As I am sure you can imagine, people tend to have one or two questions when we tell them that we are spending our summer kayaking down the Mississippi River to fight sex trafficking. Here is a list of some of the more common questions that we have received so far.
Are Kayaks even allowed on the Mississippi?Yes, kayaks and canoes are permitted to be on Mississippi all the way from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico.
Do other people do this?While kayaking the Mississippi is certainly not common, it has been done. A quick search on Google will pull up several accounts of others who have made the trip down the Mighty Mississippi.
Where will you sleep?The vast majority of our nights will be spent outdoors in our tent. In Minnesota there are numerous canoe campgrounds. Between Minnesota and St. Louis the abundant sandbars should frequently provide safe campsites. South of St. Louis we will most likely be forced to search a little harder for campsites a safe distance from the river.
Will you be taking Sundays off like you did on the Spoke Bike Trip?Yes, for the sake of our bodies and our sanity we will set aside each Sunday for rest. We will also try to arrange spending our Sundays in populated areas and connected with a local church whenever possible.
How long will it take you and how many miles will you have to travel a day?We are allowing approximately two months to travel the 1,700 miles from Minneapolis, MN to New Orleans, LA. In order to complete the trip in 60 days we will be required to travel at a rate of 30-35 miles per day (excluding Sundays.)
How will you replenish your supplies?A benefit of traveling by kayak is that we will have more than ample space to store food and fresh water for many days. As it is we will, on average, pass through several small towns each day in which we can purchase food, water, and basic supplies. When no towns are on the horizon, however, we will be able to easily travel 4-5 days with what we can carry.
Can you leave your kayaks unguarded?
One advantage of travel in a group of three is that we will be able to leave someone within sight of our kayaks in towns. When we are all required to be away from the kayaks we will carry our most valuable items in pack backs and secure our kayaks with special
kayak locks. Even with these precautions we will want to avoid leaving our kayaks unguarded for long periods of time.
How do your parents feel about this? We are blessed to have the full support of our parents. We will be carrying our cell phones and you can rest assured that we will be racking up the minutes with our moms.
What safety precautions are you taking?While there are no rapids on the Mississippi it is still a powerful river and its dangers need to be taken seriously. Aside from the river itself other dangers will include weather, animals, barges, and people. The risk involved with each of these dangers can be greatly reduced in four ways; education, preparation, cooperation, and common sense.
Education- All three of us are currently educating ourselves about the Mississippi river as well as about kayaking in general. We are learning much about the dangers associated with both. We are also learning the correct steps to take in the event that we do find ourselves in an emergency situation. Examples of things that we are researching include: how to avoid alligators, what to do when the kayak capsizes, which snakes are poisonous, how to find safe places to camp along the river.
Preparation-As we learn about how to stay safe on our trip we also learn about certain things we can bring to be properly equipped to avoid dangers and handle emergencies. We intended to be as prepared as possible for any situation that may arise. First and foremost, this will mean bringing life jackets. We will also be bringing an extensive first aid kit, snake bite kit, water filter, extra paddle, patch kit, whistles, water proof matches, cell phones, and weather radio in addition to a slew of other things for our preparedness.
Cooperation-The fact that we are traveling in a group of three is another great advantage. Simply looking out for one another will increase our ability to stay safe. Also, having three kayaks means that damaged kayaks (or damaged kayakers) can be towed to safety.
Common Sense-Rest assured that along with our water proof watches and life jackets we will be packing our common sense. This more than anything will perhaps be our greatest ally. Common sense screams things such as “stay far away from barges!” or “don’t kayak in a lightening storm!” We, being fairly level headed guys, intend to apply our college educations and make intelligent decisions regarding safety.
What about mosquitoes?Dealing with mosquitoes is simply going to be an unpleasant reality on this trip (especially in the mornings and evenings.) We will bring tons of repellent, wear masks when necessary, and sleep in a tent or mosquito nets.
How will this trip enable you to fight against sex trafficking?Our aim is to impact sex trafficking by raising awareness about the issue and by raising money help fight against it. Raising awareness gives people an opportunity to become actively involved in fighting and praying against sex trafficking. If people are unaware they are guaranteed to do nothing. Raising money helps the victims of sex trafficking directly by paying for the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. It also helps them by providing for their after care needs. So how does our trip actually make an impact in these two areas?
Awareness- Our out of the ordinary trip will create interest that will provide a platform for talking about sex trafficking. As Justin and Ethan discovered on the
bike trip across America nine times out of ten, when having a 10 minute conversation with someone about the trip, they will end up asking, “So, why are you guys doing this anyway.” These conversations will provide hundreds of opportunities to share with people who likely know very little, if anything, about sex trafficking.
It is also our aim to spread awareness throughout the body of Christ as we travel. We will take advantage of all opportunities to share with churches that we visit on Sundays as well at our home churches and any other church that will have us before or after our trip.
Media coverage is another avenue through which we can spread awareness. Without the kayak trip no one much cares to know about what we have to say, however, by using the interest garnered from our trip, we gain an audience and credibility. As our trip approaches we will begin to seek coverage from local media sources. Our website will play a major role in helping people who hear about us to learn more about our cause.
In all these ways we will not only be able tell people about sex trafficking but also about our Biblical reasons for taking action against it.
Money-Just as our trip serve as a platform for raising awareness it will also serve as a platform for raising money. Much like a runner of a 5k run for the cure, we will seek sponsors for out trip. We will seek sponsors from individuals, businesses, and churches.
How will you get yourselves and your kayaks to the Twin Cities?While the three of us will be flying, we must find an alternate travel mode for our kayaks. Freight shipping companies will cost around $200 but we are still open to creative suggestions.
Please feel free to ask us any further questions you may have regarding our trip. We understand that these answerings probably only lead to more questions. So let us know and we can add them to list for everyone.
