Hey everyone : ]

My name is Thorin Loeks; I am a 23 year old musician/adventurer/borther/son/friend trying to raise money to fund a documentary about happiness and what people find meaningful in their lives while paddling down the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to New Orleans this coming summer. I also, over the 3 months of paddling, hope to raise money for troubled youth empowerment initiatives and shelters but I need more funding to make this turn into a reality.

I grew up in an unusual place, Whitehorse, Yukon: a small capital of one of Canada's northernmost territories. Spending my youth growing up close to wild places, I realized from a young age how powerful building relationships with nature and community simultaneously have been in my development and health.

Through spending some years traveling the world, including bicycling 4000 miles on my own across North America from Astoria, Oregon to Portland, Maine (reached last August), which I funded through playing music and working odd jobs in towns and communities along the way, I've met some incredible people and have had the privilege to visit and spend time in some amazing communities. This doesn't make me blind to the challenges that many of us face in a world full of uncertainty; but my experiences have helped me realize how much good there still is in this world, and how many of us play a part in that.

The purpose behind my trip is to fundraise and advocate for youth empowerment and health, but also to hopefully delve more into what people find meaningful in their lives. I'd also like to ask people I meet on the river and in the communities I would be paddling past, 2,300 miles down the Mississippi from the trickling northern headwaters to the mile wide mouth that empties into the Gulf of Mexico, what they each believe makes up a good life and what they would like to pass on to future generations?

The funding I am trying to do is to pay for decent camera equipment and a boat that will allow this trip to occur and be documented successfully while being a full time college student during the winters. My past adventures, using just enough money to get by and taking photos and videos with an ipod camera, while very rewarding, haven't allowed me to share my experiences with others who weren't there, as richly as I would have liked. Writing about them is what I will likely do in hindsight, but in our world of ever improving technology, I feel like filming a documentary with decent equipment which would allow me to capture more of what I will be experiencing/searching for, would be a more meaningful way to share my journey with others.

Thanks for your consideration and support in making this dream happen! : ]

Thor

P.S: Also if you would like to continue to follow this adventure/project please check out my blog: Letslivelikewemeanit.tumblr.com