 "Photo: John Gilchrist")
UT student Diego Gonzalez Joven's passion for preserving the environment has led him to climb mountains, trek across foreign countries and swim hundreds of miles through rivers and oceans.
Gonzalez Joven, an electrical engineering and radio-televsion-film major, attended UT for two years before going on a seven-month expedition that took him to the South Pole.
The Mexico native, who returned from the trip in January, took the year off of school to join the group when it reached Texas. The five-member team, which had traveled from Greenland before Gonzalez Joven joined, relied exclusively on human power to get from the North Pole to the South Pole. The team dogsledded, walked, sailed, swam and skied through South America down to Antarctica, traveling 22,000 miles through 12 different countries.
In January, the 25-year-old will leave school again to hike across the continent with his best friend and former UT roommate, John Wimmer. They will cycle from Alaska to Baja Calif., where Gonzales Joven will jump into the Atlantic Ocean to swim to Mazatlan, Mexico. After the two bike across Mexico, Gonzales Joven will take to the water again to swim across the Gulf of Mexico, from Cancun to Key West, Florida.
Wimmer, an Oregon native who is legally blind, will make the trip with his seeing-eye dog, Rasha.
Like Gonzalez Joven's first trip, the upcoming adventure will focus on climate change awareness. The trekkers also plan to raise money for UNICEF through wristband sales on their Web site.
The proceeds from wristband sales will be divided between travel expenses and a donation to UNICEF, with 80 percent going to the United Nations charity. Gonzalez Joven and Wimmer have also acquired several sponsorships from local businesses and community organizations, including Adidas, REI and Austin's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. During the first month of fundraising, approximately $1,000 was raised.
Before his first long-distance trip, Gonzalez Joven said he has always loved traveling. A human-powered trip, he said, would help to bring attention to global warming while showing how much one person can accomplish without damaging the environment. He was first inspired to draw attention to climate change after seeing the effects of global warming.
"There's been so many natural disasters because of climate change … I've witnessed how floods have destroyed so many homes and families," Gonzalez Joven said. "Anyone can climb mountains but when you put a purpose to your goals, things change."
Wimmer shares his friend's passion for the environment.
"I'm more passionate about having fun, but I think we should be good stewards of the earth," Wimmer said. "If anything we can do can bring attention to those kinds of environmental problems, I think that's a good thing."
The two will ride more than 5,000 miles together on a two-person tandem bicycle with Rasha in tow. Gonzales Joven will then swim more than 600 miles during the day, while Wimmer and Rasha follow by boat.
Gonzales Joven will spend his night onboard the boat, which will make its way through the waters of the Gulf with the help of a hired navigator.
Wimmer, Gonzalez Joven and Rasha will stop along the way to speak at schools, businesses and universities about the importance of environmental quality and the power of human potential.
"It's a big motivation to see John doing what for many people would be extremely challenging," Gonzalez Joven said. "There's no excuse for me to not be able to do what John can do."
To prepare for the journey, Wimmer and Gonzalez Joven climbed multiple mountains in the U.S., including Mount Hood, Mount Rainier and Mount Whitney - three of the tallest peaks on the Pacific coast. Rasha and Wimmer, who has been climbing mountains since childhood, set records as the first blind team to reach all three summits.
"Compared to climbing mountains, cycling is going to be cake," Wimmer said.
He said there have been some great moments during their expeditions.
"I've sat at the top of Yosemite Falls in the sunset with my feet hanging over the cliff, 3,000 feet straight down."
Gonzalez Joven admits that their adventures aren't all sunsets.
"We've come back down [mountains] really late, really tired, dealing with nausea and altitude sickness," he said. "When you're tired, people make wrong decisions … We've found people on trails sleeping, shaking. The only way to avoid those things is experience."
Wimmer said breaking through mental and physical boundaries is a big part of these experiences.
"Everybody has their own limits, and it's up to each individual to find out what theirs are," Wimmers said. "For me, I push them by climbing mountains."
Gonzalez Joven and Wimmer will begin their adventure in January. To track their progress, visit their Web site at www.whatisyourimpossible.com.
