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About
Filmtrips
By Mark McMahon
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It all began with
a commitment.
A commitment to take six months off and do
what I loved. To travel
and take pictures. I wanted an adventure. I wanted to drive
from my
home in Tucson all the way to the tip of South America.
That
commitment led to a shift, a shift into living a life beyond
my dreams.
The commitment was partly motivated by the
death of my father. I remember when it hit me, driving home
one evening. I remember
the exact stretch of road where I realized: "I'M GONNA
DIE TOO!"
I can't worry about what anyone else thinks. I gotta get
on with
MY LIFE and DO WHAT I WANNA DO!! This was early 1999.
Suddenly I had a laser focus on the day I had chosen to
depart,
November 1, 1999. (Keep that date in mind.)
No matter what it took I was gonna make it happen. I had
a busy
dental practice with an associate dentist working for me
at the time.
I told him if he wanted to stay with the office he had to
buy a portion
of the practice. I wanted to be able to leave with the confidence
that my practice would be taken care of during my six-month
absence. I told my associate dentist that he could buy a
quarter
or a one third interest in the practice. He said he wanted
to buy
half. I said no, I didn't want a full partner. Off the top
of my head,
without really thinking I said, "You can buy a third
or you can buy
the whole thing." Much to my surprise, he said he wanted
to buy
all of it!
Hmm?
This was something I had not really considered. At the time
I had
recently started a marketing company for other dentists,
built
around a successful TV infomercial I had created for my
own practice.
The company had had some success but it was not taking off
like
I had hoped. Shortly thereafter I got offers to buy some
assets of my young company, specifically the videotape I
had created and the
company name, SmileWorks, which I had trademarked. Keep
in
mind that this was 1999, the craziest of the Dotcom craze.
One
thing led to another and I ended up selling all three items:
my
dental practice, the videotape, and the trademark. All three
different deals were closed and signed on the same day,
November 1, 1999. I had earned a small fortune and my freedom.
Before long I was on the road and south of the border. I
created a
website (www.filmtrips.com) to document my six month journey.
Six months turned into four years and a new way of life
for me! I wrote and photographed my way through 16 different
countries. I posted over 120 stories and 1000 photographs
online. I pursued my primary passion for photography and
discovered a new one for writing. I am currently working
on a novel inspired by my adventures in Latin America. "On
the Streets & Between the Sheets" will be out October
1, 2004.
It all starts with a commitment! Until one is committed
there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there
is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless
ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely
commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of
things occur to help one that would never otherwise have
occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents
and meetings and material assistance, which no man could
have dreamt would come his way. I have learned a deep respect
for one of Goethe's couplets:
"Whatever you can
do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."
–From The
Scottish Himalayan Expedition, by W. H. Murray
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