I sat down with Patrick to ask him about the venture he’s currently getting off the ground: A 10-day train journey from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. with 100 enterprising millennials on board. This is what he had to say about the epic undertaking and the generation that — whatever it may be — is sure to shape our global future.

Q: What inspired the Millennial Trains Project? 

A: The idea comes from India, where I helped lead a similar trains project as a Fulbright scholar. This journey has been going on there for about 10 years and has become a totem to the aspirations of young and enterprising people in that country. Last year 20,000 millennials applied for 400 spots.

Millennial Trains Project founder, Patrick Dowd. (Photograph courtesy Patrick Dowd)

When I came back from India, I was working in investment banking at J.P. Morgan in New York, right as Occupy Wall Street was coming to its height. I felt there was a more positive way to respond to the dissatisfaction that many people felt with where their country was, and I thought it would look more like this trains project from India than the protests that were going on outside our offices. So I left my job to start this project.

Q: Why trains? 

A: Trains have played a huge role in shaping America’s culture. You see it everywhere from our language to our art to our infrastructure. They evoke nostalgia because they reconnect us to our origins.

At the core of this whole project is the idea that journeys build leaders. In India it’s called a yatra. The train journey [I helped organize there] is called Jagriti Yatra, signifying the awakening of the entrepreneurial spirit in India.

I think this idea exists everywhere. Every culture has myths about why that is, and so do we. By incorporating trains into the project, we’re tapping back into this idea of the pioneering spirit that built our country.

Q: Why millennials? 

A: In India the whole idea of “rising India” is pervasive, especially amongst the younger generation. I was really taken aback by the experience on the train in India, seeing people my age so committed to bridging the gap between where they’re country is and where they want it to be.

The 11-car train, comprised of refurbished cars from the 1950s and ’60s, will be pulled by an Amtrak locomotive. (Photograph by John McFadden)

The verdict is still out about millennials and what we’re going to do or be. Are we lazy or heroic? In the U.S., I’ve noticed a lowering of expectations about what we can accomplish. The train is meant to go against that by providing a dose of optimism and a platform for discovering opportunities.

I’m a millennial, so maybe it’s a self-centered thing.

Q: People have to earn their way onto the train, correct?

A: Applicants get on the train by pitching a project and raising money — $5,000 — to earn their spot. This crowd-funding element means the opportunity is accessible to anyone.

The project requirements are open-ended, so it’s a chance for participants to explore whatever their personal, professional, or creative frontier is on a national scale. It could be something that’s very closely related to the work that they do on a daily basis or a complete departure.

Q: How is this different than a TED talk on wheels? 

Is this an inspiring and informative initiative that has some similarities to TED? Yes. But the emphasis on action, connection to landscape, and the goal of having these ideas contribute to the welfare of communities across the country make it unique.

My hope is that people who hear about this project and interact with it along the way will begin to see a picture of the diversity, creativity, and enterprising nature of this rising generation. I think this will definitely send a message to older people that have an impression of millennials, though this isn’t about changing their minds. I think the more important value is changing the minds of kids in grade school and high school — giving them the sense that the generation a few years older than them is taking ownership over their future.

Like everything in American history, this project is an experiment. We feel it’s definitely an experiment worth pursuing — the first of many journeys.

Q: Have you been surprised by the applications you’ve seen so far?

A: The proposals keep getting better. There’s a sort of learning that’s happening; people are looking at the project ideas other applicants have submitted and they’re getting sharper and more creative.

Patrick Dowd (center) chatting with conductors from the Virginia Railway Express about the Millennial Trains Project. (Photograph by Nick Barbato)

An oncologist from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is launching a project where she is creating original artwork based on groundbreaking innovations in each locality’s scientific community. There’s a young graffiti artist from South Central L.A. who is co-creating murals for social change and a digital press secretary at the White House who’s proposing a project that’s all about poetry, because that’s what she loves, but something she doesn’t get to do at work.

It’s like the train is this big rock and all the applicants are coral. At the end [of the journey] we’ll have an awesome reef with all this aquatic life on it.

Nuts and Bolts

Q: Who will be on the train?

A: There will be 100 millennials — 10 from each applicant category – along with 12 mentors and 12 staff at any given time.

Q: How does it work?

A: We travel by night, stopping each day in a different locality. Three things happen each day: a “local innovation showcase” where we see what interesting new things are starting to crop up in each community followed by six hours of free time where participants advance their own projects. The third part happens back on the train where we have seminars from distinguished guest speakers responding to the prompt, “Where are the new frontiers?”

Q: How can folks apply?

A: On our website, www.millennialtrain.co.

Q: What does the application consist of?

A: The application is very similar to those of a Kickstarter campaign. They need to answer short 250 word questions, that asks what is your project, what does it aim to accomplish, how do you intend to share your experience with others, and why are you applying on the train? Add a short one to two minute video introducing self and project and why you want to get on the train. It’s meant to be something you could do on a Saturday afternoon.

Q: Can only Americans apply? 

A: No – anyone can apply. That’s an important point because our perception of ourselves as a nation has always been shaped by the observations of foreigners. We’ve been really excited to see that creative, enterprising, and civic-minded people from other countries want to come on board. I think we’ll see ourselves in interesting and different ways through their eyes.

Q: Once people meet the threshold of $5,000, are they automatically on?

A: Yes. If they are one of the first 10 people in their professional category, they automatically get on. It’s definitely a race — if you’re the 11th person to reach your fundraising goal you’re out of the running — so people who apply early have the best chance of getting on board.

Leslie Trew Magraw is the editor of National Geographic’s travel blogs. Follow her story on Twitter @leslietrew.

I caught up with the author last week to get the inside scoop before the book’s official release date (it’s tomorrow), and this is what she had to say.

Q: You made a name for yourself as a war correspondent covering Cambodia for the Washington Post. Why this book and why now?

A: My profession has been to understand world events. I reported from Asia and Europe [for the Post] and later was the senior foreign editor at NPR. At the New York Times, I became the international economics correspondent in 2002, and that is when I began noticing the explosion of tourism and how much countries rich and poor were coming to rely on it.

But tourism isn’t treated as a serious business or economic force. Travel sections are all about the best vacations. So I used a fellowship at Harvard to begin my research and then wrote this book to point out what seemed so obvious: Tourism is among the biggest global industries and, as such, has tremendous impacts–environmental, cultural, economic–that have to be acknowledged and addressed.

Amazon named “Overbooked” one of the ten best books of the month. (Cover courtesy Simon & Schuster)

Q: Which country can you point to as a model for sustainable tourism?

A: One of the more ambitious is France, which is aiming for sustainability in the whole country. The key, I think, is that the French never fully bought in to the modern obsession with tourist overdevelopment. They have been nurturing their own culture and landscape, cities, and villages for decades. Since they have tied their economy to tourism, they have applied a precise and country-wide approach that mostly works.

All relevant ministries are involved, including culture, commerce, agriculture, sports, and transportation. Planning is bottom up, beginning with locals at destinations who decide what they want to promote and how they want to improve. The French obsession with protecting their culture–some would call it arrogance–has worked in their favor. The planning and bureaucracy required to make this work would try the patience of many governments.

Now, even though the country is smaller than the state of Texas, France is the most popular destination in the world. Tourism officials told me one of their biggest worries is becoming victims of their success: too many foreigners buying second homes or retirement homes in French villages and Parisian neighborhoods, which could tip the balance and undermine that sustainable and widely admired French way of life.

Many destinations are making impressive changes. Philanthropists are helping African game parks find their footing. I was lucky to see how Paul Allen, for instance, is helping in Zambia.

Q: Which country is doing it all wrong?

A: Cambodia has made some bad choices in tourism. It is blessed with the magnificent temples of Angkor, glorious beaches in the south, cities with charming overlay of the French colonial heritage, and a rural landscape of sugar palms, rice paddies, and houses on stilts.

The author. (Photograph courtesy Simon & Schuster)

Yet, rather than protect these gems, the government has allowed rapacious tourism to threaten the very attractions that bring tourists. Tourism is seen as a cash cow.

Some of the capital’s most stunning historic buildings are being razed to build look-alike modern hotels. In Angkor, a thicket of new hotels has outpaced infrastructure and is draining the water table so badly the temples are sinking–and profits from tourism do not reach the common people, who are now among the poorest in the country.

In addition, Cambodia has become synonymous with sex tourism that exploits young girls and boys. The latest wrinkle is to encourage tourists on the “genocide trail” to see the killing fields and execution centers from the Khmer Rouge era.

Q: With more than a billion people traveling each year, how can we see the world without destroying it?

A: That is the essential question. Countries are figuring out how to protect their destinations in quiet, non-offensive ways. They control the number of hotel beds, the number of flights to and from a country, the number of tour buses allowed. Some have “sacrifice zones,” where tourists are allowed to flood one section of beachfront, for example, while the rest is protected as a wildlife preserve or [reserved] for locals. Most countries are heavily promoting off-season travel as the most obvious way to control crowds.

Countries are also putting more muscle into regulations [governing] pollution. The toughest problem is breaking the habit of politicians being too close to the industry to the detriment of their country. Money talks in tourism as in any other big business. Luxury chains wanting a store near a major tourist attraction will pay high rents to push out locals. Officials fail to enforce rules against phony “authentic” souvenirs.

One of the worst offenders are the supersized cruise ships that swarm localities, straining local services and sites and giving back little in return.

Q: What do you think will be the biggest challenge for 21st-century travelers?

A: Avoiding “drive-by tourism.” This is a phrase coined by Paul Bennett of Context Travel referring to the growing habit of people visiting a destination for a few hours, maybe a few days, and seeing only a blur of sights with little appreciation for the country, culture, or people.

One of the eureka moments in my five years of research was reading old guidebooks in the Library of Congress. The Baedeker [Guides] were written in consultation with historians and archaeologists who presumed the tourists wanted to immerse themselves in a country. They included a short dictionary of the language of the country and, only at the very end, short lists of hotels and restaurants. Today it is the reverse: Guides have short paragraphs about history, culture, and politics and long lists of where to eat and sleep.

My advice is to first be a tourist where you live. Explore the museums, the farms, the churches, the night life, the historic monuments–and then read up on local politics and history. If you’re interested in volunteering overseas, first volunteer at home. Then when you’re planning your next trip abroad, use that experience as a template and study up on the destination you’re about to visit.

Don’t forget to try to learn something of the local language. It is a gift.

Q: Are there any tourism trends that give you hope for the future of travel?

A: People are again recognizing that travel is a privilege. Responsible tourism in its various forms–volunteer tourism, adventure tourism, slow tourism (where people take their time), agro-tourism (where visitors live and work on a farm), ecotourism , geotourism–all speak to tourists’ desire to respect the places they visit and the people they meet. I think people are also recognizing that bargain travel has hidden expenses and dangers.

Costa Rica was an eye-opener for me; it deserves its reputation as a leader in responsible tourism that nurtures nature and society.

Finally, several groups including the United Nations World Tourism Organization have put together a global sustainable tourism council with a certification program to show tourists which places are genuinely making the effort.

Thoughts? Counterpoints? Leave a comment to let us know how you feel about this important topic.

Related:

• “New Book Will Open Your Eyes About Travel” from our News Watch blog

My colleague, Carolyn Fox, and I were lucky enough to sit in on one of Traveler‘s photo seminars earlier this month, led by award-winning photographer Jim Richardson and the magazine’s senior photo editor Dan Westergren. Even though the two of us are immersed in the wonderful world of travel every day as part of Traveler‘s digital team, we discovered we had a lot to learn when it came to taking magazine-worthy photographs.

Though Jim and Dan believe in the importance of technique, they stressed that ”the secret is in how you look at the world, not in how you turn the dials on the camera.”

“Interesting content trumps interesting technique every time,” they said. Half the effort is getting there.

Here are a few of Jim and Dan’s tips on how to get in the right frame of mind when you’re making pictures in the world:

Be comfortable with your camera and yourself: Don’t broadcast self-doubt. Learn your camera. If you are comfortable with your equipment, you can focus on relating to your subjects. Your confidence in yourself will instill confidence in them.

Tune into the local frequency: Get a feel for accepted local norms and expectations. Conform your manners to local custom. Find the local bulletin boards or chat up the grocery store owner.

Dress appropriately: Fit in with the social scene. Wear a costume if you’re shooting at Mardi Gras. Dress for church if you are going to church. It is one of the most visible ways to show respect for local sensibilities.

See the good in bad weather: It’s a cliche, but it’s true — rain, snow, and fog transform the world and make pictures of unique mood and beauty. But make sure to go prepared: a simple baggie works wonders for keeping a camera dry.

Move in close and make friends: Don’t act like a spy. Put away the telephoto and become part of the moment. Successful people pictures almost never happen from across the street.

Try the local food: Share a snack or a meal, but also share the customs. Seasoned National Geographic photographers have one rule: take at least one bite.

Understand the social contract:Your subjects are giving of themselves and you’re getting. Don’t abuse their gift. Build a relationship with a person first, even if for 30 seconds, and then do the picture.

Challenge yourself to see things differently: Get in the middle of things. Climb something for a different view. “Dance around a tea cup” — find a scene and take a picture from every conceivable angle.

Give yourself an assignment: If you have a reason for taking the pictures, you’ll feel more comfortable and your subjects may enjoy contributing to something worthwhile.

And, last but not least, try, try, try: Shoot one good picture. Then find another way to shoot the same scene. Then find yet another way. Dan Westergren claims three times is a charm.

Want more? Attend one of National Geographic Traveler‘s photography workshops on Creativity with Light, Mastering Travel Photography, Nature & Landscape, and People & Places. 

Learn more about our photography seminar series >>

Get photo tips from National Geographic experts >>

He was never seen again.

His father, Nelson Rockefeller, who was then Governor of New York, put his financial and political heft behind an extensive search party, but efforts to find his youngest son were fruitless. More than 50 years later, the official explanation remains that Michael Rockefeller drown in the Arafura Sea. But there have always been rumblings that belie this account.

In the watery jungles of Asmat, there is one grass airstrip and no roads. (Photograph by Carl Hoffman)

Some say he abandoned the material world to live a more primitive existence in the jungle like a modern-day Kurtz. Some say he made it to shore only to be killed and eaten by the local Asmat in retaliation for a raid carried out by a Dutch patrol officer in which tribal elders were killed in a misguided effort to deter head hunting.

Michael, just 23, a budding anthropologist, had been on an expedition to obtain Asmat woodcarvings for the primitive art museum his father had founded years earlier in New York City to celebrate the arts of the indigenous cultures. He was excited. The trip gave him a chance to “do something adventurous,” Michael explained, “at a time when frontiers, in the real sense of the word, are disappearing.”

So what really happened to Michael Rockefeller?

National Geographic Traveler Contributing Editor Carl Hoffman is on a quest to find out the truth behind one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the 20th century — and what it reveals about the world.

His journey started two years ago, when a decade-long fascination with the story earned him a book deal to write the definitive true story. Since then he’s been to Europe to interview Catholic missionaries and Dutch officials who came into contact with Michael in the jungle, and has spent two months in Indonesian Papua (the Dutch ceded control of the western side of New Guinea to Indonesia in 1962, a year after Michael’s disappearance) with the Asmat.

He’s made some amazing discoveries, and found that the story is even richer than he imagined.

It’s more than a cautionary tale about a vanished American son, Hoffman says. “It’s about a moment in time when the world was undergoing profound changes, about the end of colonialism, the rise of primitive art and the sacred world of the Asmat — a dramatic and riveting tale about change and collision.”

On the right track, but with much work yet to be done and a book deal that wouldn’t cover a return trip to New Guinea, Carl decided to do something that made him uncomfortable.

He decided to ask for help on Kickstarter.com, a crowd-funding website for creative projects — what the New York Times has dubbed “the people’s NEA.”

Hoffman (left) with his Asmat guide and translator, Amates (center) in the village of Pirien. (Photograph by Carl Hoffman)

As of today, 71 people have contributed $6,861 — about 30 percent of Carl’s total goal of $23,500.

Sounds good, right? But there’s a catch: If Carl doesn’t meet his goal by the deadline, he’ll lose everything.

It’s an all-or-nothing deal, and with just a week to go, he needs all the help he can get.

Hoffman will use the money to return to Papua and continue his research. Because it’s such a remote and undeveloped place, getting there and back is incredibly expensive — not to mention the high cost of local transportation and a full-time translator. ”There are layers here — mystical, brutal, enlightening — that need to be explored,” Hoffman says. “And I can only do that by going back and diving deeper into the world of the sacred.”

What do you get in return? For a donation of $1 or more, you get the chance to help solve one of the biggest unsolved missing persons cases in world history — and help keep a world-class investigative journalist sane. (For $10,000, Carl will take you with him to New Guinea to be a part of his team.)

“What I do is very, very isolating,” says Hoffman. “A book means months and months inside my own head, with my own notes. Suddenly I feel like I’m supported by a lot of people and resting on a lot of shoulders, many of whom I don’t know. It’s inspiring — and humbling.”

“So, please come with me,” he says, “virtually if not physically — to the jungles and rivers of Asmat, still one of the remotest places on Earth, to a world of 100-foot longhouses, an older universe barely touched by the outside, where men are cockatoos and fruit bats and wild boars and still travel with the tides in hand carved dugout canoes.”

Help Carl do this incredibly rich story justice. Chip in $1 or more now before next Wednesday, September 19 to support The Last Warriors of the Spirit World: Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Journey in the Land of the Asmat.

Hoffman is the author of The Lunatic Express – what the Wall Street Journal called one of the ten best books of 2010 – and Hunting Warbirds. The Last Warriors of the Spirit World: Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Journey in the Land of the Asmat will be his third book.

Leslie Trew Magraw: You helped establish the NHL Players Association’s Carbon Neutral Challenge, pro-hockey’s first major environmental initiative. Who or what inspired you?

Andrew Ference: It really started with [Canadian environmentalist] David Suzuki, about 7 years ago. At the time I was playing hockey in Canada and had quite the soapbox up there. He wanted me to stand for something good publicly, so, since I was already going carbon neutral at home, he urged me to incorporate that into my playing. Even on the road throughout the season we try to hunt down the organic restaurants and support them as much as possible. It makes for a better experience anyways.

LTM: Are you proud of the work you’ve been able to do in the NHL?

AF: I’m proud to see the league take a real turn over the last five or six years. The league and a lot of its owners and arenas went from doing next to nothing to being — I think they are — the best major sport in terms of tackling environmental issues. Whether it’s energy consumption and food sourcing in the buildings, or getting involved in a major water restoration program in the Pacific Northwest, they’re going the extra mile and really making an effort. I think that was really helped by the players carrying the flag and pushing them to do something. Players going carbon neutral doesn’t really do a lot on its own, but to see our example inspire fans and arenas — that does a lot.

LTM: You grew up in Canada. What’s your favorite spot in your home country?

AF: The Great Bear Rainforest near the Haida Gwaii. If humans weren’t here that’s what we would have. It’s about a two-hour flight from Vancouver, straight north up the coast. They have some great salmon fishing there and the place is just packed with whales and bald eagles and spirit bears. We got to see seven or eight humpbacks all coming up at the same time through the bubbles to feed. It really blew me away. The drive from Lake Louise to Jasper through Icefields Parkway is pretty amazing, too.

LTM: You’ve played for several different teams over the years. Which has been your favorite?

AF: Boston, for sure. It’s been my favorite place to live as well.

LTM: Where’s your favorite place to play when you’re on the road?

AF: New York, because there’s so much to see and [because there are so many] great restaurants. All we really get to do on the road is land, eat, go to sleep, and go play hockey, so good restaurants are pretty high on the list. But as far as an arena and an atmosphere, Montreal is a fantastic place because the Boston and Montreal rivalry is so incredible. There are some pretty heated games and knowledgeable fans, as well.

LTM: Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?

AF: I’ve been fixated on Bhutan for a few years now. You can’t find a McDonald’s there. They’re getting more and more open, but they’ve really locked it down. I feel like it’s one of the last untouched spots.

Check out “Beyond the Puck” (and meet Andrew’s wife and adorable little girls) online now and read more about Andrew’s inspiring work on behalf of the world we all share.

Here’s a list of a few of our favorite romantic movies of all time — and the cities that made them sing:

• Vienna, Austria: Before Sunrise (1995)
  Two strangers (one French, one American) meet on a train…and jump off in Vienna to spend the night walking around the city. Ever think about a person you met long ago, but never gave a chance? This movie captures that “two ships passing in the night” feeling, and makes us wonder about what could have been — or what could be, if we have the guts to follow our hearts.
• Mumbai, India: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
  This crowd-pleaser — about three kids from the Juhu slums in Mumbai who walk down very different life paths after being separated — shows us that sometimes good things (like love) come to those who wait, and despite great odds.
• New York City, USA: When Harry Met Sally (1989)
  The film that famously asks, “Can men and women be friends?” proves that sometimes your best friend can be someone you used to hate — and can even end up being the love of your life. “I’ll have what she’s having.”
• Paris, France: Amelie (2001)
  When a shy waitress begins helping the people around her find happiness, she comes to find that she deserves it herself. A good lesson to learn indeed. Plus, the whimsical, brightly colored Parisian world created by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet will make you want to book a plane ticket, stat.
• Tokyo, Japan: Lost in Translation (2003)
  Two Americans meet by chance in a Tokyo hotel — one a washed up actor in the midst of a midlife crisis, the other a young wife in the midst of a quarter-life crisis — and form a special friendship (love takes many forms) that takes them to the pulsating streets of this uber-modern city and leaves them (and us) forever changed.
• Budapest, Hungary: The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
  The inspiration for 1998′s You’ve Got Mail, this quirky film centers around two co-workers who fight like cats and dogs in real life, but who are (unbeknownst to them) pen pals embarking on an anonymous epistolary romance. This is a movie that challenges us to give people the benefit of the doubt — and to open ourselves up to the possibility of love.
• London, England: My Fair Lady (1964)
  Audrey Hepburn shines as Eliza Doolittle — and Edwardian London provides the perfect backdrop for this delectable musical confection about a rags-to-riches (and May-December) romance. A direct predecessor to Pretty Woman.
• Casablanca, Morocco: Casablanca (1942)
  This bittersweet love story — about a cynical, bar-owning American expat, his long-thought-lost Norwegian lover, and their love-hate relationship — proves that sometimes love means letting go. Just try to listen to “As Time Goes By” without tearing up.

Check out Traveler’s Valentine’s Day quiz to test your amour mettle.