Men conquer Tuscaloosa in RV
Wed Nov 25, 2009
Author: Jenny Kushner
Source: The Crimson White
From the West coast to the East, three mid-twenties guys have road tripped in an RV to document various college tailgates in their mission called “Tailgate the Nation.”
This weekend, they conquered Tuscaloosa.
They started Aug. 21 in Los Angeles in a 30-year-old RV purchased from Craigslist a week before they left. Ryan Schortmann, 23, and brothers Jean-Michel Werk, 25, and Stephan Werk, 22, have traveled close to 11,000 miles through 22 states and 14 college games since then.
“What stood out the most to us was the fans are itching to win a national title more than any other place we have been,” Jean-Michel said.
“We had always heard that Saban was god, and we had no idea until we got here that he really is the big man on campus,” he said.
Jean-Michel came up with the idea for the trip a year ago, and he said he knew he needed a team to help film, update the Web site and drive. The three are independently funded and accept donations on their Web site via PayPal.
“We have spent over $3,000 in gas, which has been the most expensive part of the trip, slept in our RV in Walmart parking lots and a junk yard,” Jean-Michel said.
Initially, their goal was to document various collegiate tailgates, but after the first three weeks, Jean-Michel said they were bored. They altered their idea to exploit American culture and highlight the unknown dives in each town.
“The most unique place we have visited was Clarkdale, Miss., in the Delta,” Schortmann said. “It’s one of those towns you drive through and think it’s a piece of s---, but it’s the people who make it. We met a guy who actually carves and makes his own canoes that take nine months to make.”
Their Tuscaloosa tour guide was graduate student Josh Sahib, who met them at the Ole Miss vs. Alabama game.
“They are friendly guys, and I wanted to show them that Tuscaloosa is as great of a college town as the others,” Sahib said. “We are a tailgate nation; Tuscaloosa is right there in the middle of it.”
The travelers used couch surfing through couchsurfing.com to find tour guides for the areas where they stopped.
Jean-Michel said they have enjoyed the Southern comfort, traditions and food.
“A lot of people from the north and the big city assume southerners are a certain way, but honestly we have meet a lot of cool and progressive people,” he said. “It’s one big competition, everyone wants you to have the most fun at their place. Hospitability is huge, whether it’s as simple as giving directions.”
They ate at City Café, Nicks in the Sticks and Hooligans.
“City Café was one of the best places we have been to so far for soul food,” John-Michel said.
The guys left behind a family and friends to take their trip. They are all single, and currently do not have jobs after recently graduating from college.
“When you do something like this, you can’t have any strings attached,” Jean-Michel said. “A lot of our friends couldn’t come on this trip because they had some kind of commitment.”
From a college town aspect, they said they enjoyed Athens, Ga., and would like to move there to do post-production on their documentary.
“It’s really neat because they have such a big music scene, all the bars are awesome, and everything’s pretty cheap up there,” Jean-Michel said.
After they complete their trip, they said they hope to do the trip again, this time with a sponsor.
“We are going to go through all the film and see if it’s even making a movie,” John-Michel said. “Then we are going to do the same tour and get a sponsor, going get students involved and start selling DVDs, and hopefully enter it in some film-festivals.”
John-Michel said a typical weekend in a college town is arriving and a night on the town on Thursday, then on Friday they update their Web site and edit film, and Saturday they wake up and film the tailgating.
“It’s not us just filming drunk people cooking burgers, we get out there early and meet people,” he said. “Once people see us with a camera they usually come up and ask what we are filming for, so we tell them, and they are always nice, welcoming and helpful.”
