Written by: Nicholas Sarysz
For years now, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the human connection our societies were built off of has been lost; and each day it feels like society has been driven further and further apart.
Most of the focus within the news and other popular media outlets is all of the negative encounters we find ourselves in. While it is important to be cautious in every situation, it is also important to Discover Connection, which is the goal of the YouTube Channel under that exact title.
The channel explores the power of human connection with the mission of educating, inspiring and empowering people to help make our world a happier and healthier place. The channel’s producer, Brad, is a Canadian storyteller that works on the channel with a few friends. Brad not only explains the power of connection but displays it through the videos he creates.
He started the channel back in September 2018, leaving his parent’s home in Nova Scotia and hitchhiking all the way to Vancouver, spanning 29 days and 5800 km.
Throughout his documentation of the journey, Brad made connections and friends by interacting with complete strangers in unfamiliar areas, which is something that many of us would find impossible.
Fast forward to today, and Brad is doing the same thing with his friend Liam, this time through the United States. They are not only hitchhiking across the entire country, but they are doing everything solely off the kindness of strangers. This means that all of their transportation, meals and lodging were provided by people they had never previously met. While this concept leads to plenty of awkward interactions, it leads to far more incredible connections that can be heartwarming to a viewer behind a screen.
Currently, the series, which they titled “I Crossed America with $0” is on its eighth episode, with the 10th episode finale scheduled to release during the last weekend of April. Not only is the series genuinely entertaining, but it does an excellent job of highlighting just how special human connection truly is. Each person they connect with is unique and shows care and compassion in vastly different ways.
The series does an amazing job of showing just how different life is for each of us and how cultural context and our experiences impact everyone differently.
All in all, the series is an inspiring, thought-provoking experience that requires an open mind. It is a must-watch.
Contact the author at howlstaffwriter@wou.edu
