On July 7, 2007 Noel Hidalgo set out on a journey around the world supported entirely by contributions of $11.11 made by readers of his web site, ontheluckofseven.com. Donors will get a free copy of his self-published book about this journey, and his site contains incredibly detailed posts both in words, pictures and videos – about his travels. As we write this, Noel is on Day 93 of his trip, so we are not trying to tell his story in detail, but merely to share enough of his posts so that you can see how far a well-formed intention can take you…

Noel’s initial press release:
this is an open-source journey documenting free culture, social innovators and global change.

For seven months, i will stand on the seven continents, dive into the seven oceans, and contemplate seven topics of freedom. while on the way, i will document the journey. this is not my story, this is our story. though your hospitably, donations, projects, connections and friends, our stories will merge into one.

as i wander the earth, my broad shoulders will bear seven topics of freedom: free culture; free and open-source software communities; couchsurfers, bloggers, fellow travelers and vloggers; agents of progressive social change; barcamp, coworking and meetups; climate change and happenstance.

Day One – 07.07.07
today, i embark on a journey. beyond mind, body and soul... today, i journey around the world.

rom now until i land in prague, i will not have internet access. frankly, that doesn't bother me. to be honest, what really bothers me is that i will be wearing the same pair of underwear, pants, shirt, and t-shirt for the next three days. i know that those physical discomforts pail in comparison to the next seven months.

fueled by taurine, nicoteen, water, and the prospect of getting gored by a bull. i am ready for what happens next. i am ready to see the world.

07.16.07
yesterday, i went to the berlin wall. despite the fact that kids tagged freely, i found myself a pilgrim. a pilgrim to a wall of hate, oppression and fascism. the cold cement wall that baked in the sun was not a normal wall. this was a wall erected by men for the obstruction of freedom. frequently, i have found my self building similar walls, but unable to tear them down. unknowing how to free the mind, i've set out on this journey.

09.04.07
i first have to thank so many here in cairo... mardini, nora younis, khalid & his family, omar, amr, alaa & mannal, all the kids at opencraft, meramees & EGLUG... oh and how can i forget happy birthday mohamed?!?

tomorrow (wed), i depart from cairo on a two hour train to alexandria. on the overnight flight to dubai, i'll sleep. on arrival (thurs), i'm going to work on editing video. thursday evening, i'll fly to mumbai and sleep in the airport. friday morning, like linus van pelt, i'll shlep to the proper terminal and fly to new delhi. somewhere around 8 am i'll finally land back in asia...

a lot of people have asked blankly what am i doing... normally, i give them a long winded answer how i'm trying to save the world with a straw hat, beard, camera and cell phone. though, in reality, i'm meeting the world's coolest people. i'm not talking about esquire, high society, nor woman's day... i'm talking honest to god/s, hard working people who don't take smoldering piles of poop from anyone.

despite the fact it's taking me longer to edit video than originally expected, and my ADD ravaged soul has problems being a one man band, i've cranked out 13 videos (6 while on the road, 1 every 10 days... not to shabby). once i land in india, get ready to shoot whiskey and watch one or two more episodes...

09.20.07
i'm still having a hard time letting go of things that i should have given up long ago. somehow i've found away to convince myself that my concerns are valid and important. yet, it's funny to think that when i started this trip, i was convinced that a small group of bloggers would have taken a look at this trip and supported it by taking it to the hinterlands of the internet.

instead, i look at my list of supporters and see list of memories - some fun and some pain. i see friends who have stood by me through thick and thin. i see brothers and sisters of battles long passed. i see allies of a battle we all fight in our hearts.

yet, every morning i wake up thinking that i can find that tipping point within the voices of a few. other times, i debate who's really profiting from this endeavor. if i go around the world supporting open concepts and only receive tung and cheek support from community leaders.... i wonder who am i really supporting.

(ok, the other-side of me laughs at the stupidity of this post... i'm on the other-side of the world. i'm venturing to places i've only dreamed. i am further from home than i've ever been. i'm in rural india being eaten by mosquitos and helping out rural NGOs understand the internet. i am in a dream!)