A family of four will embark on a three week bitcoin-only road trip over the Thanksgiving holiday. Expenses such as food, gasoline and lodging will all be paid for with the crypo-currency as they journey from Texas to California, Nevada, Colorado, and Missouri.
The goal of the Uncoinventional West Coast Tour is to “Inspire and empower the Bitcoin community to spend bitcoin on food, gasoline and lodging” says Catherine Bleish, Bitcoin author and creator of TheBitMom.com.
This will be the second bitcoin-only road trip for the Blush Family this year. Last June, Catherine, her husband John Bush, and their two children traveled over 4,400 miles from Texas to Washington DC, New York, New Hampshire and Ohio spending bitcoin only, with the exception of several toll roads they encountered along the way.
Despite several obstacles, the family managed to successfully spend over $6,000 in bitcoin using services such as Gyft (gift card service), CheapAir (hotel and flight booking service), and Airbitz (bitcoin business directory and mobile wallet) to find restaurants and hotels along the way.
Their first journey was a huge success, receiving national or local media attention at nearly every stop. The feedback was so great that Gyft, CheapAir, and Airbitz jumped on board to sponsor the West Coast Tour.
“We are ecstatic to support the Uncoinventional Living Tour,” said Paul Puey, CEO of Airbitz. “Cat and John are helping drive Bitcoin adoption as a true currency in everyday life… something strongly inline with the beliefs of the Airbitz team.”
This November, the family will find themselves speaking at the following events: Alt Expo in Austin, Libertopia Conference in San Diego, Liberty on the Rocks in Denver, and Bitcoin Meetups in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.
The family plans to interview Bitcoin companies and activists along the way for John’s bitcoin podcast, SovereignBTC, which received nearly 47,000 listens during their East Coast Tour.
The bitcoin travel space is rapidly changing, presenting new challenges and opportunities for the family.
“A lot has changed in the past six months,” says Catherine Bleish: “for this trip we had to get creative in order to buy gasoline because the company we used last time is no longer active. There is definitely room for new startups in the space.”
The Blush family reports they are excited to hit the road and learn how Bitcoin travel has changed since June. Follow their journey at www.uncoinventional.com.
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About The Family:
John Bush: John Bush (@sovtbc) is the host of SovereignBTC, a bitcoin podcast on the Let’s Talk Bitcoin Network. He is a partner in the newly formed Crypto Partners LLC, a company involved in bitcoin mining, Bitcoin ATMs, and the sale of BTC through ExpressCoin. John is the executive producer of Sovereign Living, a reality show about his family’s attempts to get off all centralized grids, including money, utilities, and food systems. John is the owner/operator/editor in chief of the Liberty Beat, a five minute top of the hour news service heard nationwide on the Genesis Communication Network.
Catherine Bleish: Catherine Bleish, MPA (@TheBitMom) writes for Bitcoin Magazine, Money and Tech, and now Yahoo Travel. She hosts an online bitcoin consignment shop at ConsignBit.com. You can follow her journey toward a more voluntary and natural life through the Sovereign Living blog or the Sovereign Living reality show. She speaks at events across the country about natural living, alternative currencies, and raising sovereign children. Her current passion is to introduce the unschooling community to the cryptocurrency world and the cryptocurrency community to the virtues of unschooling. She received her Master’s Degree in Public Affairs with an emphasis on Nonprofit Management in 2011.
Uncoinventional National Sponsors:
Gyft: Gyft allows you to use Bitcoin at hundreds of popular retailers through digital gift cards. Through Gyft, now you can buy groceries at Whole Foods, electronics at Best Buy, an even book hotel rooms. http://www.Gyft.com/Bitcoin
CheapAir: CheapAir allows you to buy hotels and airfare with bitcoin, litecoin and dogecoin! Follow their blog People of Bitcoin to learn about some fascinating Bitcoiners. http://www.CheapAir.com
Airbitz: Airbitz builds a wallet, merchant directory, and developer platform with a focus on bringing ease of use and ease of security to the Bitcoin ecosystem. The Airbitz mobile wallet on iOS and Android brings users a feel similar to mobile banking while still providing true bitcoin functionality, financial autonomy, and strong privacy. https://airbitz.co
Center for Natural Living: A Texas based nonprofit with the mission to, “Demonstrate the value of voluntary cooperation and natural living in the areas of sustainability, family, and health by creating educational media and helping families to fulfill their basic needs,” The Center for Natural Living is screening the Bitcoin Episode of Sovereign Living during the Uncoinventional Tour. http://www.centerfornaturalliving.org
Amagi Metals: Precious metals broker who accepts Bitcoin. “Sovereign Living embodies a lot of what Amagi Metals stands for: sound money and financial responsibility. We are so excited to be a part of this project, and the episodes we’ve seen so far are impressive and enticing. We are excited to see what’s next for the project and thrilled to host the cast in Denver.” – Stephen Macaskill, CEO of Amagi Metals in Denver, CO.
Tour Itinerary:
(Updated Version Found Here: http://uncoinventional.com/west-coast-tour/)
Austin, Texas
Alternatives Exposition, Keep Alt Expo “Weird”
Sunday, November 9 at 10:30am – 6:30pm in
Catherine Speech: Outcome Based Parenting for a Free Society
John Speech: Building Freedom Cells
Spider House Ballroom 2906 Fruth St, Austin, Texas 78705
San Diego, California
Libertopia
Thursday, November 13 through Sunday, November 16
Catherine Speech: Bitcoin Travel
John Speech: Freedom Cells
Town And Country Resort 500 Hotel Cir North, San Diego, California 92128
Dinner MeetUp Up – Sponsored by Airbitz and hosted by Complete Liberty MeetUp
Friday November 14th at 6:00pm-9:00pm
City Taco 3028 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104
**10% off all orders at City Tacos if you pay with an Airbitz wallet**
Los Angeles, California
MeetUp (TBA), Visit CheapAir
Las Vegas, NV
Dinner MeetUp – hosted by the Las Vegas Bitcoin Meetup, Sponsored by Jullian Tosh
Friday, November 21 at 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Sovereign Living Screening, the Bitcoin Episode, Discussion on Bitcoin Travel
THe Crepe 420 S Ramapart Blvd Las Vegas, NV
Denver, Colorado
Liberty on the Rocks – Sponsored by Amagi Metals
Monday, November 24 at 6:00pm – 9:00pm in
Sovereign Living Screening, the Bitcoin Episode
Independence Institute 727 E 16th Ave, Denver, Colorado 80203
Denver Bitcoin Center
Tuesday, November 25 at TBD
More information coming soon
Kansas City, Missouri
MeetUp (TBA)
