Skating Across Africa: Jason Vanporppal:

What makes someone leave comfort behind and skateboard across an entire continent?

In this powerful episode of the Endure Edge Podcast, Jason Vanporppal opens up about the mindset, pain, purpose, and mental battles behind his journey across Africa, all in pursuit of building one of the continent’s biggest skateparks in Uganda.

But this conversation goes far beyond skateboarding.

We talk about isolation, resilience, mental health, fear, purpose, and what happens when you push yourself past every limit you thought you had. From sleeping on the road to moments that nearly broke him mentally, Jason shares the raw reality behind a mission that’s changing lives along the way.

This is a story about endurance, belief, and finding meaning in the struggle.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It's the Enjoy Edge Podcast, and we're still number one. And today's guest is someone who decided comfort wasn't an option. He's currently skateboarding across Africa. He's raising money to build one of the biggest skate parks in Africa, which will be situated in Uganda. But this isn't a story just about his journey. I want to get into the person behind this journey. Jason Van Popper, how's it going?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

It's going good, man. Good. Thank you for having me here. I feel very blessed to be here, and I'm very happy to be here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

And you're on South Africa's number one health and wellness podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Yeah, number one. It got to be number one, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I joked with Jason that you know when he gets back to California, Joe Rogan's gonna be calling him. So he's already had uh the uh the the best podcast out there.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Yeah, when I get to Joe Rogan, if that ever happens, I I got you. I'm gonna mention you and be like, this is the first podcast I did. Thanks, Bad.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Jay, for people hearing your name for the first time, yeah. Who is Jason?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Um, so yeah, my name is Jason Van Porple. Uh, I grew up in Los Angeles, California. Uh I I started skateboarding when I was nine years old, and right now I'm 26. And so that's like if the math is good, 17 years, I think. But uh yeah, I grew up not in the in the best neighborhood, but like skateboarding has changed my life, is what I tell people. Like it's changed a lot of what I how I look at the world and how I you know just navigate through my day-to-day basis. Um, but yeah, I started doing these like crazy journeys because it's like I wanted to test my limits uh of just seeing how it could how it could be possible. Uh 2024, I skated across America. Last year I skated across Japan, and now I'm doing Africa, and I do it all for a cause to help kids like get equipment for skateboards back in the States that can afford it. And now I'm doing it in Africa is something way bigger than I thought I could do is build a skate park. So we're raising money to build a skate park and uh to help the kids to have a safe place to be at and just to give them purpose and stuff. So that's kind of how I kind of started dedicating my life to. But other than that, before these journeys, I was just a normal skateboarder in LA, like making my videos on YouTube, meeting homies at the park, just trying to get clips. And yeah, that's just kind of it. I didn't graduate high school, I dropped out for skateboarding, and uh just that that shows that's that's all I cared about was skating and just being with my friends.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

So you you said life wasn't easy growing up. Take us back to growing up before all of this, before everything, take us back to that.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Yeah, okay. So I think so. I I'll take it, I'll I'll start it from when I was nine. I found skateboarding while I was nine because my neighborhood was all skaters. There was a street, just all skaters, they always put the ramps outside, they'll put the rails, and I was like curious. And then at the time, my brother, my older brother, Joseph, he was uh he was into skateboarding too, so it helped me just get into it. So I did that for a few years, made a lot of great friends right there. And uh yeah, every time I'll go to school, I'll think about skateboarding. And I was I started ditching school to come skate and just not do like it was bad. My mom was if if my mom was here, she'll be like, This kid was a problem child. I was a really bad kid. I was always hiding under cars, you know, running away, doing all the crazy stuff you do as a young kid. But um, yeah, as I turned like 13, I moved away from my friends, and then I started playing video games because I was like an hour away from them, so I had no one to skate with. So I did that for two years, just playing video games every day, Call of Duty, Call of Duty, and like I stopped skating and I started gaining weight and I started just like feeling weird about myself. I'm like, this doesn't feel weird, and this feels doesn't feel right. And then one day my friend just reached out to me and he was like, Hey, you want to come skate? And like my friend I knew in the streets like two years ago, and I was like, Yo, he reached out to me, let me go get a board again. So I started skating, I was the absolute worst. Like, I could have told myself to quit right here, like to not continue it, but I just kept trying, and he invited me out all the time with his other homies, and then they came became my best friends, and I literally stuck with skating that whole time. But uh during that time, like growing up in the that era, like I didn't I wasn't going to school, I was being a bad kid. Um, there was times where I was hanging out with the wrong crowd, you know, going out to parties, going out drinking, and started smoking weed and stuff like that. But thank God never got into anything crazy, yeah. So um I was going down that dark path. So skateboarding was getting pushed away again. And these guys will always invite me every day. And then the one day I just like saw myself like I was young, I was like 16, 17 at this time now, and I'm like drinking by myself. I'm like drinking by myself, like like two, like 40 ounces with a burger right there. I'm like, dude, what am I doing? Like, this is not how I see my life going, you know what I mean? So I think around that night when I did that by myself, um, I decided just like to like cut off all those friends and literally just focus on what this actually makes me happy. But like, yeah, that's how this kind of like goes about like why skateboarding is so important to me.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

So I don't know if it was the same in California where you lived or wherever you lived in America. Yeah, yeah. Um skateboarding had a bad stigma to it in South Africa for a very long time. It was like you said the bad kids doing skateboarding. Bad kids, yeah. The kids that are smoking, the kids that are doing drugs, the kids that want to drink, you know, and I will testify for it now because my kids gone to skate parks, my kid is going to skate parks, and it's changed. It's changed. It's really the good kids that are skateboarding. It's the good kids. I get to the skate park, good morning, sir, good afternoon, sir. They take Cairo, who is seven years old now, and they take him and they teach him. And these are the good kids. There's no alcohol at the skate parks, there's no cigarettes happening in the corner or anything like that. Yeah. Um, skateboarding is really transforming. So for those parents out there, let's just get it right.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Skateboarding helped you. Oh, yeah, it does. Skateboarding is so important for the kids nowadays. I mean, there's good sides and bad sides of all this stuff. Yeah, there's bad parks to be at, and there's really good parks, like indoor parks, and maybe if you go into the nicer areas of the of the cities, like it's better, right? So you won't see the drinking, you won't see the smoking. But uh, I encourage you, like, if you were if you guys want to get your kids involved in this stuff, like you just take them to the nice parks, you know, ask around, but hey, where's a nice park to go to? And people will be so friendly, bro. Like, even me, like if I see kids, I'll help them out too. Like, you know what I mean? So even in the bad areas, because they kids uh the parents will bring their bad their kids to the bad areas, and you know, it's everyone's just a community there, regardless. Like, they'll still help you out in the in the end of it.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Growing up, were you always the person? Were you always the kid or or the teenager that needed adventure and movement, or did that come later?

SPEAKER_00 6:39

I yeah, I've always needed to do something. I I grew up with like ADHD. Mom, it's funny, my mom would probably be mad if I said this, but she used to give me like these little like because I grew up, I was so crazy. My mom was a single parent, and she was dealing with like three other kids, and so I had a brother and sister, and me, I was the craziest, so she would have to give us like these like relaxing pills to chill out and not to be so crazy. And uh, I think I still have that craziest craziestness in me, but like, yeah, like it's a little more like I'm becoming more of an adult now, but I still love that crazy side, so I balance that in the same time.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I've always said, and I've got a son who's got ADHD, I've got ADHD. Yeah, yeah, like I haven't stopped moving my feet under this table. Um, but it can become a superpower, and in your case, you've made it a superpower. You are raising money for kids in Uganda right now. You have made it a superpower. So, as well, parents out there, ADHD is not a bad thing.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

It's not a bad thing, yeah. It's a it's a good thing, you know. Like it could be tough for the parents for sure. Um, it's definitely tough, you know, maybe handling a kid like who has like bad ADHD and doesn't really like listen. But in the end of it, when they grow up, and like even when they're young, it's it's such a it is a superpower, like you said. It's something, even like autism, like people will look at autism like it's something wrong with this kid, but they're so smart and they have this creative mindset. And um, I I think that you know, if you if you have a kid with autism, like I think it's not like a bad thing at all, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Was there a specific moment growing up where things shifted for you? Um you said you sat with the beers and the burger. Was that the moment where it shifted and that's when your life changed?

SPEAKER_00 8:28

It didn't change like immediately, it was kind of just like a moment of realization, like what my life was doing. Like once I started doing it by myself, I started realizing it. I kept doing the stuff with my friends after, but I was more aware. I was kind of more aware of like my my actions, you know. I could I had my other friends that were skating and they were telling me not to do that stuff, but then had these guys telling me, let's go party, let's go meet these people, meet more girls and do all these things, right? When I was young, and I thought it was cool, but yeah, once I saw myself doing it, I was like, This is not cool. Like I didn't feel good about it. Like, if anything, I felt lazy, I felt tired, and like um, I I minimized that so much to what I was, but yeah, I was it was a very long time ago, and like yeah, I don't really speak to those people anymore. And actually, I do I speak to one, but it's been a crazy journey for sure. Like, from that from that point.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Have you gotten him into skateboarding yet? Inhuman, the the guy that you still speak to.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Oh, yeah, him into skate. So he used to come watch me skate. Okay. So sometimes we'll go out and go, like, before we go out to go like party, he'll be like, let's go to the park or something. He'll just watch me. And I'll take my board and skate, and everyone be like watching me, and they're like, All right, let's leave now. Has he turned his life around? No, no, I don't know. I think so. I don't know actually. I'm pretty sure he's doing good. Um, but all these people I meet, man, like we're even to this day, like I'm not perfect either. You know, I'll go out and drink here and there, and like I don't smoke weed no more though. Um, and then I I I got addicted to nicotine. I started doing nicotine, but I chilled out on it because I realized like I need my lungs to push and skate. But sometimes it happens here and there. But um, yeah, we're all like imperfect in some some way. Like I just I right now what I do, I kind of manage it a lot better. Like when I go out to drink or something, I'm like super chill with it. Like, I won't go out and try to get drunk and go do some crazy stuff like how I used to. It's more just like let me just drink, hang out, and like go back home and sleep. So I want to talk about a journey a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Yeah, yeah. Um, why this? Why why skateboard across why skateboard across Africa? Why not something easier?

SPEAKER_00 10:36

I like a challenge. A challenge is fun, man. Like when I told people I was skating across America first, right? They thought it was impossible. Everyone didn't believe me. My mom, my my mom and dad were like, okay. I sat them down individually. I'd be like, hey, I'm gonna go skate across America. And they're like, okay, and they didn't believe it, they were so scared, and I did it. And everyone's like, Yeah, you did it, yeah. Oh my god, I believed you. And then Japan was easy. Japan was so easy, it was chill, um, it was a good time, you know. The only thing about Japan is that it's illegal to skateboard, so skateboarding in the streets illegal, and that's what everyone was telling me. Like, how are you gonna skateboard in the streets when it's illegal? I got pulled over a few times, I got pulled over in America like 50 times, like almost every day. Um, and then so Japan was easy, and then after that, I was kind of like more, I wanted more events.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

So, so what happens? They pull you over and you tell them you're doing this for a good cause.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Yeah, yeah. So immediately, like, you have to you have a script. I have like a I don't have a script like written down, but it's like in brain in my head, like they'll pull me over, like, hey, what's up, office? How you doing? They're like, like, what are you doing here on the highway? I was like, Oh, I'm this skateboarding across America, you know, I'm raising money for kids. We have this platform of social media or posting, we're trying to be as safe as possible. Like, I'm sorry if there's anything. And he would like try to work with us, and okay, sometimes you get good ones or bad ones, but um, so the thing with Africa, after I came back with from Japan, I wasn't gonna do anything no more because I was kind of just like, what's what's what do I do now? You know what I mean? Like, I was kind of tired. It's a tiring thing, it's super tiring. And I was sitting home and I was doing nothing, and then I I remember in Japan, I have a video of it saying, Um, I want I'm thinking about skateboarding across Africa, but I don't know how it's possible. Like, I was just laughing myself in the camera. I was like, What's wrong with me? Why am I thinking this? And then um, I look back at it when I'm back home, and I was like, yo, I should skate across Africa. And then that's when my friend Isaac, the one I was skating with, the two guys in Uganda, he reaches out to me. He's a viewer of my videos. He's like, if you ever think about skating across Africa, like I'll do it with you. And so many people reach out to me telling me to skate across their country, and they said they would do it with me. But the thing, I don't know, I had just had a connection with him, and he showed me his page. They have uh a nonprofit called uh Kampala Skateboard Initiative, they help kids out there in Uganda. And I saw, I was like, Okay, he does some good stuff for kids, like I might be interested. And we talked, and uh yeah, we agreed, let's do it, let's just start skating board skateboarding across Africa. And like Africa, the reason why I picked it is because it's such a crazy idea. Like, when you think about that, it's like who would do that? You know what I mean? Like, why would you want to put yourself in that danger or whatever it is? Yeah, and I just thought it was cool. Like, I thought it was so cool to go out there and see Africa from what it is, and I've seen a lot of crazy stuff.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

So and I talk for myself, I do not as crazy stuff as you, but I go around a hundred kilometers or whatever. Um, and I always wonder wonder to myself, are we running away from something? Are we running towards something? You know, what's going on in our mind? What's going on in our lives?

SPEAKER_00 13:41

That's the realest question to ask yourself, bro, because that's something I ask myself a lot, because it's there's a lot of stuff that I go through as well, like mentally, and like I battle stuff as well, and there's stuff that happens to me. And I ask myself, like, why do you keep doing these things? Are you running away from something? And I don't know if I am or not, but I like I'm happy doing it. That's why I always tell myself, like, as long as I'm happy doing something, and like that's what would help me. Like, I guess the questioning about that, it's like it really doesn't matter if you are running away from something, but as long as it keeps you happy and it keeps you away from that feeling, because we always are just gonna feel like sad and happy, and then I'd rather be happy. But those moments come, the sad moments come, and you just let it flow on by, you let it just be in yourself, and then you just like keep going, you keep pushing. As long as it gives you peace, as long as it gives you peace, yeah. Cause uh even with running, because like we're we were discussing about that. We we both do like like ultra runs, you know, long distance, yeah. And like it's very difficult, you're just running for periods of time, and you just have your mind, your own thoughts, but it's peaceful, but then you get these moments of like, damn, like this hurts. What am I doing, bro? Like, why am I doing this? And then you just keep pushing through that, pushing through that. Which um, yeah, no, I the reason I the way I got into ultra running, actually, just to change the topic real quick. Um, my girl at the time was sitting next to me, and uh, she was showing me this video of this guy named Andy Glaze. I'm not sure if you ever heard of it. You know, Andy Glaze, yeah. She showed me this video of this guy. I'm sitting here after my Japan trip, and I'm looking, and she's like, Look, he's running 300 miles right now in the Arizona Mountains, and like he's on mile 250. And I'm like, dude, why is he making it look so fun? He's like, I haven't slept in two days. I'm hallucinating, and he's crying, and he's like, Let's keep going. And then I'm like, dude, why does that look so fun? So I immediately followed him and then I started running. I started this like doing 10 miles every day, every day, 10 miles, even if it hurt. And then I did 50 miles by myself in the mountains, and I was like, Holy shit! And then he did a video saying, like, hey, I'm running 300 miles a week. So he's like, Come here, Newport. He lives around me. He's like, Come to Newport, I'm running Newport to wow. So I ran with him from Newport, the guy who got you into it. Yeah, from Santa Monica to Newport, he got me into it. I told him the story, and I told him I was doing this Africa trip. So we ran, we did all this. There was a bunch of people that showed up, and after like minimized, like you were like seven people. That's it. And those seven people, we were like conversating. I was in so much pain. We ran 57 miles, and um, yeah, I he he knew about the story, and then I ran with him again. And uh yeah, just watching his story, man. Now now he follows the journey and now he he knows what's going on, and it's pretty cool because he's like one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to that stuff. And I met a lot of ultra runners. I ran 100 miles with him actually in Arizona. We did like a backyard ultra, and he was like helping me through all this pain, and it was the funniest thing. And uh, we had good conversations, but running with him introduced me to all these good people that you know you you think you're crazy, but there's crazier people out there, man. Like I thought I was insane, and I met these guys that do this almost like multiple times a year, running 300-200 miles, and it's insane.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

And it's amazing what the human body can do. Like, you don't realize what what the human body can actually push through.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Yeah, you don't, and it's like you have to train it for sure, and it comes with like nutrition and all that stuff. But with journeys like this, like skating across like a country, like you'll be surprised. Sometimes I don't really focus on any of my nutrition. Like, I don't really go, like, I need electrolytes, I need this, I need that. I just go because it's kind of like it's just me and my backpack. It's me and my backpack and my skateboard. I can't really like put all these supplements in there and make make it time it to last you know X amount of time. You just have to go, and then your resources are like the stores around you, or maybe the people selling some stuff.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

What is in that backpack?

SPEAKER_00 17:30

The backpack only it's it started very, very heavy. It started like I have a three-liter pack of water, and I have a straw, a camelback sent me the backpack, and uh it has like a pair of pants, shirts, it has uh a few underwears, my toothbrush, a deodorant, and little trinkets that I get on the way. Um, it's not very much in there at all. And uh it just yeah, this is like the necessities you need to live every single day, and it's just it's it is the same clothes that you wear all the time.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

Jay, this whole journey, did you expect it to be more physical or mental?

SPEAKER_00 18:07

It's always more mental. The physical is for sure. It's like both of those are for are promised, you're gonna get challenged in those ways, but it's the mental part that would literally destroy you more than your physical.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

What happens to your mind when you're alone on that skateboard for so many hours and hours on the road?

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Oh, dude. A lot a lot this runs through your mind. Like, if I so thankfully I have my my speaker with me. I usually just vibe out, you know. I like I'll be pushing and listening to all kinds of music. But once that thing dies and it's not there no more, I'm like pushing for hours by myself and just this is my thoughts. Um, you know, sometimes you'll break down. You'll just break down. There's been times where I cried. There's been times where I literally sat there, like pushing up a mountain in the top. I I get up there and I'm just like laying on the grass or the dirt and just like in disbelief. Like, what the hell am I doing? And it feels like um it feels really good though. Like those are the moments I really love. Like when you're just like in the the deep end of the mud and it feels like the end and it feels like nothing is really worth it. Like in the end of the day, it is because I just get so excited about that feeling because that's what I want to chase. I want to keep chasing the the why, like, why do I feel like this? And it's just uh it's just a beautiful feeling overall. You kind of get addicted to those moments, yeah. It's weird because it it's definitely like saddening in the moment, like it's very saddening, but then when you look at it again, you're like, holy shit, I actually pushed through that moment, and it makes you feel like uh it makes you feel invincible in a way. Like when I'm on the road by myself, I feel like free, I feel like nothing can stop me. And uh I yeah, I just I I feel more myself out there in the road, and it's crazy. It's something that I try to figure out like why do I feel like that? And then and when I end up going back home, I'm like, damn, I missed the roads, like I just want to be out there.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

What do those hard moments, those difficult moments on the road, teach you about everyday life?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Teach it teaches uh teaches me about patience, teach me about patience, about how important uh like a human connection is and how important like your family is and everything. Uh, because I couldn't do this without like a support system. Like if I didn't have my family, you know, calling me, checking up on me, then I wouldn't be like really sane, you know what I mean? I'll be I'll just feel like a lost soul out there, but I'm thankful I have like the family and like my support system out there, and it teaches me how to time things, you know, because I'm I'm a very like anxious person, and I feel like I have to get stuff done all the time and I have to move 24-7. My brain has to do something. So when I'm pushing for X amount of hours, it teaches me how to slow that down and just to enjoy the process of whatever happens, because anything could happen on the road. If I meet someone and he tells me this and this, like you can't push over there, like he's like, Come sleep in my house, come do this, eat some food. I gotta be willing to go eat food with this person or go stay with him or talk to him for like 30 minutes or so, and it just teaches me to chill out.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

You are on my radio show on Saturday and off air. Um, because I can't say it on air and I can say it, yeah. Yeah, you've got fucking big balls. Oh big balls to go through Africa, to go to some random guy's house and just trust people, dude.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

It's also them trusting me.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Yes, over and above that, and they gotta trust who you are.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Yeah, that's true. They gotta trust who I am, and I I gotta trust them too. Because I met some pretty sketchy people or people that are questionable on this trip, too. And uh it on all my trips, there's trips where I'm like, uh, this person good, you know, this person can this happen? Because anything could happen. I could be one of those news story articles, like, this boy walked into this house and never came out. Like, I think about that all the time. So I in it in a way when I feel invincible, when I feel like I'm unstoppable, I feel like there's a way something could happen. Uh, but I just trust, I have like a gut feeling to know these people and I. I believe in God a lot and I know He's He's He's gonna He guides me to the spots I need to be, right? And I always tell people uh that I'm supposed to be exactly here at the right time. I'm here at the right time at the right moment. God put me here to be with this person who's probably not like you know mentally stable in the head. Maybe another people don't like this person and they say bad things about him. Because sometimes I'll leave someone to be like, yo, you're staying with that guy or you're doing stuff with that guy. I was like, Yeah, why? He was chill. Like, and it's just like God places me in people's lives, just like He places them in my life, so I could you know feel something and they could as well.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

So we just And you probably don't even know that you maybe made such a difference in that guy's life.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah, that's the thing. Like we leave people, um, like we leave people crying sometimes. We talk, we'll talk about our life stories, like how let's say we're talking right here, right? We're eating dinner, uh they'll start asking questions about like my life, and I'll tell them like the truth. I'll give them the honest truth, like how I was, and I'll tell them how I got to this point and how adventures you know saved my life and skateboarding. And they'll tell me how they feel about maybe their father passing away, maybe their brother who used to skate, and then they'll end up crying, saying, like, oh, like do your story touches me a lot, and you know, like I'm happy it does, it does that to people, you know, like it makes me feel better about my journeys that it makes people feel good, you know. I mean, because they're good cries, um, but you know, at the same time, like it it's fun pushing, it's fun pushing, and I'm happy that I'm impacting people. So that's the it's just like a plus with all this, you know. If it wasn't for the internet, like thank God for the internet, but it has its ups and downs for sure.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

So you get motivation and you get discipline. Yeah, okay. When motivation disappears, you need that discipline. You need a discipline. What do you do when that motivation disappears to keep going? Because I'm sure it does.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

It disappears quick. You know, I'll get I'll get hyped. I know it, I know it. Like I'm enjoying my music and I stop it. I'm like, all right. You just want it's just one push at a time. Like, you literally got to focus on the little steps, you know what I mean? That's the discipline. Because if you look up ahead and you're like, I have all that, you're gonna want to quit, you're gonna want to stop, but you just have to focus on the each step, each push you take, and look around, like enjoy stuff. You know, it's hard. Like sometimes I'm thinking about like how can I look around right here and be okay with what's in front of me. But you just have to take it little by little, and that's when you have to like block off all that noise because your brain's gonna go everywhere. So the discipline is it's very difficult thing, but if you keep doing it every day, um it doesn't get easier in that sense, but it gets easier physically, but mentally, it stays the same all the time. You're gonna want to quit, you're gonna want to stop when you do hard shit.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Yeah, you feel like this journey is healing something for you or exposing something for you?

SPEAKER_00 24:52

I feel like it's growing me. Yeah, I feel like it exposed like the culture in Africa for sure. That's what I like about this journey. I got to see like what Africa really is, you know, from the parts I've been at from the seven different countries. But I got I it opened up that, but it's I feel like for me, it's like it's giving me a sense of like uh I'm growing now, you know. I'm growing, I get to experience these things, and it feels good. It does feel good that I'm I'm doing these things for the right, the right uh things in a way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

What's the hardest conversation you've had to have with yourself on this trip? Oh, the hardest conversation. Um so for example, when I run, sometimes I've got to have those conversations with myself, like suck it up, yeah, don't be a pussy, suck it up, get out, let's go, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

There's a lot of that, yeah. There's a lot of that, and there's a lot of media saying, Don't be a bitch, keep pushing, you know, saying all these things. Um, the hardest conversation though, it's like there was there was a moment I was praying. I was praying because I I need to pray more, but when I do pray, it's like I feel so strong. Um, I was praying, saying, like when the guys left, and I just started crying so much. I was like, I just started releasing everything. Like, you know, when you're on these journeys, you you're telling yourself you're so strong, like keep being strong, push, push, push. But I finally let go and I said that I need help and that I, you know, I'm I'm trying to be strong for everybody. I'm trying to be strong for myself, but sometimes I don't feel like I am. And I just was asking God to just give me that strength because I feel like so little. And um, I those are like the moments where I'm so real of myself because I tell myself I'm not strong. And I tell myself that I, you know, I do need help and I do need people to talk to. And like, yeah, I just try to be as real as I can with myself, but then you push yourself and then you tell yourself it's keep going, let's go. So it's a balance of like letting my brain know, like you're you're a human, like you're not, I'm not a superhuman, but uh you just have to you know be honest with yourself and then push yourself at the same time, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Well, we think you're superhuman by doing this, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

A lot of people think I'm like a superhuman, bro. It's kind of funny.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

It's it's crazy. You say you pray a lot on these journeys to help you, etc. Has there been a moment where you've prayed and and you've seen that prayer come true right in front of you?

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is this is it where I'm at right now. I I used to dream about this and pray about this, like being able to travel the world and skateboard for a living and meet cool people and this like I used like I used to work a normal job. I worked a lot of different jobs when I was younger, and I was still balancing skateboarding and my YouTube stuff. And I remember washing dishes, it's like dreaming about this, traveling the world and be like, man, I want to do this one day. And like, this is where this is my dream, everything I'm doing right now. And like that moment on forward, like I think about that. Like, if I can manifest this dream right here, and I could pray about it and it comes true, like God is gonna present it to you. It it's it takes time, you know. You go through ups and downs, but then you could do anything in life, and that's why I like to tell people like just dream about it, pray about it, and like just keep working forward and keep pushing forward with it. If you just keep pushing forward and don't give up on it, then it's gonna happen, you know. Like, I I wish I could go back and tell my younger self, like if he were to see what he's doing right now, because I know what he wants, he just wants to skate and have fun and you know, make videos and like inspire the world. I would tell him just keep going, like just keep going, don't give up. That's cliche as it is, like, literally, just keep going and don't give up. There's gonna be a bunch of bumps and rows, like bumps and bruises on the way, and like, yeah, no, that's what that's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Yeah, and I think that's a message for everyone out there. Yeah, yeah, it really is. Life is not gonna be a straight line, it's not it's gonna have a pothole that you're gonna hit in the fall.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Yeah, uh I I tell people, like, right now, this is a good moment for me. You know, I feel like I feel like on top of the world right now, you know, everyone's hyped about the videos, everyone recognizes me out here in Joe Burg, and like it's cool. I really like it, but then I'm gonna get back on those roads, it's gonna be back to reality. Like, I'm gonna be sleeping probably somewhere, I don't know, maybe on the side of the road again. Maybe someone's gonna help us the whole way. And but the reality is, it's like it's gonna be ups and downs, man. And even when I finish this journey to Cape Town, like it's I'm going back home and I'm gonna figure out what's the next thing. It's always what's the next thing, you know what I mean? Is there anything you've learned about yourself that you don't like? Yeah, um, okay. I was trying to think because I I like I do have conversations myself, like what do I like about myself? What do I need to get better at? Um that damn wait, I'm trying to think. Do I have anything? I do. I'm just trying to like really bring it up. Take your time. Think there's things for sure I don't like about myself, you know? Like uh maybe like the way I could handle relationships, like, because I want to when I'm older, um not older, like even right now, I would I would want to have like a stable relationship and like get married and have kids. Like I want that, but I feel like my adventurous self doesn't like really allow that right now. Like it doesn't let me, but I would have loved to have like a family and with kids and a wife and everything. And yeah, like I had uh like I told you, like a relationship before, but then during these trips, it's kind of like difficult to kind of manage that in a way, so that's what I wish I could do. I wish I could manage like both of those equally, and it could be okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

The old woman here in South Africa in Johannesburg that do crazy stuff just like we do, they'll come with you on the trip, so we'll find you one.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Oh man, I'll be very scary, bro.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Girls are nowhere to stay.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

It's um dude, doing like stuff like this, like honestly, to be surprised to be honest with you, like everyone, like there's there's no girls involved at all. Like, ever all the like even when I meet like someone, like a girl, right? Like someone who's just hyped about the the journey, it's always so like chill, like it's never like anything weird. It's kind of just like, oh, you're doing this journey. I'm like, yeah, yeah. And then we just kind of leave it like that. Like it's and I like it like that. I don't want it to be like try to mix everything up because that's where it could get messy and like it'll ruin the journey or ruin the trip. So I just try to stay focused, and um, that's what I want to do. I want to like not be that person I was before because that's how I was before, yeah. And now it's like I want to be a better version of myself, but yeah, so no girls, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Okay, girls, I can't hook you up, so um I saw a post on Instagram, TikTok where you were thanking God, yeah, and you said it wasn't you know it came from the dark days. Did you ever have to battle things? And and it made me think. I don't know, and I haven't asked you. I was gonna ask you, and I decided I'm gonna leave it to you. Do you ever have to battle depression and stuff like that in your life? Yeah, addiction, depression, any of that?

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like depression, um addiction, like uh not really. I mean, just the alcohol thing, you know, that was very hard, especially like during on journeys. Like, I'll I'll drink here and there, but I didn't really have the addiction to drink. But like depression, yeah. I was there's a lot of times where I get depressed because of things like back at home that I can't really manage to handle out here, and I just gotta keep on going. But you know, like I said, like we just all have to find that one thing that just makes us feel good. And the skateboarding is the way how I amplify it. And it for you or for anybody else watching, it could be anything else, and that's why I like to tell people is like like I go through stuff every day. I wake up sad, I wake up feeling like a little depressed and down, but at the end of the day, I have to like show up for myself and show up for other people as well because I'm gonna be on this earth for a while. You know, we all are, so we might as well just like try to pop out with a smile, and then if we need to talk to people, like I'm pretty sure like we have our family and stuff to talk to, so yeah, just make sure you talk to people and make sure you have something you can amplify that happiness in your life. Um, some people don't know what it is, but um, it's always good just trying stuff. That's how I do. I still try stuff to this day, like just finding running. I just found running and it made me really happy. And I didn't even know I like running. I used to hate it when I was younger, but now it's like that's how I amplify my happiness too.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

It's amazing how many people you speak to, and they all these long distance runners now and they're doing ultras. Yeah. How was it when you were younger? I hated it, I hated school sports.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

I was super insecure when I was younger. I was like always like a chubby kid. Um, well, I felt like I was a chubby kid. I was wearing the same sweater every day. I'm just like running in this sweater that's turning brown because of how much of the sun is hitting it, so it's fading. And everyone's always asking me, Jay, why are you wearing that? Why are you wearing that hoodie? It's hot out here, and I just didn't want them to see like my my body jiggling, you know what I mean? Like, I was always that insecure kid, and um, even to this day, I get body dysmorphy. I feel like, you know, I'm like, damn, I'm not big enough, I'm not skinny enough, and like I'm always saying like I'm fat. But that's that's the stuff I deal with too. Like this like body insecurity in a way, and like what's some other ones? Like, yeah, I guess I guess that's pretty much it. And it's very, it's a very funny thing to deal with because it's not true, you know what I mean? I'm freaking skinny and shit, like god, like it's always what there's always gonna be a better version of yourself if you want to, but it depends like if you really want to focus on it.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Jay, how important is self-belief? Is that the positivity, the believing in yourself in a journey like this?

SPEAKER_00 34:46

Self-belief is a hundred percent what you need. Like, you need to believe in yourself because if you're not believing yourself, why someone someone else believe in you? You know what I mean? If you want to be someone like big in the industry, anywhere you want to go, you have to believe in yourself. You have to you have to like kind of prove to these people, like, yo, I'm really gonna do this, I don't need you, but like I could do this myself, and people want to see that they want to see like how bad you could do this by yourself so other people can believe in you, but even just let alone not even that, like, it's everything. Because if I didn't believe in myself and this, I wouldn't be here. I'd probably still be home, just still thinking about coming to Africa if I didn't believe I could actually push through all these stuff, and especially going through like game parks, you know. Um, like people always told us that you can't go through game parks, you're gonna die. And uh, I was like, no, I believe I could push through a game park. You know, it could happen. I could get mauled by a lion, but I know I could make it to the other end. So it's just that faith. You had to have that faith more over like the fear. That's why I like that like faith over fear so much. Because it's like faith is everything, bro. Like, if you don't have that and you're just scared, you're not gonna do anything.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Let's talk on that note. Let's talk Africa, the people and the perspective of Africa. Um, where you come from, America, a lot of people think the lions are walking in the streets and they're all over, and that's Africa. Okay, let's start off with what is something Africa has taught you that you couldn't have learned anywhere else?

SPEAKER_00 36:20

Hmm. Africa taught me the kindness of people out here, like i in uh in a third world country third world country. Like Africa taught me so much about kindness, it taught me so much about like simple things, you know what I mean? Enjoying simple foods, enjoying simple activities, and just appreciating family. Because as I'm pushing through all these different spots and towns, all I see is people doing something so simple, they're hanging out with their family, they're having fun. You wave at them, they're gonna wave back. You know, they may have a little little mad face sometimes, but once you wave at them, bro, like they're gonna have the biggest smile in the world. And I've never seen anyone more happy than people out here in Africa. Like from start to bottom, I promise you, there's been no bad blood, no nothing, no injuries or I mean injuries, yeah, but no like anything to make me feel like it was a dangerous place. It it it this is a beautiful, beautiful continent, and all the countries I went through has been amazing. And I would definitely come back. Like I can't wait to come back next year. That's my goal is to kind of come back and meet all these people. And I just encourage anybody else that like wants to come out of Africa, like they should come out to Africa, they should be here and like enjoy it and not be scared. You know what I mean? It has so much to offer to people, and it just has a stigma around like even the states. Maybe they don't know, they're not aware of this stuff because everyone in the states told me like I shouldn't come here because how scary it is, and I always gonna die. But I mean, I proved that I made it through these other countries, and we're good, it's okay. It's the same thing back at home, you know. We all have like villages outside, we all have like little towns, it's the same thing here.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

You already told us you meet a lot of people, yeah, yeah. And you've met a lot of people. Has there been a stranger that you've met that has stuck with you like on a deep deep format?

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Yeah, yeah. There's been a few actually. We have a few friends. So in Tanzania, we made some friends. Um we made some friends, Mohammed, Majid, and their brother. Uh, they took us in because they watched the videos, they took us hunting, we had some good conversations, and they're our age, and they had their own like 9,000 acres of land, and they have uh a water company out there in Tanzania called Dewdrop. So they're like the their fair their parents and their family is like the owner of this company. And uh we met someone in Lusaka, they connected us to his name is Temi, and he gave us uh accommodation at his hotel that his family owns, and it was a really nice hotel, and uh yeah, it was amazing with Tim because he we connected on like you know, he was like our age as well, so we connected very well. He was cool, and then uh in Lusaka we met this uh this family that helped us out. Um, Biko, he actually is in Texas right now, but he told he watches my videos and he's like, My mom said you could come visit and you could, you know, she would accommodate you. And she treated us like we're her sons, like and it was the most beautiful thing. We have a dad in uh Botswana, uh Godfrey. He's the one that found us when we're looking for a place to sleep. He's the one that helped us get a police escort, he's the one that helped us get accommodation when we needed it and linking us with the right people. Debbie, we met her in Botswana as well and in Cabarone. And um, yeah, even down here, like um Natasha, like from Auto Idol Expo, she she helped me out, you know, land all these things and connect all these puzzles that you know I wouldn't have done it by myself. But it's this this is what like this is what I like to tell people too, is like connecting, you know, connecting and meeting these people and taking your time to meet these people. It's like a part of the journey because even without them, I if I would have just rushed into Cape Town, I wouldn't have met any of these people that stick to my mind. And there's a bunch of other people that I you know are close to my heart that I have all their numbers we text, but it's always important to have these people in your life because they care about you and they want to be a part of your journey, and uh I want to let them know that I do care about them too.

SPEAKER_01 40:13

Do you think people underestimate the power of community until they're actually forced to rely on it, like in your case?

SPEAKER_00 40:21

Um, yeah, maybe it it it depends, and maybe they could rely on it, but some people don't need it. Some people just blast it through. And in my case, uh I wanted I wanted to have the community around. Yeah, that's like what I kind of wanted when I got here. I wanted to see the community.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

And I think everyone needs some sort of community around them, even if they're staying in one place, community is important. If it's a gym you go to or a skate park that you go to, yeah, that community is important, but you can't be lonely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:51

You can't like I guess so some people that could, but like it's better to have it with the community, like the community is everything. You're you're right, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 41:00

What assumptions, what assumptions did you have about this trip that completely got shattered?

SPEAKER_00 41:06

Oh, assumptions, yeah. Like what what I what like uh like an expectation?

SPEAKER_01 41:10

Yeah, like before the trip started.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

What expectations did you have that got shattered?

SPEAKER_01 41:15

Or or worries or fears?

SPEAKER_00 41:17

The the the fears of this in the beginning, I was thinking about the the terrain, like the mud and the dirt, the long dirt roads, the obviously the animals.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Did you think a lion's gonna eat you?

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Yeah, yeah, I thought a lion was gonna eat you. Okay, so you literally thought that I thought I was gonna get attacked by a lion in in Botswana because uh the way people were daily, like hundreds of people were telling me this like, don't do it, don't do it. So in my head, I was like, I'm I'm dying tomorrow. Like we're pushing and we're gonna we're gonna die. Uh but the expectations I have, I honestly I underestimated how hard this would be. I thought it would be a little more easier, but like in it's getting easier now, but in the beginning it was super tough. Like I wanted to give up so many times. Okay, I remember looking at my phone looking for flights back home. Wow. It was like day 13 or something.

SPEAKER_01 42:03

And what stopped you from booking that flight?

SPEAKER_00 42:05

I just told myself I'll see how I feel tomorrow morning. Okay. So I looked at it, I was like, let me see how I feel tomorrow morning. And I just dropped in, I woke up, my homie, like my homie's like, Oh, we gotta go push. I was like, I gotta go push. So I pushed, and the next day I felt like that again. I looked at it, I was like, just keep pushing it. Like you know, I pushed it aside until I stopped feeling that.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

I think that's a good lesson for people out there that want to give up too quickly.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

Yeah, yeah, too quickly.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Don't give up too quick. Yeah, just wait, even if it's an hour, just wait.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

Give us some time. It just gets, you know, because something can happen. It's an emotion. Like your emotion is trying to trick you to just go home to comfort or to stop doing what you're doing. But I promise you, like, if I would have gone home, man, I would have been so distraught. I know I would have I feel good right now. I know I would have feel good over there and be like, why did I do that? You know, I just wasted a perfectly good opportunity. So that's why I kept pushing it apart. I saw a bigger picture, but yeah, a lot of times I wanted to quit.

SPEAKER_01 43:02

Let's get into the mission. The mission behind all of this. And I'm gonna get this episode out very quickly. Before you even leave Johannesburg, I'm gonna get this episode out. I've already warned my editor who who's based in Pakistan, he's waiting for this episode. Um, why a skateboard, Jason? Why why a skate park? Why is a skate park worth crossing the continent?

SPEAKER_00 43:30

Why why do why do I want to build a skate park and do it across like skating across? No, so what what why is your mission to build the skate park? To raise money to build the skate park. Okay, so my the reason why I'm building the skate park, and it's starting in Uganda. The reason why I'm doing it there is because the guys are from there and they have an NGO, like they said, the KSI. So they help like a hundred kids there, and they all skate, they all just skate on dirt. They have nothing to skate on dirt, and even if they go around the little town, they try to skate, they get screamed at by the locals because they're being locked. There's a bunch of kids is being loud screaming, and they don't want these kids screaming next to their house. And uh I've been in this village, and it's a super gnarly village, and you know, these kids seem really happy skating on dirt, obviously, because they're having a good time. Um, but we want to get these kids a skate park there because they can have a better time, they can have a better time and just not even a better time, but like they could build the community, they could add more people there, and it's a safe place for them to be at, and they could do it, gives them purpose. Like, if I never went to a skate park for the first time, um, I would have never seen the purpose of skateboarding. I would have just thought it was just streets and dirt, whatever, you know what I mean. Just like I you know, maybe you bring your kid to the skate park, it probably gives him purpose. He sees all his friends or people teaching him, he's like, Wow, people actually care about this, you know what I mean? Like, I could probably do something with this, and he could, and that's what we want to do with these kids. We want to show them that um there's purpose in this, and you could do something really well with this, whether they still stick with skateboarding or not, but it's still like skateboarding teaches something really well for kids, and um, yeah, that's why I believe, you know what I mean. So these these kids deserve it deserve a skate park, and this is just our attempt of building a skate park there, and uh it's gonna be welcome for everyone around the world, you know. It's gonna be it's gonna be free of charge, and no one no one's gonna pay for anything. You just pull up and skate and just have fun, and you get to see the experience of Uganda, like you get to be in the heart of Uganda with these guys and skating. And uh, there's already a few skate parks there, but they're kind of far out of the city, you know. You have to drive far, take a Bodo Boda over there, and like it's just it's just yeah, we need that skate park there. So the re the way we're trying to do it, we're raising for a GoFundMe. Uh, we're doing crowdfunding on my all my social medias. It's like in my link in the description and bios and stuff, but uh, we're looking for a big company to be involved in it. Uh, we're offering like people to put their like if a company donates like five thousand dollars or ten, they could just have their name on the the ramps and stuff like engraved into it, and yeah, we're looking for stuff like that at the moment for big brands, and they're part of something bigger, and that brings me to my next question.

SPEAKER_01 46:05

What does skateboarding actually give kids that people don't understand? What does the kid get from skateboarding that people don't understand?

SPEAKER_00 46:14

It gives them a new skill for sure. It's like a skill and it's a life lesson. You know, you're like we're all gonna learn how to you know fall down and get up, and that's something that we need to learn how to do, you know. Like when something takes up when you take a bad fall in life, people just want to stay down and be like, why me? Why me? Like, no, skaters is they'll fall down, they'll get up, and they'll even if they break something or they hurt something really bad, they're gonna act like they're okay. They'll be like, Yeah, I'm good, I'm good. And they'll try it again. And that's something that will take you so far in life. Because I fell down a lot of times, physically and mentally, like psychologically, like, and I'll just get back up. I'll just get back up and do it again.

SPEAKER_01 46:50

If building the skatebox succeeds, and we know it will succeed, what's it gonna mean to you personally?

SPEAKER_00 46:56

Oh man, I'm gonna be so happy because then I could have that'll mean I'll have like a nice hub over there in Uganda and I can start going to Uganda every year. You know, that's what I want to do. I want to come back to Uganda and help the kids out, bring skateboards and um yeah, this this this care for them, man. It's gonna make me so much so happy. So um and and it'll it'll be like it'll just be an amazing feeling, man. That's something I'm I'm only doing this for. Like all this extra stuff, like the the the views I'm getting, everything, it's all extra, it's cool and everything. But like this, like this is all like I said, like temporarily, but like when I go home and build that skate park, it's forever. That's forever until like old, you know what I mean? Like, so that's gonna feel good.

SPEAKER_01 47:39

So there's a lot of we we've spoken about it. Going on this journey, it's tough. It's not easy. There's hard moments. Do you think suffering is necessary for growth?

SPEAKER_00 47:51

Oh yeah, I feel like it. I feel like suffering is good for growth, you know? Because once you go through that suffering, bro, like you come out a different person. If you could go through this like suffering, man, it made that's the that's like the reality of life, man. It gives you a real taste of life and it feels good when you come out of it. But you have to always be willing to go back into it. Like it it's never an end game.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

I want to talk a little bit about the bigger picture. And being on this journey has obviously created a lot of freedom. What does freedom mean to you now compared to before this journey?

SPEAKER_00 48:28

Freedom. Man, freedom, uh man, that's a that's a good one as well, man. I think just freedom is just enjoying what you're doing and just try not to be tied down so much to anything, you know what I mean? Like I used to have I used to have jobs like working hella hours, working at a kitchen, cooking chicken and stuff, and like it didn't feel like freedom at all. I was stuck in a job forever, and I was like, man, I don't want to do this. I want to do what I want to do, I want to skate, and then free skating is my freedom. That's where I go for everything, every problem I have. If I'm sad today, I go skate, and that's when everything escapes. So I freedom is just like not being tied down to anything and just doing whatever I want to do and being my own boss and you know, like just working for myself. And now it's like it's just gonna grow from there. I don't know where it goes from here, but I'm tasting freedom right now, and that's all I can ask for at the moment. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:28

Do you think people are too comfortable in modern life in modern life, and that's why they don't get that freedom?

SPEAKER_00 49:34

Yeah, yeah, I think they are. You know, they're not willing to accept like the the suffering like I was telling you about, because it's scary and it's hard, and that's what it takes to kind of get that freedom to sacrifice something. And people don't want to sacrifice stuff, they'd rather stay comfortable, which is okay, just people that are fine with that. But uh if if people always come up to me saying, like, like how come I can't get what you're having, or how come I can't feel this way, it's like because maybe you just need to sacrifice something and chase, like actually give a hundred percent to what you want to do. Because if you're not giving 100% what you want to do, you're just gonna stay what you are right now. But if you don't have a problem where you're at, that's cool, that's fine. But I have a lot of people come up to me asking me that, and I'm like, just what do you want to do? And he's like, Oh, I want to be, I want to do this and that. I'm like, then do it, like, but it uh they're like, Oh no, but this and this it's an excuse, and I'm like, then I don't understand, I can't help you. You know what I mean? I mean, I'm not I can't help at all, but I'm just giving like my advice in a way because I had to drop everything, like I lost a lot of things. I lived in my car, I was homeless for a bit, and like I dropped out of school, and these are the things I sacrificed, and I left my family home. I left my I just got a new apartment before I came here. I left my whole apartment and I'm still paying for it. Like, this is a sacrifice I'm taking, and it sucks because I'd rather be home and doing like kicking it at my new apartment, and then by the time I go home to um back home in June, my apartment is done, so I'm gonna be like homeless again. So it it's a sacrifice I'm taking to be here, and like that's why I tell people it's like you have to do that if you want to enjoy and feel the freedom, and it's just very hard to have people understand that sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 51:14

So the all these all these sacrifices that that you've made. The story is obviously worth it. It's worth it. The story that you're getting from this journey is worth it.

SPEAKER_00 51:27

It is worth it. It's something I'm gonna keep forever, dude. Like that's why I tell myself too. All this is worth it from what I have right now. Like I could lose everything at my house, lose my car, lose my house, lose everything. And I just have this story, you know what I mean? So it just feels so good to be here.

SPEAKER_01 51:44

And I want to actually you you've brought up something now, because I've got a 16-year-old son, an 18-year-old daughter who has gone to university, and I want them to make stories like this while they're still young. Because when you are 40 years old, you are scared to take these risks because you might have kids. You don't want to be homeless with kids. You know, you don't want to live in a car with your kid. So you're scared to take these risks. Let's talk to teenagers from the age of 16, and I'm gonna go to the age of 30. So in your 20s, when you leave, well, when you finish what we call in South Africa Matrick year, okay, okay, that's the last year, grade 12. Okay, they go and they choose a university or they go get a job. Let's talk to them.

SPEAKER_00 52:30

Okay, okay, okay. Tell them something. Okay, so it depends on this kid. But if you're 18 to like 20, yeah, we're talking to those, yeah. From yeah, from 18 years old till 30.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

18 to that whole age game.

SPEAKER_00 52:44

18 to 30. I say, dude, just try everything you possibly can. Try everything you want to do and keep doing things, and you know, like, it's always just trying, just keep trying something. That's all I could pretty much say. You know what I mean? Because someone could be like, oh, but I'm studying this and they have to stay here till like they're 30 years old, 30 years old. But like, at least if you're gonna do that, it's fine. But like at least have something that you're really passionate about in there, like throw it in there a little bit. And this some people might feel like it's the end of the world, but even they think 30 is like really old. And I don't think 30 is old. I think you still could try stuff at 30. Like, we're all just kids, you know what I mean? We're all so young, and like it's okay to try. If you don't have kids, yeah, do whatever you can. If you're not married, do whatever you can. But I I understand that maybe if you have kids and you're married, it that's an even bigger risk because you don't want to like risk too much like that. But yeah, just take the risk, keep trying, keep trying. Even at 40.

SPEAKER_01 53:37

I've tried this podcast and it and it blew up.

SPEAKER_00 53:40

Look at this, yeah. You know what I mean? There's ways to go about it. You know what I mean? Like you attempting a podcast. Yeah, look, look where you're at right now. You know, there wasn't really any. Was there gonna be like a really big like uh consequence if this didn't work? Not at all. Yeah, so you could do stuff.

SPEAKER_01 53:53

But it was scary to start this thing. It's scary to put it out.

SPEAKER_00 53:57

It's scary to put yourself out there, it's really scary and to to do all this and give your time to this because you could put your time into anything else and make money, or even spend time with your family. But um, I'm sure they understand this and they know you love doing this, right? So you're you're finding your passion into this. So that's why I would tell people is just like keep trying stuff and don't give up. And you have you just know you're so young, you have so much time ahead of you. And no matter what people are going to tell you, you know, they're gonna have noise in your ear. But it's okay to fail at stuff. It happens. I failed at so many things in my life, and I'm gonna continue to fail, you know, and it's just part of the journey. So just enjoy it. That's why I would just tell all the kids out there, or like people my age too.

SPEAKER_01 54:37

I actually don't even like that word failure or fail because it's not they're lessons, yeah. Uh it's something that you said it earlier. I need to be in this place right now. If this didn't work, there's a reason it didn't work. It had for me to get to the next place, that did not have to work.

SPEAKER_00 54:55

Yeah, yeah, that's true. It's very true. There's been stuff that didn't work out for me, and I I I'm really happy it didn't. Like I used to apply for jobs for YouTube jobs, just to I wanted to be around YouTubers so bad. I was like, I want to be a cameraman for this guy, I'll apply, and I'll never get them. I was like, why can I not get it? It's because God knew that I was gonna be my own creator and do things for my own self besides working for someone else. You know what I mean? So there's something happening that's in your life, and you always had to look at the positive side of it. What you just said, yeah, it's like they're not failures, they're lessons, and you learn from them, and then you're like, okay, how can we go forward from this? Now, how can I change it up? It's always about being a little like strategize it a little bit and just keep going forward, man. Just keep pushing.

SPEAKER_01 55:37

Is this journey that you're on about changing the world or changing yourself?

SPEAKER_00 55:42

Changing the world. I mean, myself is gonna change. I'm I feel myself getting a little older, you know. Mentally, you know, when you get older, you think a little differently. So that's gonna happen naturally. But changing the world is what makes me like it is sparks up something in me. If I can add a skate park and make all those kids happy, that'll be sick. And if I can make like a big community or something, like that makes me happy, man.

SPEAKER_01 56:04

When this is all over, who do you think you'll be?

SPEAKER_00 56:07

Uh the journey after this journey. Oh man, I'm probably gonna be. I have another journey I'm thinking. I'm thinking about another journey. I'm okay. Oh, shoot. I mean, I I told a couple of homies, but yeah, I have another journey I want to do. Um, that's if uh if if it works out, because this one is gonna be super crazy. Like, I don't think it's I don't think it's possible, but we're gonna see if it's possible. I feel I can make it work. I want another. All right. Um, man, some of it, some of them, someone might do it though.

SPEAKER_01 56:40

Okay, let me put it. We're gonna talk over it. Then put it in there.

SPEAKER_00 56:43

Yeah, yeah. It's not it's not it's your journey, we don't want someone to steal it. I'll just say I don't care. If it happened to happen, I'm not, I don't the thing about like when I do these journeys, I don't like to be the one and be like, oh, the first to do it, or like give me a world. That's not the reason you're doing it. Yeah, so if someone does it, they do it, which I don't know, I don't think anyone will, but I wanted to skateboard across um or yeah, let's just say skateboard, skateboard across Antarctica. I want to go to Antarctica and do something. I don't think so. That's the crazy thing, right?

SPEAKER_01 57:12

So he's not here right now, but he knows Antarctica very well. He's actually busy walking across Greenland unsupported at the moment. Um, he is a gentleman named Harry von der Volt, South African. He was on my podcast. You'll see the previous episodes, yeah. Um, but right now he's in Greenland and he's walking across Greenland unsupported. Oh shit, that's dumb, that's dope. I think it's about 550 kilometers. Wow. Um that he's walking across. So I will, when he gets back, I'm gonna reach out to him and I'll connect you to. And you can ask him questions about Antarctica.

SPEAKER_00 57:46

He will know if it's possible or not. So there's this guy I'm following right now. He like biked a long distance into Japan. I don't know where he started, I forgot. But he biked a long distance to Japan. He just finished his journey and he was really popping. His name's Ian. They're riding with Ian or something on Instagram. Okay, I'll check it out. So now he said his next journey, he wants to bike across Antarctica, I believe. So if you can bike, I'm sure you can skateboard. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, I was thinking that too.

SPEAKER_01 58:11

Design special wheels, man. Yeah, yeah. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 58:13

Like, I don't like right now, it doesn't seem possible to me, but I know if I build something or if I connect something to do it, even at no sponsors, like if no one wants to get a part of it, like I want, I really want to get Red Bull as a sponsor. I want to be an athlete for Red Bull one day and do these crazy things, and that's what I want. That's my goal in life right now. As if I if I want to have a goal and just have little you know achievements, that's what I want.

SPEAKER_01 58:35

The amount of Red Bulls I drink on a daily basis, you should sponsor this man just because of the amount I drink.

SPEAKER_00 58:43

Please, Red Bull. And the cool thing out here in South Africa, I'm actually connected to them, uh, the guy in Cape Town. So we're gonna try to do something really cool with Red Bull athlete. When you get there, yeah, that's the thing. So that'll be awesome. But yeah, I want to be a Red Bull athlete, and if if they want to be a part of that, I'll be cool. But if not, I'll just do it solo again.

SPEAKER_01 58:59

So finishing this journey or any of your other big journeys, the Japan, the America, there must be a come down.

SPEAKER_00 59:08

Oh, yeah, it's like um I forgot the word of it. It's like there's like a word, but there is a come down because you hit hit to so high peak, and I'm telling you, you feel like a freaking superstar, bro, and you feel like amazing, and then after it all cools down, you're just like you're like, Whoa, what uh like a depression almost? Yeah, yeah. What is it? What is it called, man? I wish I knew what it called. It's like a like a you know post, I don't know. It's it does give you that depression though, because you you sit back with yourself and you're like, no, it's just you.

SPEAKER_01 59:38

So what do you do? Do you take it all in? Do you sit there and think about the journey?

SPEAKER_00 59:42

Yeah, it makes you overthink sometimes, and obviously that's the reason you book the next one so quickly. Yeah, that's why I book them so fast because I want to feel that again. Um, but yeah, it's like uh it's like a depression, you get like really sad. Uh, I think the last time I did that was in Japan when I came back. I just kind of like gained a lot of weight. I was eating a lot, bro, and like it was crazy. And that's why I started running too, because of that. I wanted to feel the endurance thing. Um, but yeah, after that, you just overthink a lot. I feel like. But now, since it's my third one, I'm I'm already aware like that's gonna happen. So I gotta just keep reminding myself, like, yo, you're gonna go home. Probably no one's gonna really care. It's fine. Like, just we have a next journey to go ahead, you know what I mean? We just gotta keep going. And um, yeah, that's all that's why I'm gonna deal with it. I'm gonna deal with it like that. And I'm gonna train a lot for my runs. So I'm gonna keep I'm gonna stay busy. So I'm gonna make sure I'm not like thinking about it too hard.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:32

Jay, you said something which I find crazy and I've learned in the the last few months. That no matter what you do, they are people actually don't even care. Yeah, like people don't even care what you've done.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:46

Yeah, I try to be optimistic. Exactly. I try to be optimistic to tell people, like, yeah, people care, but at the end of the day, like, hey, they don't really care. You know what I mean? Like, you're gonna do something, it's like everything's on social media now, everything's a swipe away, we're all just doom scrolling. There's always gonna be a next person doing something crazy. Um, so you just have to do it for yourself in a way, and like if you can do it for other people, yeah. In this sense, um, I'm not doing it for like yeah, post-social media content, but I love like posting my stuff and inspires people, but at the same time, like I kind of just do it for myself, and now that I got like a new thing where I could do it for like the skate park and the kids, that's how I kind of like focus mainly on my energy on more than just like the internet and stuff. So um, I mean, no one cares at the end of the day, so you just gotta keep on going, bro. Like, that's I that's all I that's literally all my motto is just keep pushing because that's all you could do. Like, I would you a lot of people probably hear me say that just keep going and I don't know, you gotta not think about it. So simple. I'm like, I try to keep it as simple as possible for my for my small brain. I just say, like, yo, just keep going.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:52

Okay, what is next? After this, after this journey, what is what is next? I know there's thoughts of you just said a little bit, but what is next for Jay?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:01

Uh, going back home after Cape Town. I'm gonna stay in Cape Town for like a week and a half, maybe. Okay, lots to do in Cape Town, lots to do in Cape Town. But taste the wine. Taste the wine, meet the people, climb table mountain, table mountain, go skating, climb table mountain. Oh, climb it, climb it, not the not the belt thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:18

So I've got a few ultra the ultra runner, ultra distance runners, um friends in Cape Town that I can connect you to when you're there. Please, uh, I'll go running with it. So when you're there, I'll connect you to my friend. You'll take you on something called the Tuesday Trails. They take you into the most amazing parts.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:36

Please, I'll get my shoes. I'll buy some shoes out there.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:38

I'm sure you can get what size are you? I'm uh 10. Okay, I'm sure we can make a plan for shoes out there. I'll be sick. Um, I'll connect you to I'll try to even connect you to to to Ryan Sands, who is South Africa's number one trail runner and lives in Cape Town. Nice. Okay, so we'll see how we can do the connections when you get there. Okay, so spend some time there.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:57

I'll spend like a week, maybe two weeks in there. That's why my plan, and then I fly home, I'm going back to LA, and then um, I gotta get all my stuff out of my apartment, apartment, put it into storage, and then just kind of chill and just figure out what I do from there. Just kind of just live life a little bit, enjoy it. Take it all in. Yeah, hang out with my family.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:14

How many days do you think is left of this journey?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:16

Uh, probably like 40 more days. Okay, so quite a while. Yeah, still a while.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:21

From Joburg, you're going to Durban.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:22

You're going to Durban, spending some time in Durban. Um, probably like five days or so, maybe four. Okay. And then um, from Durban, we're just blasting it to Cape Town. Meeting some, we're gonna meet some people along the way, though. We have some stops to make. Okay. So yeah. Everyone's everyone's a lot of people are on the coast side right there. Um on the the garden route. A lot of people are there.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:41

So how many kilometers have you done so far since this has started?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:46

Maybe around like 4,000?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:47

He's almost 4,000 kilometers on that skateboard.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:50

I think around like 4,000, yeah. That's what I'm trying to think. I haven't been counting it recently. I was counting it, but I stopped because it's so much. Okay, but it's a lot, bro. We're far from we'll figure it out at the end. Yeah, I think we're almost there. The end of it is gonna be like six thousand something. Yeah, so okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:07

Let's just remind everyone, and we'll post it on our side too. Social media, Jay Films, yeah. Jay Films with two A's. Okay, your GoFundMe page. Go fund me, it's all on my link in my link is in your bio. Anyone want to support Jay? Any amount matters, even if it's a small amount, guys. Don't think there's such a thing as a small amount. When you want to build skate park for a kid, any amount matters.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:31

Every amount matters, bro. Like you you'd be surprised. Sometimes like a dollar or two does go a long way, and it's it helps out with materials, hiring builders, and you know, securing the land, there's a lot that goes into it. So, uh, first it's uh twenty thousand dollars is for the land. So we're looking for land at the moment, and then after that, um, everything else is just for like the materials and everything like that. So the main goal we're trying to get is two hundred thousand dollars. Okay, so it's a big amount, it's huge, but that'll be possible. That'll be good for the support, we can do this. Yeah, everyone's support it. I know it's out there, people are out there, nice people, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:06

What do you want people to feel or to do after hearing your story about all your journeys?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

Yeah, I just want them to, you know, do whatever they want, you know. If you want to live your life however it is, man, just enjoy yourself. Enjoy it. And then if people like watching the content like this, it's cool. And but if you want to do it yourself, you know, just know everything anything's possible, man. Like people will tell you something different. Uh, just don't listen to them. Whatever it is in your life, just go chase it, try stuff out, and just don't give up. And yeah, just have fun with your life and love your family and love uh yeah, that's pretty much it. Yeah, just enjoy your life. Jay. Thank you. Hey, brother, and I wish you the best on the rest of your journey. Thank you. We're out.