each of us.

The two weeks in Iowa changed my life. Our eyes were set on the Wyoming wilderness and the west coast; we didn’t have time for those “corn states.”  Well the journey had another plan for us. The Nobles were a gift from God. They did everything in their power to get us back in that bus, and back on the road. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, Janna cooked extra food for us despite our pleas not too. Mike introduced us to his neighbors, cleared a spot in the garage, and helped us as much as he could navigating the engine removal/rebuild/assembly process.  

Even today, hearing Aerosmiths “Life’s a Journey, Not a Destination”  brings me back to that car ride; the one where Mike let us borrow his car, so we could drive it an hour east to meet Rex, the VW guru of the midwest, who volunteered to rebuild the part of the engine we couldn’t do ourselves, free of charge, for a case of cold beer, completely saving our asses, and the trip, and on the drive home, the aforementioned song comes on the radio and we all start screaming our heads off because we can’t believe our ridiculous luck.

After that trip, I began to question why I had any negative stereotypes about people in the midwest, and consequently, set out on a new course in life. We need hip media that motivates kids to unplug from their electronic devices and go out and see the world for themselves. I was hoping North of Liberty could help.

What's your next project? Trip planned?

Although we are still friends, I would say there is pretty much no chance that we would ever work on a project again. One time was enough.  Plus, we can blame it on logistics. Dan teaches physics at Shelton high and runs the drama club. He also does some acting on his own. Kevin is doing cutting edge econometrics for a company in San Francisco and travels when he can. Todd is teaching history, digital arts and doing IT coordination for an international school in Antigua, Guatemala.