For four years, the Lookout Wild Film Festival has showcased the finest adventuring from directors near and far. The upcoming fifth anniversary festival, set for Jan. 19-21, will feature films about rappelling into a volcano, standup paddleboarding down the Amazon River, and more than a few outdoor quests undertaken with a faithful canine companion.
There’s an underlying message in many of the films: If you have a dream, make it happen.
Earlier this year, festival director Andy Johns decided to take that message to heart. After four years of watching other people live their dreams – particularly inspired by a film from last year’s festival titled Tomorrow Somewhere New about a family with a small toddler traveling the country – he dropped everything and is now touring the country in an RV with his wife Jessica and their 4-year-old son Braden.
“We’d always talked about that lifestyle once we were retired, but with Alzheimer’s on my side and Parkinson’s on hers, retirement isn’t always a given,” says Johns. “The more we thought about all these reasons we couldn’t, the more they started to fall away.”
Johns’ son isn’t old enough to start elementary school, and Johns’ marketing and public relations job is flexible enough to be done on the road. In fact, he was already on the road 60 days out of the year before venturing out on his journey.