衆籌一筆錢 全家開車去南美

All Adam Harteau and his wife, Emily, wanted to do was take an epic 23,000-mile, 20-country road trip to the southernmost tip of South America and back. Everything that followed — the blog, the corporate sponsorships, the cookbook they’re writing, the export business — has been a savvy improvisation.

亞當·哈爾託(Adam Harteau)和太太埃米莉(Emily)的初衷就是想踏上一段2.3萬英里（約合3.7萬公里），橫跨20國，最終抵達南美洲的最南端並折返的公路旅程。之後發生的事情——博客、企業贊助、他們正在寫的烹飪書，以及代購生意，都是靈機一動的即興之舉。

The Harteaus, who live in Los Angeles, are travelers in the sleep-in-your-VW-van hippie tradition. Before their trip, Mr. Harteau, 35, had pursued various entrepreneurial ventures while trying to become a full-time fine artist. Mrs. Harteau, 32, worked in the fashion industry and competed on “Project Runway.” Unfulfilled by their jobs and dejected after an opportunity to work on a movie in Nepal fell through, the couple decided to turn their 1990 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia camper, which has a propane stove, an electric refrigerator and a foldout bed, into a rolling micro apartment.

哈爾託一家來自洛杉磯。他們是可以睡在大衆房車裏，有着嬉皮士傳統的旅行者。在此行之前，今年35歲的哈爾託先生在追逐着成爲全職藝術家的夢想的同時，已經嘗試過各種各樣的創業機會。哈爾託太太今年32歲，在時尚界工作，曾參與過《天橋驕子》(Project Runway)節目的選拔。但工作並沒有給他們帶來足夠的滿足感，於是在一次去尼泊爾拍攝電影的機會泡湯後，兩夫妻決定將他們的露營車變成移動的微型公寓。這輛1990年款的大衆凡拉岡威斯法利露營車(Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia)配有氣爐、電冰箱和一張摺疊牀。

“We loved the idea of bringing our home with us,” Mr. Harteau said. “We could live in our van and drive to South America, and it would be awesome.”

“把家帶着走這個點子我們都很喜歡，”哈爾託先生說。“我們住在車裏，將車開去南美，這肯定會棒極了。”

If this was the 1960s and the Harteaus were traveling in a VW van, they might have raised gas money by selling handicrafts or hash oil. In the Internet era, they turned to social media, initiating a Kickstarter campaign.

如果這是在60年代，哈爾託一家也許會賣手工製品或大麻油來賺取汽油錢。在互聯網時代的今天，他們轉向了社交媒體，通過Kickstarter網站來集資。

Our Open Road, as the couple called the project, would include a blog with travel photos and videos. And because they were bringing their infant daughter, Colette, it would serve as “a modern family portrait.”

兩夫妻將旅行項目取名爲Our Open Road，其中包括一個展示旅行照片和視頻的博客。因爲帶着他們的小女兒科萊特(Colette)一起上路，這個博客同樣充當着“現代版的全家福”。

Kickstarter forbids “fund my life” projects like family vacations. But the couple framed the journey as creative inspiration for Mr. Harteau’s art and promised an exhibition of his photography, collages and other artwork upon their return, thereby skirting the rule. Funders embraced their proposal to the tune of more than $16,000, and a year ago the Harteaus set off in their Westfalia.

Kickstarter不允許家庭旅行一類的“生活資助”項目的集資。不過，夫妻倆將旅程包裝成哈爾託先生的藝術創意靈感之旅，並承諾歸來後展覽途中的攝影作品和拼貼畫等藝術作品，鑽了規定的空子。贊助者們也欣然接受了他們的提案，最終的籌資金額達1.6萬美元（約合10萬元人民幣）。於是，哈爾託一家在一年前開着他們的威斯法利上路了。

In Mexico, they camped on the beach and surfed the big Pacific swells.

在墨西哥，他們在沙灘上露營，在太平洋的大海潮裏衝浪。

In Colombia, they spent a week in a fishing village where the wood-frame houses and boats were painted in vibrant primary colors.

他們在哥倫比亞的漁村度過了一個星期，那裏的木屋和木船都被塗成明亮的三原色。

In the Sacred Valley of the Incas, in Peru, Mrs. Harteau felt moved to climb onto the VW’s roof, strip off her clothes and pose naked. And after a serendipitous encounter with a religious pilgrim, the Harteaus found themselves attending the raucous Catholic festival known as Qoyllur Rit’I, held on a Peruvian glacier.

祕魯的印加聖谷讓哈爾託太太爲之動容，於是她爬到車頂脫掉衣服赤身留影。當不期而遇宗教朝聖者後，他們一家又機緣巧合地參加了在祕魯冰川舉行的喧鬧的天主教Qoyllur Rit’l慶典。

“That’s the thrill and beauty and dance of having time on the road,” Mrs. Harteau said, sounding like a Kerouac character.

“這就是旅途中的興奮、美好和雀躍，”說這句話時，哈爾託太太像是凱魯亞克書中的人物。

Along the way, the couple have relayed their adventures using their blog and Instagram feed. And it turns out that watching someone else take the trip of a lifetime has a certain appeal for the home- or deskbound.

他們夫妻倆用博客和Instagram分享他們沿途的見聞和探險經歷。事實證明，旁觀別人一輩子只有一次的旅程，對於埋頭家庭事務和伏案工作的人來說，有着相當的吸引力。

Mr. Harteau’s color-saturated photos showcase lush Andean hillsides, his daughter embraced by villagers, the organic meals his wife whips up with fresh local ingredients and the Westfalia lit by the glow of a beachside campfire. Snowcapped mountains and rainbows seem to follow the family wherever they go.

哈爾託先生色彩鮮豔的照片展現了鬱鬱蔥蔥的安第斯山脈、被村民擁抱的女兒、妻子利用當地新鮮食材匆匆製作的有機餐，以及沙灘旁的篝火映照下的威斯法利。似乎他們去的每一處都不乏彩虹和白雪皚皚的山巒。

To accompany the images, Mrs. Harteau writes journal-like entries in a tone that is equal parts National Geographic (“The Otavaleño women are easily recognizable by their gold necklaces”), Carlos Castaneda-esque musings on the transcendence of travel (“We walk, we breath, we listen to the magical pitch of our toddlers laugh”) and advertorial (“Adam made this board with the help from our friends at Foam-EZ”).

爲了配合圖片，哈爾託太太寫下日記形式的條目，一部分用《國家地理》(National Geographic)的語調（“奧塔瓦洛的女人們很容易通過她們的金項鍊認出來”），或者帶有卡洛斯·卡斯塔尼達(Carlos Castaneda)般的超越旅行本身的沉思(“我們走路，我們呼吸，我們聽着小朋友大笑時的魔音”)，亦或廣告式的文體（“亞當在Foam-EZ的朋友幫助下做成了這塊衝浪板。）

Joni Sternbach, a photographer and professor at the International Center of Photography, is one of the 59,000 traveling vicariously through the Harteaus’ Instagram feed. For her, they embody a free-spirited vision of family life. “I raise two kids in New York City, and my travel was fairly limited,” she said. “They travel around, are able to be creative, have a kid and do all of these things at the same time. I think it’s pretty miraculous.”

約妮·施特恩巴赫(Joni Sternbach)是一位攝影師，也是國際攝影中心(International Center of Photography) 的教授。她和其他5.9萬人一起跟隨哈爾托夫婦的Instagram感受着他們一家的旅程。對她來說，他們代表的是自由自在家庭生活的景象。“我在紐約撫養兩個小孩，很少有機會出去旅遊，”她說。“他們四處旅行，有創造性，帶着孩子的同時還能做所有的這一切。我覺得非常的不可思議。”

Bailey Richardson, community manager for Instagram, spotlights users she finds interesting; she discovered Our Open Road through a group of van travelers. “I thought it was a cool story of these people from L.A., these surfers, who are deciding to raise their kid on the road,” Ms. Richardson said. “That they are a family makes it especially compelling.”

貝利·理查森(Bailey Richardson)是Instagram的社區經理，負責捕捉她認爲有意思的用戶。她通過一個野營車旅行者的羣發現了Our Open Road。“我覺得來自洛杉磯的衝浪者決定讓他們的小孩在旅程中長大的故事很酷，”理查森說。“而他們這個家庭尤爲令人着迷。”

The Harteaus initially planned to be gone for a year. But somewhere around Month 4, the couple decided to “slow our roll,” as they told their blog readers. They returned to California to take a break last summer and then, earlier this month, flew back to Lima, Peru, where they had stowed their Westfalia, to begin Year 2.

哈爾託一家原本計劃出走一年。但在出發後大約4個月的某一天，他們在博客上告訴讀者，決定“慢慢來”。去年夏天回到加州休整後，他們在本月初飛回祕魯的利馬開始第二年的旅程。他們之前將威斯法利暫留在此地。

In photos, the Harteaus are the picture of outdoorsy California-style good health: he is bearded, muscled and surf-tumbled; she is sun-freckled and yoga-lean; and baby Colette is smiling and engaged. Their temperament, too, reflects a West Coast chill that one imagines is necessary if a couple is going to travel together for months, living in a van the size of a small walk-in closet, without freaking out or filing for divorce.

從照片看來，哈爾託一家有着十足的熱愛大自然、加州範兒的健康身體。他留鬍子，肌肉發達，喜歡在海里衝浪翻滾；而她有着曬出來的雀斑和瑜伽練就的好身材；小女兒科萊特總在笑，喜愛與人交流。 一對夫妻共同旅行數月，住在步入式衣帽間大小般的露營車裏，還能不崩潰不離婚，可想而知他們西海岸人固有的淡定閒適性格尤爲關鍵。

A more sensitive tourist might worry about being kidnapped by FARC rebels, or breaking down in the jungle or car accidents (like the burning wreckage of a fatal crash they came upon in Mexico). Or, for that matter, doing any of these things as first-time parents traveling with a toddler. But the Harteaus have managed to stay blissfully optimistic.

更敏感一些的旅行者也許會擔心半路被哥倫比亞革命武裝力量(FARC)綁架、在叢林裏壞車，或是遭遇車禍（他們在墨西哥目睹了致命車禍現場殘骸燃燒的場景）。或者換個角度說，第一次做父母的他們在和嬰兒同行的時候，做他們正在做的任何事情都足以讓人擔憂。但哈爾託一家卻能一直保持幸福的樂觀態度。

It was as they were leaving Colombia and crossing into Ecuador that the Harteaus decided a year was not enough time. To reach Tierra del Fuego at the tip of Argentina by April, as they had planned, they would need to cover four countries in eight weeks. And as Mrs. Harteau said, “We didn’t come on this trip to jam through these countries.”

離開哥倫比亞進入厄瓜多爾的時候，他們認定一年的時間並不夠。如果按照原定計劃，他們必須要在八週內橫穿四個國家，才能在4月前到達阿根廷最南邊的火地島。就像哈爾託太太說的那樣，“我們旅行不是爲了匆匆瞥一眼這些國家而已。”

They were already on a tight budget — about $40 a day for gas and an extra $20 for everything else (by now, they’ve spent about $20,000 in total). But they knew that extending the trip would require more funding beyond what they had from the Kickstarter campaign, personal savings and the yard sales they held before they left.

他們的預算已經很緊張了，40美元一天的汽油錢，外加20美元來囊括所有其他開支（到目前爲止，他們一共花費了大約2萬美元）。他們也明白，延長行期會需要更多的資金，超出他們之前在Kickmaster上面的集資、存款，以及行前賣舊貨的收入總和。

Weeks earlier, the couple had been shocked to see their Instagram followers jump from 2,000 to nearly 30,000 after Ms. Richardson featured one of their images on the Instagram blog and account. “Overnight we had all these people watching us,” Mr. Harteau said.

好幾周前，理查森將他們的一張圖片放到Instagram的官方博客和賬戶上。之後，他們Instagram的關注者從2000人增長到將近3萬人，着實嚇到了夫妻倆。“一夜之間多了這麼多人關注我們，”哈爾託太太說。

So they came up with a way to marshal that audience and stay on the road. Inspired by local artisan markets, they began holding what they called the “24-Hour Bazaar”: a flash sale of textiles, jewelry or other locally made goods, usually sold for double their cost. The couple photographed and sometimes modeled the goods, advertising them with a PDF catalog they emailed to followers like Ms. Sternbach, who bought alpaca blankets for about $40 each and a poncho for about $100.

於是，他們找到了集結這些關注者的力量，同時繼續旅程的方法。由當地手工市場得到的靈感，他們開始了自己命名爲“24小時集市”的創意閃購：用高出成本一倍的價格賣出當地的紡織品、首飾和其他物品。兩夫妻爲這些商品拍照，有時候也充當模特，之後製作成PDF格式的產品名錄發郵件給他們的關注者。作爲一名關注者，施特恩巴赫購買過40美元一條的羊駝毛毯子，以及大約100美元的披風。

A few weeks ago, when the Harteaus returned to Lima to resume their trip, they brought with them a few things to make the Westfalia even homier: a foldable oven for baking bread; new curtains; and solar panels they received through a sponsorship with Goal Zero, which will reduce their constant need to find a power source for their MacBook Pro. Next on their itinerary is Chile and then Argentina (although that is always subject to change). Then they will begin the long, meandering ride north.

幾周前，當哈爾託一家回到利馬重新開始旅程的時候，他們帶回了幾樣讓威斯法利更有家的感覺的東西：一個烤麪包的摺疊烤箱、新窗簾，以及Goal Zero贊助的太陽能電池板。這種電池板可以用來給他們的MacBook Pro電腦充電，省去了總是在找電源的煩惱。他們旅程的下一站是智利和阿根廷（雖然總是計劃趕不上變化），之後會折返，開始漫長的向北遊逛。

The art exhibition the Harteaus promised in their Kickstarter pitch will have to wait. As friends have begun to joke, it’s possible they are never coming back. And the Harteaus themselves are slowly realizing that their home is now on the road.

哈爾託一家在Kickstarter上承諾的藝術展不得不延期。正如他們的朋友開玩笑所說的，他們真的有可能不回來了。哈爾託一家也逐漸意識到，現在，他們的家就在路上。

During their brief return to Los Angeles, Collette, who turns 3 in January and has lived a third of her life on the road, told her parents she wanted to go home. “I said, ‘Where is home?’ ” Mrs. Harteau recalled. “She looked at me like I was crazy and said, ‘The van.’ ”

科萊特今年1月滿了3歲，她已經在旅途中度過了人生三分之一的時光。他們回洛杉磯短暫休整的時候，她告訴爸爸媽媽她想回家。“我問她，‘家在哪呢？’”哈爾託太太回憶道。“她看着我，好像我瘋了一樣，然後說，‘車裏啊。’”