[8-minutes for you to explore, a music sample to make you smile,
plus 3 short video clips to see Chris in action.]
From almost being institutionalized with autism as a boy,
Chris battles the odds to create an extraordinary life as a global nomad.
With a few dollars in his pocket, he’s off to pursue freedom, friendship, and adventure. And now to face new challenges—the ones that really scare him.
This warm-hearted documentary feature is sorely needed during a divisive and xenophobic time. It’s a love letter to humanity centered around Chris, a man with autism and no money but with keen curiosity who against all odds launches a quest to experience every country in the world—by himself. Not a tourist, but as a global nomad.
Chris considers himself an “ambassador of fearlessness.” He offers an antidote to our fractured global reality. He faces his deepest fears, physical danger, and his interior challenges and journeys out of his comfort zone to show us the radical possibilities of our own lives.
He’s on his way to Iran. In July of 2024, he traveled to Ukraine, “To meet new friends and see their beautiful country.” On his own, he has traveled to 87 of the 241 countries and territories recognized by the UN.
Chris in Ukraine this summer
Chris goes off the beaten path to meet fascinating new friends who are doing great things and living simple lives. He doesn’t have a home, he sees the entire planet as HOME.
Where others see differences, Chris sees what we all have in common. Where others distrust, Chris believes in the essential goodness of most people.
The antidote to loneliness, isolation, and xenophobia is to “know” people. To become real friends in the real world with real people.
Many have not yet dared, or may never have the experiences that show them the oneness of the human family.
That’s where the vicarious experiences of FEARLESS JOURNEY can have a huge impact on global audiences—taking them on journeys they haven’t imagined.
The way Chris travels is based on living hand to mouth himself. He travels with nothing more than his backpack and trusts that gestures and a few shared words in a common language will provide connection.
He prefers out of the way places and a chance to see beyond the veneer of tourism to how people actually work and live, what they eat, the music they listen to, what they love and why.
Recently Chris was stopped by armed soldiers in Angola for photographing a government building. This lone traveler with autism was a complete surprise to them. He explained he loved their country, found it beautiful, and hoped others would visit and so they let him go in peace.
Strange as it seems, it’s easier for Chris to be in a remote country with a few dollars than to face himself and make big changes in his life.
Chris dreams of having a partner, a romantic relationship and has no idea how to have that happen. He wants to unify his family before his father dies. Chris longs to be of greater service to others. He wants to become a nomadic inspirational speaker and advocate—creating more meaningful work for himself as he travels but he has been stopped by fear and.
But like all of us, Chris experiences being stopped in his tracks by fear of the unknown, by limits that are self-imposed or imposed by society. His struggle to become more and different provides the backbone of the film. The unlikely people Chris meets on the road and what they create together provide the unexpected twists and turns of the story.
Audiences related to the universal challenge to leave our familiar comfort zone, face the fear zone where we don’t yet have confidence, step into the learning zone where we acquire new skills, and then reach into the growth zone where we find our purpose and live our dreams. Facing what frightens us is always worth it by the end of the journey—because out of the comfort zone is the interesting place to be.
Chris’s father has suffered two major strokes and brain surgery, so there’s a lot at stake with Chris’s family right now. And there are many hot spots flaring around the world with extremism on the rise.
Shifts in legacy media corporations and streaming offer both challenges and great opportunities for FEARLESS JOURNEY. Programming is needed and audiences are always hungry for new content and stories they haven’t seen before. We’ve got a singular story to tell. And we’re looking for the funding partners and philanthropists who will stand behind the film.
Our team is aligning with those who understand the good it will leverage—not just for tens of millions of people, but potentially even more. These 3 parts of the journey are equally important:
Make the film.
Make sure it’s seen globally in limited theatrical release, film festivals, and streaming and
Make sure it has impact and is used by educators, and a large number of NGOs and nonprofits globally.
Join us to give FEARLESS JOURNEY to the world.
“I was an isolated boy. I didn’t speak very often. Doctors recommended institutionalization. My life changed when I held a red potholder in the shape of Texas. Somehow understood there were other places to go.
We didn’t have money and my parents believed that travel wasn’t possible with 7 children. We had secondhand shot glasses with countries on them. There was a world for me to discover.
In school I was brave enough to say I was going to SEE THE WORLD. It broke my heart to be laughed at and bullied. It was exhausting to argue. Even my family said I wasn’t capable of traveling alone and with just a little money. They didn’t have passports. They didn’t know how to travel. They said it was a stupid dream that could never come true.
It was hard to believe in myself. I was very lonely. At times I was suicidal. I knew I’d have to teach myself. I studied maps, learned how to deal with airports, and figured out how I could get around once I landed. Where would I stay when I got there?
If I couldn’t find public transportation or failed to hitch a ride, I’d have to sleep by the side of the road. I got a job stocking shelves at a grocery store and saved for a ticket at the lowest fare I could find. I saved a few hundred dollars for expenses. I stuffed a backpack with a change of clothes, faced my fears, and went!”
Chris has been robbed at gunpoint in Guatemala, been sick as a dog in Cuba, fed a giant tortoise on the notoriously remote Pitcairn Island, worked for a year to get to Antarctica, walked many miles in the sub-zero temperatures to see the Northern lights in Sweden. He has gone into North Korea with just a few hundred dollars and the desire to make new friends there and it became one of his favorite journeys.
Chris recently discovered a half-brother he’d never met when he took a genetic test to sort out his parentage. An unexpected adventure with a new brother is now possible.
They say “tourists” don’t really get to know the places they’ve been but that “travelers” experience life beyond what they imagined was possible. That’s what it’s like to be a global nomad.
What seems unlikely but is not impossible for you? What do you imagine stands in your way? What are you willing to risk to experience what you want from life before you die? Audiences will take on these questions. That’s the power of the story.
Chris in North Korea
Chris has logged journeys to 87 countries on his own and considers the entire world his home.
And yes, that’s him alone in North Korea with a few hundred dollars figuring out what to do there, and how to get to the next country. He loved it. Now he’s planning a journey to Iran and to the South Pole.
(Scroll below to see a list that will amaze even the well-traveled.)
| Dec ’04-Jan ’05 | Australia (Sydney) |
| Jan ’06 | New Zealand |
| Jan ’07 | Australia (Queensland & Northern Territory) |
| Jun ’07 | Iceland (Greenland) |
| Aug ’07 | Costa Rica (Monteverde) & Nicaragua (Granada) |
| Jan ’08 | Peru |
| Mar ’08 | England, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany & Luxembourg |
| Aug ’08-Aug ’09 | New Zealand (full year) |
| Aug ’08 | Fiji, Tonga |
| Feb ’09 | Niue |
| Nov ’09 | Costa Rica (Tortuguero), Nicaragua, & Cuba |
| Nov ’10 | Costa Rica (Cahuita), and Panama |
| Apr ’11 | England |
| Jan-Feb ’12 | Costa Rica, Nicaragua (Esteli), Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize |
| Jun-July ’12 | Dominican Republic |
| Feb-Mar ’13 | Ethiopia |
| Mar ’13 | Turkey (Istanbul) |
| May-Jun ’13 | USA Hitchhiking (Zion NP, Colorado, Sierras, Texas) Mexico (Baja) |
| Feb-Aug ’14 | New Zealand |
| Feb ’14 | Cook Islands |
| May ’14 | Norfolk Island |
| Aug-Sep ’14 | Norfolk Island (South Pacific) |
| Sep-Oct ’14 | Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia |
| Oct ’14-Jun ’15 | Australia (Northern Territory, Melbourne) |
| Jun-Oct ’15 | New Zealand |
| Sep ’15 | Norfolk Island (South Pacific) |
| Oct-Dec ’15 | Indonesia (Bali), South Korea, North Korea, China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau) |
| Dec ’15-Jun ’16 | Australia (Western Australia, Melbourne, Tasmania, Queensland) |
| Feb ’16-Jun '16 | Norfolk Island (South Pacific) |
| Jun-Oct ’16 | New Zealand |
| Sep ’16 | Australia (Lord Howe Island) |
| Oct-Dec ’16 | Samoa, Tokelau, American Samoa |
| Dec ’16 | New Zealand |
| Dec ’16-May ’17 | Australia (Melbourne, Queensland, South Australia, Sydney) |
| Mar ’17 | New Caledonia |
| May-Jun ’17 | USA (Pennsylvania) |
| Jun ’17 | Canada (Newfoundland, Montreal), St. Pierre, Miquelon |
| Sep ’17 | Australia (Adelaide) |
| Oct-Dec ’17 | Chile, Argentina, Falkland Islands, Antarctica |
| Dec ’17-Jan ‘18 | New Zealand |
| Jan-Jun ’18 | Australia (Melbourne) |
| Mar ’18 | Maldives |
| Jun ’18 | Ireland |
| Jun-Oct ’18 | New Zealand |
| Sep ’18 | Wallis, Futuna |
| Dec ’18 | Norway, Sweden |
| Dec ’18-Jun ’19 | Australia (Byron Bay, Melbourne) |
| Jan-Feb ’19 | Indonesia (Bali) |
| Jun ’19 | Norfolk Island (South Pacific) |
| Jun-Oct ’19 | New Zealand |
| Oct-Nov ’19 | French Polynesia, Pitcairn Island, USA (California), Taiwan |
| Jan ’20 | Norfolk Island (South Pacific) |
| Feb-Mar ’20 | Thailand, Laos |
| Nov ’19-Jun ‘21 | Australia (Queensland) |
| Jun ’21 | Norfolk Island (South Pacific) |
| Jun-Nov ’21 | Australia (Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia) |
| Nov ’21 | Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
| Nov ’21 | Australia (Perth) |
| Nov-Dec ’21 | Christmas Island (Pacific Ocean) |
| Dec ’21-May ’22 | Australia (Perth, Northern Territory, Queensland) |
| May-Jun ’22 | Papua New Guinea |
| Jun ’22 | Greece, Malta, Turkey, Egypt, Russia* (Russia postponed for obvious reasons) |
| July-Aug ’22 | USA (California, Arizona) to record narration for FEARLESS JOURNEY. |
| Aug-Nov ’22 | Australia |
| Dec-Jan ’22-'23 | New Zeland |
| Jan-Feb ’23 | East Timor |
| Feb-Mar ’23 | Indonesia (Flores, Komodo) |
| Mar-Apr ’23 | USA (Pennsylvania, *Chris's father had two strokes and brain surgery.) |
| May-Jul ’23 | Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Angola) |
| Aug ’23 | Southeast Asia (Thailand and Cambodia) |
| Aug ’23 | Australia (hitchhiked from Perth to Melbourne) |
| Sep ’23-Dec '23 | New Zealand, Australia |
| Jan - Feb '24 | Tuvalu, Nauru |
| Apr - May '24 | India (by train and bus) |
| May - Jun '24 | Germany, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Czech Republic, Poland, Norway, and Finland |
| July '24 | Ukraine |
Chris in Angola
With funding we’ll refine the plan for what journeys to shoot and the purpose of each of the journeys in the film and the people he will meet and their adventures together.
We’re reaching out to patrons, friends, and colleagues to explore possibilities such as:
Cappadocia/Konya/Istanbul, Turkey to work with refugees.
Congo to work alongside the women who are leading bonobo conservation and preserving huge tracks of the rainforest.
China (we’re searching for the right characters and location)
Sierra Leone to work with Princess Sarah of the Bumpe Tribe to support her initiative to build more wells.
Philippines (we’re searching for the right adventure).
India (we’re looking for opportunities there).
This initial list is the starting point. Locking in storylines, locations, additional casting, days shooting and final budget are part of the pre-production planning process. With funding in hand, we’ll do that important work and move into principal photography.
After completing the film our efforts will support driving audiences to see the film and the impact plan to give it a long tail of influence. You can be part of it all.
2. PRE-PRODUCTION, PRODUCTION, POST-PRODUCTION
3. RELEASE WITH LAUNCH OF THE GLOBAL IMPACT PLAN to support STREAMING/THEATRICAL RELEASE/FILM FESTIVALS/ORGANIZATIONAL SCREENINGS globally.
This story has a long tail of influence and will benefit the work of many NGOs/Nonprofits and be seen in schools/colleges/universities worldwide. We’ll create those alliances early so that they are an organic part of the process.
4. CREATE INNOVATIVE OUTREACH to support audiences in GETTING OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE to:
EXPERIENCE more of the world, FEEL a deep sense of belonging, EXPLORE the relationships that give life meaning, and ENJOY our shared humanity. We plan to extend the content of the film’s stories, including an interactive online presence that engages the audience as they take on their challenges and journeys.
*FEARLESS JOURNEY could extend into a series with other characters and their intersection with each other—as the journeys continue.
