Road Trip!

Hitting the highway in a mobile school of life.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

Staff Writer

S

amantha Weiss of West
Bloomfield spent July traveling
the country being filmed for a
TV show — all because her friend
Andrew Smith couldn't resist picking
up a discarded poster picturing a giant
green recreational vehicle (RV).
'Andy saw it, called me and said,
`Someone is looking to pay for people
to go on a road trip this summer,'" said
22-year-old Weiss. "We asked our
friend Jeff Klapperich to join us and we
sent in an application."
The next thing they knew, the three
had been chosen by Roadtrip Nation to
journey from Seattle to New York City,
asking notables — ranging from politi-
cians and celebrities to businesspeople
and medical professionals — how they
got to where they are today.
"The students have the opportunity
to interview people and learn about
careers that they otherwise may not
have known existed," said Cecily
Olson, Roadtrip Nation's marketing
director. "Our premise is, 'How do you
know what you want to do with your
life if you're not sure about career possi-
bilities that exist outside of your family,
friends and community?'"
The 3-year-old organization was
founded by recent college grads who —
through their own travels and inter-
views — found their answer was to
offer the same opportunity to others.
Roadtrip Nation partners with the
State Farm Insurance-sponsored
"Behind the Wheel" program, coordi-
nated with college career centers,
including the one at Pratt Institute in
Brooklyn, where Weiss is a senior and
Smith and Klapperich, both 22, are
alumni.
Participants are chosen based on their
personalities, interests and interviewing
skills. Teams had to have a good rela-
tionship with one another.
"They look for teams of friends to
apply together," said Weiss, a
Bloomfield Hills Andover High School
graduate. "This is not a reality show
about being crammed into an RV and
fighting. It's about having the experi-
ence together."

On The Road

Weiss's team's adventure began at
the Roadtrip Nation headquar-
ters in Laguna Beach, Calif,
where they painted their RV
neon green and learned to drive
it.
There they also met members
of this summer's two additional
teams, one setting off from San
Francisco, the other from Los
Angeles. They would reunite in
New York on Aug. 1.
Weiss, Smith and Klapperich
then made their way to Seattle to
begin their journey, accompanied
by a two-man film crew who
recorded their interviews and
Andrew Smith of Brooklyn, JeffKlapperich of Boulder and Samantha Weiss of West Bloomfielc4
experiences for the 2005 national all 22, stand near their neon green RV summer traveling home.
PBS-TV documentary series,
Destination Unknown. Next
at Northwestern University and a chil-
ing," Weiss said. Microsoft also provid-
spring, a book including journal entries
dren's advocate."
ed
MP3
players
so
the
group
could
lis-
and photos of this summer's partici-
In California, they met with Phil
ten
to
music.
pants will be published.
Bronstein, executive vice president and
The
three
took
turns
at
the
wheel.
"If
The trio determined the route and
editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. In
all else doesn't work out I can always
choice of interviews. Without air con-
Washington,
they interviewed Amir
drive a city bus," Weiss joked. "The RV
ditioning in the RV, they tried to steer
Majidimehr, corporate vice president of
has
the
same
chassis
as
a
Greyhound."
clear of some of the warmer areas. And
the Windows Digital Media Division of
they made a point of stopping in each
Microsoft Corporation.
of their hometowns, visiting Smith's
Talk
To
Me
"But it's not really about big names,"
family in Seattle and Klapperich's in
Samantha Weiss said. "We spoke not
Securing
interviews
wasn't
always
easy
Boulder, Colo.
only with people who are financially
— or successful.
The RV spent part of the week of
successful, but who are successful
"A
lot
of
people
we
called
said
no,
July 19 parked on a West Bloomfield
because they are happy with who they
even though we sent them a DVD of
street in front of Weiss' family's home,
are and what they are doing.
the
previous
season's
show
so
they
while the group visited her parents -
"We learned so many things from the
would
have
an
idea
of
what
we
were
Linda and Steven and brother Jeffrey,
knowledge and experience of those we
doing,"
Weiss
said.
20.
interviewed," Weiss said. "But one of
During their four days in Detroit,
"It was so great to see the RV that
the biggest things was something we
the
three
conducted
interviews,
includ-
they had been traveling in," Linda
learned from people like Molly Lewis,
ing
one
with
Dr.
Adrian
Kantrowitz,
Weiss said. "The five of them get along
executive director of Music for America
who
performed
the
first
human-to-
so nicely and it was wonderful to see
in Seattle, who registers young voters at
human heart transplant in America; an
Samantha put herself in an equal posi-
concerts. She's only 25, but she left a
executive
from
Jeep
in
Auburn
Hills;
tion with the four men. She said they
good job when she found an issue she
and Grace Lee Boggs of the Boggs
kept telling her they needed her to
really cared about.
Center
and
Freedom
Schools
in
clean up after them, but she told them
"We realized that making money is
Detroit.
They
were
also
able
to
get
to do it themselves. I saw the inside of
not the most important thing. It's being
press
passes
to
hear
President
George
the RV and clearly no one cleaned."
passionate and caring about what you're
While on the road, the group slept in W. Bush speak at the annual conference
doing," said Weiss, a photography
of the National Urban League along
the RV on couches and a dinette table
major.
with
the
Revs.
Jesse
Jackson
and
Al
that folded out into beds. With
And in that sense, the group also was
Sharpton.
Starbucks Coffee as a sponsor of the
able to reinforce something significant
While
in
Chicago,
the
team
spoke
project, they were able to check their e-
about their own futures. "It's probably
with Bernardine Dohrn, a leader of the
mail in Starbucks stores along the
unusual, but being on the road, hearing
1970s
Weather
Underground,
criticized
route.
from others about being passionate
for
its
use
of
violence
to
gain
social
and
"We also were given laptops from
about what they do, helped us realize
political
change.
"She
was
an
activist-
Microsoft, so we watched movies on
that all three of us already are."
terrorist who turned her life around,"
the computers while we were travel-
Weiss said. "Now she's a law professor

❑

jN

8/20
2004

17

