At some point during the miasma of toga parties, test cramming, make-ups and breakups, most college students find themselves wondering what they’re going to do with their lives. While some shrug their shoulders and go costume shopping for next weekend’s “dress as your favorite cocktail” party, and others apply to graduate school, Cody Shirk, 22, Joel Christensen, 24, and Chris Gordon, 24, decided to embark on an adventure that would teach them many lessons not found in textbooks.
In the fall of 2006, fresh-faced college graduates Christensen and Gordon convened with Shirk, who was still in college, in Malibu to plot a three-month journey throughout Central America with the shared vision of creating “Down the Road,” a documentary film the young men say is intended to educate, entertain and inspire Americans to better understand one another and to rethink their ideas of normalcy. In less than two months, the project gained a flourishing support system that raised $20,000 to cover the costs of film equipment and travel supplies that would sustain 90 hours of footage from Colombia to El Salvador.
Shirk, originally from Malibu, was in his third year at California Lutheran University at the time of the trip. The four-year NCAA water polo player, Los Angeles County lifeguard and Malibu High School alumnus described his choice to join forces with Christensen and Gordon as “a split-minute decision” that ended up changing his life.
“I hadn’t had a break from school and water polo since sixth grade,” Shirk explained. “I randomly met Joel and Chris, and a week later I took a semester off of school, bought plane tickets to Colombia and started packing.
“I don’t know how to describe why I went,” he continued. “I just had this feeling in me-a feeling I think all college students have-that I had to get out of this place!”
Christensen, a San Diego native and Pepperdine University alumnus, discovered his love for travel while studying abroad in France. The current Malibu resident, who runs the financial aspects of “Down the Road” and manages several valet parking operations in the Los Angeles area, said his inspiration to make the documentary was amplified by his own Latin roots.
“One reason [I decided to pursue making “Down the Road”] was to get out and do something that wasn’t typical, something that a college student who had just graduated wouldn’t do,” Christensen said. “What inspired me was that I would regret if I didn’t go for it. Twenty years from now, I want to look back and say ‘yeah, I did that!’
Gordon studied overseas in both Spain and Costa Rica before traveling to Central America with Shirk and Christensen. He said his inspiration to make “Down the Road” was fueled by his “desire to inspire others to live for a greater purpose, to love passionately and to live life to the fullest.”
Gordon married in 2007 and currently lives in Atlanta, Ga. where he works at the Atlanta Union Mission, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending homelessness.
The three young men emphasized the importance of capturing the “tragedy and beauty” of Central America to ensure its accurate depiction in their documentary.
“There is no proper infrastructure for education, which prevents a diverse work force and leads to poverty,” Christensen said. “La Chureca [a city trash dump in Managua, Nicaragua, inhabited by families and notorious for poverty, abuse, addiction and child prostitution] was the pinnacle of the poverty that we saw.”
Shirk agreed, and said most of the tragedies of Central America are products of the government corruption and lack of infrastructure.
Shirk recalled multiple examples of corruption during the span of the trip, which included a flight to Colombia, a sail to Panama (where they bought a car), and long drives to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.
“Police tried to arrest us because we didn’t carry our passports while walking down the street, and we found the only way to register a car in Panama is to pay a specific person to forge registration papers,” Shirk said. “Central America is so rich with culture, natural resources and potential, but all of those qualities are easily overlooked when government and politics get involved.
“All the corruption leads to lack of confidence within the populous of the country, lack of patriotism and lack of motivation to succeed,” Shirk explained.
“It was extremely frustrating for me to come to terms with this reality, but it made me so thankful for the American system of government. An hour wait and a $20 fee at the California DMV is nothing compared to a four-day wait and a $500 fee in Panama.”
From the journey throughout Central America and the making of “Down the Road,” Christensen said he learned how to be content with less.
“I hope the film inspires people to live purposeful lives with outward focuses, outward minds and hearts that are willing to jump into the unknown,” Christensen said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean going to a foreign country- it’s an approach to life. I am moving to Nicaragua in a month with my wife to get a taste of Latin living.”
Christensen, Gordon and Shirk plan to feature “Down the Road” in film festivals and on college campuses with hopes of inspiring people to step out and create their own adventures.
“Ideally, ‘Down the Road’ will become an organization that will promote and support others on their endeavors and that may even produce a series of films,” Christensen said.
Shirk hopes the film inspires people to step out of their comfort zones. “That’s when true life lessons and realizations are obtained,” he said. “The main message is to ‘go down the road,’ whether that means buying plane tickets to Mongolia with no itinerary or walking down your street and finally talking to the neighbor you always pass by.
“[The trip] has totally changed my life,” Shirk said. “I would compare the experience to surfing. You can’t tell someone how a wave feels, you just have to do it. You just have to go on an adventure that takes you out of your bubble.”
A screening of “Down the Road” is scheduled for Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m., at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theater. More information on times and locations of screenings, or on hosting a local screening, can be obtained online at www.downtheroadproject.com