Headline:
Experts Contribute to the Roadside Conversation

Summary:
Industry experts are contributing to Last Great Road Trip website in order to help others create their own off-road adventure and celebrate the cultural diversity of the open road.

Body:
The Last Great Road Trip finds new ways to thank readers and bring content that can help their readers be more successful on their next overland adventure road trip. As a result the adventure road trip website is pleased to introduce a new set of articles written by industry experts.

By teaming up with subject matter experts Last Great Road Trip hopes to publish information on everything from earning gas money for your trip to better understanding the suspension components for your rig as well as discovering overland adventures that are as close as next door.

When asked why the off-road adventure website is expanding, Paul Thompson, team driver and project manager, said “Our goal is to post articles that will help everyone plan their own great adventure, so we hope to hear from our reads with their thoughts about guest writers and topics they would like to read about. If there are budding writers with a field of expertise out there don’t be shy. Let us know how you would like to contribute and help celebrate diversity in the world one blog at a time.”

You will find these posts on www.LastGreatRoadTrip.com with credit to author and a link back in order for readers to follow up and find out more information. The first guest writer will discuss some of the points to consider when shipping your rig around the globe in order to start or end your off-road adventure in a far off location.

Making this all possible, the Last Great Road Trip is supported by friends, family and sponsors along the way including:
Metal Tech – Protection… Evolved
Metagyre, Inc – Project Management Experts
Taylor Made Graphics
Hula Betty Productions
Working Web Solutions Portland Web Design & Portland SEO Search Engine Optimization

About Last Great Road Trip:
A series of off-road adventures taken by a small team shared with others over the Internet. The website, a social experiment in web 2.0 and a celebration of diversity, describes the off-road adventures, friendships, rants and raves on the road of life. Explore hidden trails, back roads and diverse cultures that enrich this shared off-road experience while adding your own comments to the adventure.

Read the press release on PRLog

Headline:
Traditional media adds new life and richness to Web 2.0 technologies

Summary:
Last Great Road Trip crosses over from its social networking technologies into traditional media. A condensed version of entries originally posted on-line throughout their off-road adventure are now in the pages of traditional media.

Body:
Last Great Road Trip has crossed over from its social networking technologies into traditional media. The stories posted by a father/son team of off-road adventurers that found an audience on the Internet is now in print media. 4WD Toyota Owner has published a story of the team’s adventure to the Arctic Ocean. The story and images appear in the magazine’s March / April issue.

Throughout the off-road adventure, the team faithfully posted entries daily. When the expedition was over, many who followed on-line expressed their desire to experience it all over again in print.

Paul Thompson the teams driver and project manager said “The social media tools available today made it unbelievably easy to share tales, video and images with the world as they occurred. But it took traditional media with its high resolution capabilities to show off the grandeur of the adventure. It is definitely a different experience in print.”

The Internet will continue to change how people share and experience life. Traditional media will continue to bring stories and images to people in ways not yet available on the Internet. And as demonstrated, the quality of the experience is about the quality of the content. Ultimately, it will be the marriage of both mediums that allows stories to be told to the world in a way that will allow audiences to experience the off-road adventure how they want in as many forms as they want.

About Last Great Road Trip: A series of off-road adventures taken by a team shared with others over the Internet. The website, a social experiment and a celebration of diversity, describes the adventures, friendships, rants and raves on the road of life. Explore hidden trails, back roads and the diverse cultures that enrich this shared experience while adding your own comments to the adventure.

Making this all possible, the Last Great Road Trip is supported by friends, family and sponsors along the way including:
Metal Tech – Protection… Evolved www.metaltech4x4.com
Metagyre, Inc – Project Management Experts www.metagyre.com
Taylor Made Graphics www.taylormadetshirts.com
Working Web Solutions Portland Web Design & Portland SEO Search Engine Optimization www.workingwebsolutions.com
Tags:
overland expedition, off-road adventure, road trip adventure, road trip blog, father son adventure, overland adventure blog

Headline:
A New Look For A New Destinations

Summary:
Last Great Road Trip shows off a new look for its website and names its next off-road adventure destination. Paul Thompson, the team’s driver, announced that the next official off road adventure destination is the Baja 1000 course to Cabo San Lucas Mexico.

Body:
Last Great Road Trip  announces its next off-road adventure destination. Rested from their Arctic Circle adventure, Paul Thompson, the team’s driver, announced that in February,  the team will leave Poulsbo Washington, driving down to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico and finish in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

In their 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser they will follow the Baja 1000 course to Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Using the GPS coordinates of the official SCORE Baja 1000 race the team will follow a tradition that dates back to 1967. This route, from the oldest and most well known of all desert races remains the single most appealing accomplishment to many drivers.

As before, the expedition is part road trip, part overland adventure and all on-line. Throughout the off-road adventure the team will explore hidden trails, back roads and the diverse cultures that enrich this shared experience.

Coinciding with the official destination announcement the team’s off-road adventure website has been reworked to provide an improved on-line experience for the thousands of reads who visit each month. Over the next month look for additional improvements including a way to donate money directly to charities that support diverse cultural experiences.

Making this all possible, the Last Great Road Trip is supported by friends, family and sponsors along the way including:
Metal Tech – Protection… Evolved
Metagyre, Inc – Project Management Experts
Taylor Made Graphics
Working Web Solutions Portland Web Design & Portland SEO Search Engine Optimization

About Last Great Road Trip: A series of overland off-road adventures shared with others over the Internet. The website, a social experiment in web 2.0 and a celebration of diversity, describes the off-road adventures, friendships, rants and raves on the road of life. Explore hidden trails, back roads and diverse cultures that enrich this shared experience while adding your own comments to the adventure.

Everyone knows America has a love affair with the automobile. And with the advent of capable 4×4 trucks and SUVs the Sunday drive has evolved into an overland adventure. Overland adventures are part road trip and part expedition involving multi-day, off-road, destination-bound, vehicle-dependent travel. The destinations range from the African Savanna or the southern tip of South America, north to the Arctic Circle. One father son team of adventurers, known as the Last Great Road Trip, recently completed a trip to several northern destinations including the Arctic Ocean, and are now turning their rig south to the Baja peninsula of Mexico.

When asked about the appeal of off-road adventures Paul Thompson, the lead driver of the Last Great Road Trip, said, “These off-road adventures challenge you on all sorts of levels, including project management, driving skills, navigation, and problem solving. In addition you have an opportunity to experience diverse driving terrains, wild life and cultures that make our lives much richer. If you grew up reading National Geographic or enjoy the Discovery Channel, you are going to love off road adventures.”

While destinations and the amount of money spent on equipment, guides and services vary, one thing is certain, more and more web sites and blogs are appearing on the Internet telling the tail of these new Lewis and Clark adventurers. Each one telling a different story about how they found their way off the beaten path.

For more information about one off-road adventure team see LastGreatRoadTrip.com where you will find stories, pictures and videos as well as rants and raves about their off-road adventure to the Arctic Ocean and as far south as Baja, finishing in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Last Great Road Trip is supported by friends and sponsors who make their off road adventures possible including:

• Metal Tech – Protection… Evolved
• Metagyre, Inc – Project Management Experts
• Taylor Made Graphics
• Working Web Solutions Portland Web Design & Portland SEO Search Engine Optimization

Ok… your assignment is to read “Extreme sports meets the Sunday drive“. And this “New Look For A New Destination“. And this “Traditional Media Adds New Life And Richness To Web 2.0 Story”
Let me know when you are done… Now summarize it all in one word or less.

More and more the news is getting out that Last Great Road Trip is doing something that is up there on the cool factor. This time it is helping to spread the word on what exactly is this phenomenon we call an “Off Road Adventure”.

We also thought we would throw in a little bit about our sponsors and that we are heading to the Baja next.

Last year, the Last Great Road Trip put our sponsors in front thousands of eyeballs for several months. Our sponsors appeared on the official Toyota blog, the last great road trip blog, press releases, print media and youtube video. In short we took every opportunity we could to thank our sponsor publicly for the support they gave us.

Now the team of adventurers are pointing their compass and 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser south, planning to follow the 2007 Baja 1000 course to Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Using the GPS coordinates of the official SCORE Baja 1000 the team will follow a tradition that dates back to 1967. This route, from the oldest and most well known of all desert races remains the single most appealing accomplishment to many drivers.

In February, 2009 our adventurers will leave Seattle, driving down to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico and finish in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. As before, the adventure is part road trip and part overland expedition. Throughout the adventure the team will explore hidden trails, back roads and diverse cultures that enrich this shared experience.

The sponsors of this southern adventure will receive even more visibility at the 2008 FJ Summit Series in Ouray, CO. The last great road trip will attend and support its sponsors at this 4 day event designed to bring hundreds of FJ Cruiser owners together for camaraderie and trail riding.

On the Internet, last years activities have elevated our on-line blog to the number one spot on Google for a number of key words searches including “road trip adventure blog”. Google analytics show that last month alone 1,224 visitors from around the world viewed our sponsors’ logo and read our story.

Now is your opportunity to take advantage of this growing exposure and become part of the team that is trying to create something worth while as we explore the diversity of the people and land that makes this adventure great.

We are thrilled to announce Toyota’s Open Road Blog is joining forces with Last Great Road Trip to bring you coverage of our adventure. Look for video coverage of our rig, a Toyota 2007 FJ Cruiser, and interviews with our adventurers as Toyota and Last Great Road Trip spread the word about adventures, celebrating diversity and the bonds between fathers and sons.

With our departure moved up to Thursday, August 23, you now have a choice of Blog sites to follow the adventures. Be sure to let Toyota know you are as excited as we are that they will cove the trip.

Press release shows, Off Road Adventure receives help attaining its goal. Metal Tech 4×4 has joined the team as the newest Gold Level sponsor. In the coming weeks you’ll be seeing the results of their sponsorship with pictures of the mods they are performing. Included will be a lift, bull bar and winch.

Metal Tech is Protection Evolved. Fabrication specialists for all Toyota cage kits, bumpers and slider needs. The guys are located in Newberg, Oregon and on the web at www.metaltech4x4.com Go take a look and let them know their support is appreciated… I’ll wait.

A Father’s Day Story About a Father and Son’s Road Trip Adventure

The press knows about our NPR interview. Do you? Press releases by definition are designed to alert the media to a news worthy event and encouraging them to report on it. We are very please to see how news worthy everyone finds the last great road trip.

Today, dad and I came together on a conference call with Aingaran “Ike” Sriskandarajah , a young National Public Radio (NPR) intern. Ike is from Brown University interning in Petersburg Alaska with KFSK. Turns out Ike got excited about the last great road trip because of his drive from the west coast to Brown last fall. And although Ike had the university as an end goal, he said he found himself wishing he could keep going.

As we told Ike, while the Arctic Circle is our destination, it’s the journey there and back that holds the adventure for us. Although we must admit, telling everyone we are driving to the Arctic Circle sounds so much more impressive than saying we’re bound for Kansas.

Ike, dad and I chatted for about an hour on a number of topics including reasons for the trip, if we play by the office rules of road trip bingo and how we came up with this road trip adventure. Ike tells us the interview will be broadcast on Father’s day which is appropriate considering how this trip is all about my opportunity to spend time with my dad. You can hear the full interview on KFSK

We will be stopping in Petersburg Alaska riding the Marine Highway ferry on August 26 at 10:15 pm. Turns out Ike leaves the island for Brown two days before we get there. Maybe we can swing by the station while the we are docked in port.