next time you think I’m lucky think about doing it yourself and reach over and grab the phone to buy your plane ticket and see how it feels. If it scares you keep going. You’ve got to take the first step somehow whatever you want to do. If you’re unhap- py than try to do something about it. Did I achieve what I was after? I want-

ed to be happy and now I am. What does that mean exactly? Well everyone is differ- ent but to me it’s not some great ending to a Hollywood movie it’s just simple peace of mind. It’s not getting angry or frustrated while driving, not raising my voice in argu- ments, waiting for my lunch order in the food court and being completely oblivious to how long it’s taking because I’m enjoy- ing watching the everyday activity of the shoppers, making the time for everybody that I meet in my life, spending a moment to talk with them regardless of whether they’re Bono or our local postman. Every- body can be so interesting if you just take the time. One of the most important things for

me is taking control of my creative free- dom and not being afraid to be judged by others because I’m only doing creative things to satisfy myself now. Closely re- lated to that idea is that I’ve made a con- centrated effort to devoid myself of any ego I had before I left and believe me I had one. I liked the fact I could tell people which artists I’d worked with, they found it interesting. The movies I’ve made have given me a great test for my ego. Through countless emails and conversations I’ve had with friends and strangers from around the world I’ve realized how many people I’ve touched with them. That has allowed me to decide what that means to me. Am I excited because of the recognition that brings me or am I deeply affected by the impact I’ve had on other people’s lives. I am glad to report that the latter has won out. Knowing that what I’ve done has in- spired others to do things themselves is a feeling I can’t describe. I’ll be honest most of the things I’ve

learned have come from a book I men- tioned earlier “The Art of Happiness” by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler. It is not a

42

religious book it just describes a way of living from the teachings of Tibetan Bud- dhism. It’s based on always showing com- passion for others which Buddhists believe is at the heart of our being. It’s not for ev- eryone but it’s definitely for me. The stories I’ve heard from others

have really inspired me. I met a couple from North of Toronto who started their own league in their town of Brampton. They told me they followed my whole trip and when I posted a new movie they would wait for the other one to get home so they could watch it together. My oldest friend Chris who is a stock

trader told me stories of people gathering at his desk at 5 pm to watch my newest movie and periodically asking him if I had a new one up. While I was playing pickup in Halifax a guy named James came up to my friend Jamie standing on the side lines while I was playing and asked who I was. Jamie replied “Oh, That’s my friend John from Toronto”. “That’s not John Hurlbut is it? I watch one of his movies every morn- ing before I start work” James revealed. James was one of those I mentioned who was too shy to come up and say hello so I never had the chance to meet him, I would have liked to.

My friends Gerald and John have both

told me they have shown some of my movies to their students to show them that they can do anything with their life that they want to. That was truly an honour for me to have my friends do that. I hope that I can inspire my niece’s and nephew’s the same way all 6 of them have very sup- portive parents. Just like me and my brothers and twin sister had growing up. A trip like this doesn’t hap-

pen without tremendous sup- port from friends and family so I would like to thank in particular my friends Dan Sheehy, Paul Edwards, David Linton, Dean Brown, Barry Goldlist, Marty Brutvan, and Kyle and Bonnie

Edwards. I would also like to thank my entire family for their support, my mom Barbara, my brothers Jason, Jody, and Mike, my sisters Jenny, Linda, and Teresa, and my nephew’s and niece’s Drew, Kirsty, Jake, Saxon, Jade, and Sophie, and to the memory of our dad Jack. Now I wake up every day and go to

my new work which is a much smaller and happier studio and I have a choice of walk- ing, driving, or skateboarding there too. During my spare time in the winter I edited all of my movies together into an 83 min- ute documentary. I now have a DVD avail- able on my website for $20 (a bargain!) which includes a bonus movie of Clam- bake in Portland, Maine. I also screened my movie in a beautifully restored movie theater in downtown Toronto with all my friends and family, I had over 220 people show up and I sold all 50 DVD’s I had, what a great day.

As one day turns into the next and

I settle back in to my life I keep having thoughts in the back of my mind whether this is enough anymore. I think there’s something more out there that I have to do but I’m not sure what it is yet. I’m going to keep looking. Thanks for your time. »U

~ John “Wheels” Hurlbut lives in Toronto. If you would like to reach John you can email him at hurlbut@sympatico.ca/.

www.Ultimate-Trip.com – to see video streams of each of these countries

Ultimate Canada Magazine — www.canadianultimate.com Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52