Well, it’s only six hours now until Rob lands in Istanbul… it’s also about six and a half hours until the first tram starts running so hopefully they lose his luggage or something and buy us a bit of time to get there. If only he’d flown Aeroflot instead of Turkish Airlines, he’d be stranded somewhere near Moscow right now and we’d have plenty of time to grab breakfast, see some sites, and meander to the airport before some percentage of him and or his luggage arrived.

Aeroflot! The official airline of Jet Set Zero and the Russian Federation!

When Rob arrives he’ll have a full 3 hours to relax in our hostel room until we’ve got to gather up our bags and move locations again. Apparently the place, which has been all but abandoned this weekend, has suddenly filled all of its available rooms for Monday night.  Strangely Hostel World claims it’s got availability in every type of room, so maybe we just smell funny… I’m not sure. On the plus side, we’re in the heart of Sultanahmet only a block away from the Blue Mosque so at least if we end up sleeping on the streets it’s a fantastic view!

Today is the first day that we get to share the heart of our project with you. Countless hours of hard work, thought, passion, and dedicated effort have come together to make this story and it’s telling possible. Every day we get to do this is a testament to a basic belief – that passion and a dream can change the world.  We have a simple goal: to tell a story about how living your dreams everyday is possible with friendship, hard work, and the unwillingness to ever accept defeat.  Through each episode we hope we can bring you along to see how far that tenet will take us.

I cannot express how grateful I am that we get to do this, a once in a lifetime project helped every step of the way by the support of family,  friends,  and the most dedicated, intelligent and passionate team I have ever seen in my life.  They have taken a daring dream and turned it into the story you see here.

Rob, Dan, Matt, Jed, Bryan, Kevin -  after all the long talks, planning, emails, spreadsheets, calls , saving, starving, brewing, folding, serving, selling, filming, editing, working,  and dreaming – we finally did it. We made it happen, and no matter what comes next it’s going to be amazing.

The guys just prior to departure.

Today is a very big day in this start-up’s history. The first episode of our show is now available on our front video page, and I couldn’t be prouder. We spent many long days and sleepless nights pulling this together, and to see that work finally materialize into a product is a feeling I could never adequately describe.

Episode 1 establishes the cast of the show and solidifies a few of our core principals: friendship, responsibility, and empowerment. You see our house, me moving out with Sonya, and the relief of leaving the place behind. You see the excitement and obviuos anxiety during our long trip. More than all of these though, I hope we communicate just why we are doing this.

It’s always nerve-racking to see yourself on film. I look painfully tired as I explain that Sonya is leaving; my posture is terrible in the interviews; I should have worn a nicer shirt. It’s easy to be too self-critical. I have noticed, nonetheless, that after 20 hours of filming a week, you stop carefully controlling your appearance. Looking at this episode, I can’t help but think of how many times I appear on camera immediately after waking up, or in any of a number of embarrassing states of dress. Jed is one powerful man.

I hope you all enjoy this episode, and we look forward to bringing you more. As always, please leave comments.

Every great journey begins with the shortest of steps. Not every great journey begins at SEA/TAC though.