Well, I made a pledge to myself that I would be better about sharing/documenting my work throughout the year. To make that a reality, I decided to try my hand at documenting my travels via video -- and not just photo like I've, well, loosely done in the past.

I've never done anything like this before. The most I've ever done when it comes to filming myself in front of the camera is promoting a record I put out in 2011, a few Instagram videos playing music, and a few positive messages posted a few years back on Facebook.

The purpose of my trip out to St. Louis was to film disaster services (specifically All Hands Volunteers, in this case) responding to flooding that occurred at the beginning of 2016. All Hands Volunteers has been there for a few weeks now, and they expect to be there for another 2 (I thought I heard maybe 3) months. The primary purposes for filming the cleanup efforts was for both my employer and a national promotional video I'm producing for another charitable organization.

Let me know how bad of a start this is. I'm planning on traveling to a different state each month, be it for work or leisure. We'll see how it goes.

Casey Neistat's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/caseyneistat

I'm fortunate enough to do something I love for a living. I never know what to label my trade -- and my actual job title never accurately captures what I do -- so that's why you find "Multidisciplinary Designer" on the landing page of my website. Currently and more specifically, my job involves both video production and graphic design. Photography enters the picture (eh? eh?) every now and again, as well.

I'm incredibly grateful and fortunate that my work has taken me all across the country, which has certainly made it better but, most of all, has humbled me. You grow up and think that the world is one way, but then you start to travel and see how your "world" is just part of a larger galaxy of life, right here on Earth. I traveled before my career started, but I think I've become even more appreciative of the experiences I have on the road while traveling for work. When you spend your days in front of a computer and in an office, you can start to feel like there is no world beyond the digital one we've constructed as a society. And there are areas of this digital world that are both depressing and very, very ugly.

I was really caught on this through the majority of 2015 until I started heading out on the road for a particular project. Whether it was in the airport, at the car rental desk, in the hotels, or on the locations I was filming, I met some very rad (it's a professional term, I swear) people. These people restored my faith in humanity, even if our interactions were simply for a few minutes. It helped remind me that the most rewarding, beautiful place is the real world -- not the "real world" we tend to get tied up in or entirely lost in that only exists online. We've definitely let this digital world negatively affect our perception of the real world, which is unfortunate, obviously. So much of the negativity and hate you find now is most certainly rooted in the digital world. People take things they see there and without hesitation assign them to be absolute truths about real life things.

Anyways, the photo you see above is a still from this project I traveled for throughout 2015. The video itself doesn't reflect my sentiment in the prior paragraphs (it was work-related), but it was an important project for me because of what it allowed me to see, what it allowed me to experience. From a hydroelectric facility in Connecticut to a solar powered distribution facility in California, I had a great time. What's more, I, along with the support and assistance of my fantastic colleagues and friends, spearheaded the project from scripting to storyboarding to filming to post-production. Typically with projects like these, you have a team, but, in many cases, I was forced to rely on myself. Some of the content was outsourced, some was repurposed from unused footage, and a lot of it was me running around with one camera, three lenses, one tripod, and some audio equipment. I traveled around with a massive 60-70lbs Pelican road case in addition to my suitcase. I scouted the shots; I set up the shots; I shot the shots; I edited the shots. So this project kicked my ass both mentally and physically, especially since it was just one of a number of commitments I had throughout the year. Regardless, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I won't share too many details of the video beyond that, but it will soon be publicly available for viewing. It's nothing top secret, but it hasn't been rolled out socially yet. I'll post it on the blog when it goes live.

Be Rad / Stay Positive / Cheers.

Tinker Hatfield, one of my favorite designers, once said, "I have this philosophy that every time I draw something or sit down to try and design, whatever I do is a culmination of everything that I have seen, done and experienced in my life before that point in time.” I couldn't agree more.

Now, everyone has their own unique path in life, but as someone in a creative field, I'd have to argue that traveling outside your hometown or home state at least once in your life is absolutely a must. We could talk about the general benefits of traveling outside your normal surroundings, but let's just focus on design.

Whether you see it, or realize it, our world is ruled by design -- from how our toothbrush is used to how we are sold consumer goods. Design, much like music, is a universal language. A design that means one thing in the US might mean something else in the UK, but the way that design is used is universal: to grab your attention and communicate a specific message. I'm fortunate enough that I get to travel all around for work, and I can confidently say that experiencing different cultures and environments beyond the familiar have changed my life and greatly influenced my eye for design. Get out there before life passes you by.

What do you think?

Anyways, just sitting here for another 5 hours in the airport and felt inspired to do a quick post.

Cheers.