Departures

Friends, Scott Wilson and Justin Lukach leave the 9 to 5 to travel the world for a year. But before they leave, they feel that they need to explore their own country first. They rent an RV in Halifax and hit the road. Camping all the way across Canada, Halifax to Vancouver.

After landing in Jordan, Scott and Justin are greeted by their friend Ibrahim who is getting married in a few weeks. They spend a night in the desert with the Bedouins, travel to Petra and the gulf of Aqaba, all just in time for the big day.

Scott and Justin meet up with their friend Monica to take a gruelling train ride to the desert. Then to Varanasi, to witness the everyday mayhem and discover the depth of India’s culture and religions before flying to New Delhi in time for the Diwali celebration.

Friends Scott and Justin travel through the more untouched parts of India, a quest which takes them to the highest mountains in the world. Into the depths of a storm, and ill from food poisoning, India challenges them both to their utmost limits.

In the middle of the South Atlantic, staying atop the highest mountain, Scott and Justin struggle with feelings of isolation as they try to contact banks at home and save personal relationships.

While navigating the extensive train systems in Japan, Scott manages to get them to the South. Meanwhile, Justin struggles with language barriers and very different food. Things settle when they leave the city behind to find the more natural side.

Justin has been travelling alone for the past couple of months when Scott and Andre decide to come meet him at a festival in Spain. They head to Gibraltar, where Justin is attacked by candy-stealing Apes, before hopping on a ferry and completely switching continents. Now in Morocco, they head inland towards Fès, then further into the snow-covered Atlas Mountains to stay in a traditional Moroccan kasbah. They end their trip with a long climb up Jbel Toubkal – the highest mountain in North Africa. Three strong again, they find reason to keep travelling together.

After many visa difficulties, Scott and Justin are finally allowed to enter Libya. They travel from Tripoli to Jebel Nafusa, before getting lost in the abandoned city of Ghadames. They wander around the maze of empty streets and homes before finding each other again, and drive deep into the Sahara desert to climb some of the world’s largest sand dunes, and sand-board in their own private oasis.

The guys reunite with Gisele, whom they had met on their previous trip to Jordan. A native to Brazil, Gisele shows them around Rio de Janeiro. She takes them hang gliding, to a football match, and into the ghettos before they hit the road for the Pantanal. Here they find poisonous plants, the worlds largest living rodents, and catch piranha for lunch - none of the reasons why Justin ends up in the hospital. This is a great opportunity for the guys to learn about Brazil’s dangers before reaching the Amazon.

There are so many things that can kill you in the Amazon. The guys rent a boat as protection and head down river to explore the rainforest. They find poisonous insects, angry snakes, and natives living in hand-built huts. After getting stuck in a 70 meter high tree in an Amazonian thunderstorm, and attacked by vicious pink dolphins, they hop on a plane headed for the island of Fernando de Noronha. Here they try their hand at scuba diving and witness the hatching of close to 1000 baby sea turtles. The dynamic changes when Justin and Gisele know their time together will soon be ending.

Avoiding the resorts and the all-inclusive vacation, Scott and Justin rent a car and head towards the tobacco fields around Viñales. They’re looking for a specific farmer to return a picture to him from a friend who visited years ago. After the successful search and a visit into the farmer’s home, they grab a couple of horses to ride into the countryside and try some sugarcane rum. On their way to Trinidad they pick up a hitchhiker, play a game of baseball with some kids, and are invited to take part in a traditional Santeria ceremony. But even the swinging machete, beating drums, sacrificed chicken, rum and cigars won’t end this trip. The three drive along the south east coast and visit Fidel Castro’s remote hideout on their way to Carnival in Santiago de Cuba.

After being separated at the airport and put on different flights, Scott arrives to find that his bag has gone missing. The guys grab supplies and climb into an old soviet van to start a long trek out to a Nomadic Reindeer tribe. But to get there, they will have to travel by van then by horseback for four days. Scott and Justin take part in the tribe’s traditional way of life and come to understand the necessity of the nature and balance around them.

Anything is possible in Russia. Scott and Justin meet up with their friend Bogdan and visit the last man living in the radioactive zone in Chernobyl. They visit St. Petersburg for some homemade vodka and to celebrate Bogdan’s birthday, before hopping on an overnight train to Moscow. The adventures in Moscow are diverse: An awkward visit to a Russian bath, a wild night out in an exhilarating dance club and a chance to drive a cold-war military tank. Next, they fly to Siberia and meet a vodka-slamming shaman, who puts them all to shame on the dance floor.

The guys head northeast into Siberia to reach the coldest inhabited place on earth: the Pole of Cold. Along the way, the word of Scott and Justin’s journey travels and they become local news celebrities. They visit a permanent circus, take part in the Festival of Cold, answer questions at local press conferences and end up judging a quirky beauty contest in Yakutsk. Riding reindeer for the rest of the trek, they camp in the snow before hitting the Pole of Cold.

Travelling to Sri Lanka at the tail end of the 25-year civil war, the guys expect to visit a war-torn country, yet discover a different land. From exploring the wonders of Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress and palace ruin, to visiting Sri Lanka’s indigenous inhabitants, the Veddas tribe, and joining the pilgrimage up Adam’s Peak, the guys experience a beautiful and culturally rich country. They get to Sri Lanka’s capital city, Colombo, just in time to see the Navam Perahera – a spectacular parade made up of thousands of dancers and acrobats, and over a hundred decorated elephants.

Scott and Justin catch up with their high school friend Fran, who is travelling to Vietnam to explore his motherland and family history for the first time. They travel south to north, through the commotion of Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong River floating markets, and experiencing haunting remnants of the Vietnam war and visiting magical and mysterious temples and caves along the way. Further north, surrounded by the beauty of Halong Bay, the guys realize that spending time with Fran’s family, and seeing the country through his eyes, has given them a fresh perspective on travel.

One of the most fascinating places on earth, and one of the most dangerous, Papua New Guinea is a rough and mostly unexplored country. The guys meet up with their friend Nick on the island of East New Britain, where they visit the lava-buried city of Rabaul, and climb up, and into, an active volcano. Next they explore the island and local dive sites for abandoned World War II relics. Making their way through some thick jungle, they spend a night in a remote family village on their way to a spectacular fire-dancing tribe.

Leaving the islands, the guys head into mainland PNG and drive up into the rugged Highlands with their friend Nick. They travel through Goroka, where they take part in an embarrassing Mudmen dance ritual involving bows, arrows and loincloths. They prepare for an epic journey: A private flight north to a remote grass airstrip, where they have three days to make their way down the extremely remote Sepik River and try to become true men of the Sepik.