moment touraha tour blog | the latest from the road
about the tour
We're hitting the road again! Starting May 9th, the 2011 aha Moment Tour will kick off its third year by traveling the country to capture more incredible aha moments, and we want you to share your story with us! We'll be visiting 25 cities over five months in our custom mobile studio, looking for inspirational stories from people like you. If you're interested in sharing your aha moment, email tour@ahamoment.com or sign up on our website to reserve your spot when we hit your town.
the tour staff
Jessica Henry - Tour Producer
Years on tour: 2
Meet Jessica Henry — she's the Southern flair and Yelp app extraordinaire to the aha moment tour. A lifelong traveler herself, Jessica will always consider "home" to be in Athens, Georgia, a quaint Southern gem of a town recognized for its notable food and music scene. When she’s not on tour, Jessica travels and works in an office building like everyone else, and when she’s not doing any of those things, she writes, serves in her community, and enjoys the merits of a full kitchen.
As a returning crewmember, Jessica looks forward to meeting thousands of incredible people and sharing laughs, tears and high-fives over their stories. She’s in continual search for the best meal across America so please assist her Yelp/Google Maps/Urbanspoon endeavors with any ideas of your own.
Read Jessica's wrap up from last year’s tour
aha "fun facts:"
Favorite way to pass travel time:
Reading, which inevitably leads to napping. She looks forward to enjoying both on the tour again this summer.
Most memorable meal on tour:
Eating at Rhinehart’s Oyster Bar in Augusta, Georgia. After hearing a woman’s aha moment about starting a restaurant, she invited the team over for dinner and the group exchanged a wonderful night of laughs, stories and fried food (including oysters).
http://archive.ahamoment.com/?p=4797
Quirky tour resolution:
Trying to have a cup of locally roasted coffee in each city. She did pretty well. Best cup: Eugene, Oregon.
Most spontaneous adventure on tour:
Joining the Charleston Dragonboat race team for practice at 5a.m. on the lake.
http://archive.ahamoment.com/?tag=dragon-boat-racing
Practical skills acquired on tour:
Survival skills (thanks to Gary) such as how to purify water through sand and how to cook a can of beans in a campfire.
New languages acquired on tour:
Australian. Jessica learned the ropes of the language from fellow aha moment crew member Dave at a Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake City on the 2010 tour. There's more to it than just the accent.
Favorite new experience on tour:
Beat boxing with a rapper on camera in the Airstream in Milwaukee.
Touching moment while on tour:
Recording a pair of aha moments in Providence using an American Sign Language interpreter and her own knowledge of sign language.
Best misunderstanding about the tour:
Someone misreading 'Omaha' on the side of the Airstream and mistaking it to say 'Obama'.
Hidden talent:
Playing foosball... Jessica follows in a family line of impressive foosball players.
Ben Sidoti - Technical Producer
Years on tour: 1
When he's not snapping photos or grooving at a local concert, Ben is trying to perfect his family's secret Sicilian pasta sauce recipe. Born and raised in Atlanta, he was raised by New Yorkers and so a hearty Southern meal with fried chicken, cornbread, and green beans is just as enticing as a piping hot slice of pizza.
A nature nut, he enjoys being outside and considers a dip in a nearby river an appropriate 'shower'. His travels have taken him across the country and throughout Europe but have yet to bring him to any of the stops on this year's tour. Ben, a storyteller at heart and by trade, looks forward to all the cable connecting, button pressing, and knob turning that comes his way this summer to make every story light up on camera.
aha "fun facts:"
Ben is really good at...:
Telling corny jokes to get people to smile on camera.
Go-to Pandora station on the road:
Dispatch radio - cool, collected, and funky.
Favorite way to enjoy a meal:
Eating in the shade, 72 degrees, with a slight gust of wind from the southwest, and the sun at 38 degrees from the horizon.
Quirky tour resolution:
Using only hotel soaps.
Most likely of tour crew to:
Try any type of food at least twice.
Favorite button on the camera:
on-off
Ideal way to spend a day off:
Searching for local breweries and shooting photos of unsuspecting subjects.
Hidden talent:
Has a special palette for all types of salsa, pico de gallo, and guacamole.
Usually passes travel time by:
Listening to his music library consisting of 32,000 songs, enjoying an NPR podcast, or getting sucked into, yet another, HBO series.
Best skills for traveling include:
Sleeping through even the strongest housekeeper's knock.
Gary McKinney — Airstream Driver
Years on tour: 3
Gary McKinney is excited to again be a part of the aha Moment Tour for the third consecutive year. A transporter by trade, Gary is accustomed to pulling trailers and boats across the country. Gary typically drives 5,000 miles a week and his beautiful truck has over a million miles on it. As both crews from the 2009 and 2010 tours learned, Gary loves to "talk shop" and is the resident vehicular expert (thankfully). He also fills various informal tour crew positions such as tour bodyguard and self-defense coach.
Born in Muskegon, Michigan, Gary joined the military shortly after high school in the Communication Electronic Warfare Intelligence department. Although traveling the world and observing enemy lines was highly interesting, he decided to return to life as a civilian and joined forces with his brother at RV Express in 2004.
While his eyes are always on the road, his heart at home in Piqua, Ohio. Gary is the proud father of two, Aaron and Cameron. In his free time Gary enjoys fishing and swimming, loves to go out on the lake and can’t wait to get a new boat!
aha "fun facts:"
Most memorable tour meal:
Lambert’s Café in Joplin, MO from the 2009 tour. Gary loved the country themed environment and it was all you and eat... an easy way to win his heart. He says it was also fun ducking the dinner rolls as the staff tossed them across the restaurant. Lesson learned: Gary likes interactive meals.
Worst driving weather on tour:
Driving between Carmel and South Bend, Indiana on the 2010 tour during severe winds. Gary just hopes he never sees an ice storm on tour--those are apparently the worst to drive in.
Best tire pressure to keep the Airstream tires at:
Gary says: "For the smoothest ride, stay at 45..." 45 PSI that is.
Craziest parking job Gary did with the 34-ft mobile Airstream studio:
In Austin, Texas. There were narrow streets, fancy hotel columns to park between and continuous traffic. "We had to move an antique car," Gary says, "And the construction crew across the street even helped me park, it was crazy!"
Memorable tour adventure:
Camping in Moab, Utah with the 2010 crew because of the adrenaline-inducing climb on the notorious "Lion's Back" trail.
Favorite Tour road meal:
Taco bell...
Best hotel pool on tour:
Asheville, North Carolina. Gary likes to swim at a nice 78 degrees--not a hot weather guy.
Favorite part about being on tour:
Hanging with the tour crew and meeting people from different parts of the country.
Favorite tour memory:
Surviving the 2010 Milwaukee rainstorm. The sky turned green and the Streetza Pizza food truck guys had just arrived to film their aha moment. While stormed in, the crew ended up having an impromptu pizza party in the Airstream with the Streetza guys.
Ideal Airstream towing conditions:
Driving on level ground, with no headwind and moderate temperatures. Oh, and everybody in the truck enjoying the view. And "Rock and Random" playing on Sirius XM.
Natalie Webb - Production Assistant
Years on tour: 1
After circumnavigating the globe for travel production and visiting 19 countries with a camera in one hand and a map in the other, Natalie is excited to hear the aha moments that await in her home country. This journalism school graduate and certified djembe drummer will undoubtedly spice up the tour’s flavor with her love of production, hip-hop and cartography. From playing with baby tigers in Thailand to hot-air ballooning in Turkey, Natalie has a knack for uncovering life's most intriguing stories. When she's not quenching her wanderlust for the road, you can find this adventure magnet frequenting local magic shows, costume parties and circus fitness classes in Atlanta.
There is nothing this native Georgian loves more than meeting new and inspiring individuals, and Natalie will go to great lengths to discover great aha moments. One of her goals this summer, besides learning self-defense moves from Gary, is to spotlight the country’s quirkiest festival or tradition. If you have any leads on this please don’t hesitate to pass along!
aha "fun facts:"
Favorite way to get to know a new city:
Getting the scoop from locals on the town’s "must-sees," while simultaneously teaming up with Jessica on the Best Meal Quest via the help of Urbanspoon and Yelp. She trusts these tools with her whole heart and stomach.
One thing she can’t travel without:
A journal to capture and sketch her epic travel stories. And ear plugs (she’s a light sleeper).
Favorite previous travel moment:
Riding a camel around the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. (Side note: Beware of the two-hour ride. Your leg muscles will want to disown you.)
Favorite meal on the road:
Waffle House. Breakfast is Natalie’s favorite meal and the restaurant's famous jukebox wins her over every time. This summer she hopes to witness Gary order the chain’s hash browns done infamously "all the way."
Best way to entertain the crew during the long drives:
Drawing on her ridiculous plethora of riddles, pictionary games and bad jokes she has stored from over the past 25 years.
Goals for the summer:
Discovering America's most bizarre festival and (separately) tasting the best donut across the country.
Favorite dance move:
The Cyclone.
15 seconds of fame:
Talking on television with Matt Lauer and Al Roker in The Today Show audience while she was wearing giant Mickey Mouse gloves.
Childhood dreams:
Growing up to be a dolphin trainer and famous singer. Combined, she wanted to sing professionally to dolphins. If you have any connections to Sea World, she hasn't completely abandoned the dream.
Ideal travel speed to fall asleep at:
48 mph, Natalie says. Apparently her mom drove her around as a baby to put her to sleep. 48 was also her middle school soccer jersey number. (Go Wolverines.)
Go-to radio (or Pandora station) on the road:
Cruising along the open road calls for The Avett Brothers Pandora station. To stay awake she'd probably mix Kanye West, Beyonce and Passion Pit.
Useful skills for traveling include:
Sleeping in moving vehicles, accepting that her mouth hangs open while asleep in transit (see: gravity), and eating any kind of food found in the middle of Nowhereville.
Ideal way to spend a day off:
Drinking local coffee, dining at local venues, dancing the local dance, and wrapping it all up with a few episodes of The Office.
