Nathan Thoen, pictured in his 1984 Toyota camper, is on the road to pursue his dream journey.

University of Saskatchewan alumni and life-long friends Nathan Thoen and Ian Harris have embarked on an envy-inducing adventure around North America in a camper van — all in pursuit of their long-awaited “dream journey.”

Thoen, Harris and their modified 1984 Toyota camper began their affectionately named dream journey in late January equipped with the bare necessities. They have since travelled throughout Canada and made stops in the Rocky Mountains, the Kootenays, Vancouver and the West Coast of the United States. The two travellers have no end date, no itinerary and no limits.

Thoen is a recent graduate of the Edwards School of Business who dreams of connecting his love of travel with his goal of capturing beautiful experiences and sharing it with the world.

“The dream journey means everything to me. It’s an idea, project and belief that I’ve had for a long time and now that I’m currently creating a piece of it, it’s very surreal,” said Thoen.

Thoen and Harris’ dream journey aims to reflect the depth of humanity’s desire for adventure through photos, videos and articles that the two create along the way.

“To me the dream journey embodies adventure, freedom and inspiration,” said Thoen. “The adventure comes from constantly throwing ourselves into new places and new situations and pushing myself out of my comfort zone and into the exciting realm of the unknown.”

Thoen credits his motivation for the trip to the various people he’s met throughout his life who made their dreams a reality against all odds. When creating this adventure, Thoen focused on integrating his fascination  with meeting new people with his desire to discover the underlying wisdom each person has to offer.

One of Thoen’s end goals is to create a short film or pilot episode for television that showcases his journey as well as everyone else’s that he has heard throughout his travels. Through this creative outlet he hopes to channel his personal experiences in a way that will inspire others while also finding new forms of inspiration for himself.

“It constantly inspired me to see others doing what they love and living their dreams, which really motivated me to try and do the same,” said Thoen. “I believe we all have dreams and the more we discuss and talk about those dreams, the better chance we’ll take a leap of faith and try to make them a reality.”

Having previously travelled to a variety of countries including Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Fiji, Thoen clearly has a thirst for new experiences. While on the road, Thoen is not limited to exploring the world but also plans to explore something deeper — his creativity.

“I have been trying to ask everyone I meet, ‘What’s your dream journey?’ and have already captured 100 dreams,” Thoen said. “I’ve been so inspired by the amazing dreams that so many people have graciously shared with me and I cannot wait to get to work editing my finished product.”

Travel and exploration is much more than just a hobby to Thoen. It is a never-ending adventure containing experiences waiting to be discovered.

Travel “fills a desire to learn and experience new things,” Thoen said. “It feeds my sense of wonder and humbles me — showing just how little we know about this fascinating world we all live in.”

You can follow Thoen and Harris’ dream journey on Twitter or Instagram through the hashtag #whatsyourdreamjourney. For a teaser of what you can expect to see from the dream journey, head to nathanthoen.com to watch the team’s promotional video.

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Lyndall Mack

Photo: Nathan Thoen / Supplied