On 9th January 2008, Tim Pass and Nils Schongalla left Newbourgh, in the Hudson Valley, NY to drive to Eugene, OR.

Nils grew up in New York State and had travelled extensively around the USA. He was going to Oregon to do some GIS mapping work just south of Eugene. The trip was to take 5 days and he would start his new job at the end of the week. He had organised to stay with friends along the way and had put an ad on the internet looking for someone to travel with him, to share some of the driving and gas costs.

Tim grew up in Australia and was currently living in Toronto, Canada. He was visiting New York for a few days and was looking for a lift back to Toronto when he stumbled across Nils' ad. He was not exactly sure how far away Oregon was but thought it would be a good idea to have a look around while he was down in the land of opportunity. He was carrying a pair of jeans, 3 T shirts, a tooth brush and a video camera with him.

Nils' chosen mode of transportation was a 1981 diesel Volkswagon Rabbit pickup truck. He had bought it the previous summer and had just had it serviced...