The Far Green Country (2018)

If life is a journey, then there are bumps in the road.  Eli and Kelly Pyke were ten years into marriage when they woke up to a long list of stressors: a miscarriage, a traumatic birth, EMDR psychotherapy (I had to look that one up), health issues with their newborn son Dakota, and a marriage in survival mode.  So, Kelly the free-spirit extrovert who says she needed to "escape my reality," and Eli the stay-at-home introvert, did what came natural. As globe-trotting adrenaline junkies, they bought a twenty-year-old, 32' motor home and left their home in central Oregon without a clear plan or destiny. This 70-minute documentary that they wrote, directed, and produced records the ups and downs of their vagabond road trip. They motored from the Canadian Rockies to the Death Valley desert. The trip was equal parts adventure, drudgery, and marriage therapy. They saw grizzly bears, swam in frigid glacial lakes, sat around camp fires, and savored the digital detox of life without the internet. They drew inspiration from other couples they met, like some Australians who had been eleven years on the road ("with a passport and a credit card you can go anywhere!"). This film includes some important reminders: invest in experiences rather than in material things. And there is always hope for healing. I watched this film on Amazon Prime.

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net