Maybe four years in Peoria, Ill., simply ignites wanderlust. Stephen Bruning grew up in Minnesota, first around Cedar and then Long Lake. After graduating from Bradley University in 2008 in Peoria, he and his former roommate took to the road earlier this year -- embarking on a 12-week, 11,000 mile journey across the western United States between Feb. 29 andf May 20. Now working as a photographer -- shooting concerts, graduations and marathons -- Bruning pointed his lens at America. "From big city to rural America, we witnessed a country in motion toward the pursuit of adventure," he writes in an e-mail. "The goal of this trip was simply to learn more. More about ourselves, more about our country, more about life." Among the highlights: "sunrise surfing in Malibu, falling into a 20-foot snowdrift at Crater Lake, getting robbed in Seattle, lost within the Redwoods at dusk and sword fighting with whale rib bones on the Oregon Coast."
Along with former college roommate Derek Karnatz, he says, "we aquired a lifetime's worth of lessons in three months. These experiences have changed the way I view the world and my ideas for what is truly possible with a goal and a little imagination."
He's boiled it down in a 77-second video that's well worth your time. So click on this link and live a little, vicariously: Stir Enthusiasm
