Around the world in 365 docobites
I thought that when I saw a photo of the duo behind 365 docobites via the brilliant Humans of Amsterdam Facebook page (which of course is influenced by the mahoosively popular Humans of New York) that was the first time I’d heard of the project.
But a quick navigation around their website and I realised I’d seen some of their work before on Sailing HR’s Facebook page when the couple interviewed some of the staff and holidaymakers on a sailing holiday similar to the one we took.
What I hadn’t understood before, but did now, was that 365 docobites are a travelling pair of filmmakers on a mission to meet and film one stranger a day, every day for a year.
This is an impressive goal to set yourself, especially when you also commit to editing and publishing a new video every day. What’s even more impressive is that Epiphany and Carl are travelling the world as they do this. Across five continents to 70 cities in 26 countries, they are essentially documenting a world of strangers’ stories.
This video – produced by Epiphany and Carl themselves – goes a long way to show you how impressive and cool and huge this project is.
You can find all of the docobites on Vimeo and YouTube, but here are a selection of my favourites.
I have now watched a couple of handfuls of their “docobites” and each one has spoken to me in a way that I can’t quite explain. Strangely it’s similar to the Humans of New York in that it opens your eyes to the fact that everyone has a story. When I think about travelling the world, I think about the places I’ll go, the things I’ll see, the foods I’ll eat… I’m always much slower to think about the people I’ll meet and 365 docobites has now got me re-thinking this.
I also found this explanation on their website which helps explain the project and is something maybe we should all think about.
“We began this journey with the goal of turning Strangers into friends. Speaking honestly, we looked at ourselves, how we so quickly jumped to a judgment of someone. Knowing so little about a person, maybe even just seeing them on the street or not even that, just thinking of a kind of person belonging to a religion, culture, country, sex, a profession – any stereotype steaming from these attributes would help to paint a picture about them in our minds instantly, here is where assumptions about who these people were, were made. These assumptions are what we thought got in the way of making friends, of connecting with other human beings.”
Originally from Australia, Ephiphany (coolest name ever, right?) and Carl (also a cool name, just maybe not as cool) are a couple of professional filmmakers who left Sydney in March 2014 on their mission “to tell people’s stories” and have been travelling ever since.
We all know how exhausting long-term travel can be – in spite of how much fun you’re having – but imagine having to essentially work on each of those days you’re travelling too. A few years ago I dabbled with making videos and let me tell you it’s not something that takes five minutes. It’s a long, slow and time-consuming process – even for professionals – and to produce and publish these docobites to such a high standard EVERY DAY, well I take my hat off to Epiphany and Carl. You can sign up to hear a new stranger’s story every day here.
And if you agree that this is a project that could change the way you travel, why not give them a like or a follow on their Facebook, their Instagram or their Twitter.
All photos by 365 docobites.
