Urban Exploring Season 2 - INTRO
YES! YES! Season 2 of Urban Exploring has arrived, IquanW is taking his talents across the county this season. Making stops in Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, LA, Brooklyn and of course Newark! Check out the season 2 Intro, oh and episode 1 is coming April 22!
The Digital Tidbits - Trailer
The time is almost near and I can't wait to share the first episode of The Digital Tidbits with you. Produced and directed by Iquan W., here's a sneak peek of my show! Stay tuned...
A DAY - Mr. Jack Saturday PREVIEW
Over the winter I managed to connect with an old friend and during our time together I learned a lot about his plans for 2015. We ate with him and his pops, we walked around his neighborhood and just caught up on life. Stay tuned as I tell my story about my friend Ian a.k.a Jack Saturday.
Laytonic: Marty's Mix
DJ Laytonic is back on the HIP HOP scene with a new mix inspired by his cousin 'Marty'. Early this morning Layton released his new mix via Soundcloud and then shared a heartfelt message about it on Instagram...
My new mix was inspired by my older cousin Marty who turned me onto hip-hop music at the tender age of 7. I remember him showing me songs from LL Cool J and The Beastie Boys whenever my family went to visit. It made a profound impact on me. I later heard more amazing music from Public Enemy, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and Run DMC from watching MTV after school and on weekends back when MTV only played music videos. Although not all of those artists are featured in this mix, I wanted to convey the same feeling I got back then when Marty first introduced me to the music. This was the late 80's early 90's when rap was considered a threat to the suburbs. Most of white America wasn't ready for this new music filled with foul language, outspoken political views, sex speak and the occasional gun violence. Thankfully, my parents allowed me to listen to this music in the house growing up regardless of some of the lyrical content. As an aspiring musician, I never really paid much attention to lyrics anyway. My ears were drawn to the music and the production is what moved me the most. Even to this day I have a hard time listening to lyrics if I don't feel the music first. Hip-hop and rap music was my first true love and I haven't stopped listening since. Thank you Marty for the positive influence. I'll never forget it. " @laytonic
Check out the mix below and please comment!
In My Shoes ft. Lo Miller
Inspirational Explorer | Founder of Can't Stay Put
I was in the middle of the infamous "quater-life" crisis us millennials suffer through. I was unsatisfied with my life and was yearning for purpose. I wanted to share with the world something that was specific to me. After months of praying, I finally decided to put in my notice at work and as a gift to myself I traveled to Maui shortly afterwards. Using the experience as my version of Eat, Pray, Love. I had my A-ha moment while walking through the bamboo forest. Cliche, I know! But I realized my purpose was to do exactly what I was doing. Inspire others through my experiences around the world. And then I thought about my life. It wasn't a coincidence I started flying by myself at 5, or had traveled to multiply countries throughout my life, or that I was always the designated trip planner, or that I was always taking advantage of opportunities that required me to travel, or that I bought a ticket with sky miles only at 13. That was it! Travel was specific to me and out of that self-discovery CAN'T STAY PUT was born. CAN'T STAY PUT is about not being complacent, not sitting still, not letting life hold you back. With a primary focus on young creative millennials, it's about learning, following your dreams, seeking out new experiences, growing, evolving—essentially not staying put!
I traveled to Nicaragua in 2010 on a Business Mission Trip with the Wake Forest University Business School. One of our assignments was to meet and consult with local business owners. We visited a shoe-maker who supplied the boots for the Nicaraguan Army. His shop didn't have the latest technology but it was authentically his with the smell of fresh leather in every corner. In one room shoes were lined up by sizes. The latest batch. I asked how much? 7 American dollars. No brainer. I got them.
Fast Forward 2 years or so... 2013, when I quit my job to start Can't Stay Put, I started to wear sort of a uniform that always included my boots. I had a real rugged, tomboyish, "I'm going to work" look. After all, I was starting to build a business and brand. My daily fit was the least of my worries. I was tomboy chic. Next thing I knew they became my travel shoes.
My Can't Stay Put shirt, leggins, and my boots. I wore them everywhere. They were indeed my signature, so much so that they're part of the 1st CSP logo. It was only right.
California Fire Escape
Soaking up the view on the fire escape of my apartment. I would soon later break my lease in an effort to build Can't Stay Put vowing not to sign another lease until I was getting paid to do what I wanted to do. 
The day I received my first financial contribution for the 1st official Can't Stay Put trip after many failed attempts. My luck soon got better.
The day I departed for Hong Kong. The 1st destination on the 1st official Can't Stay Put trip.
Thailand Tuk Tuk- The primary mode of transportation in Thailand
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A Night w/ Orane Williams
Remember our friend from Urban Exploring Episode 5? If not Guru captured some cool shots to remind you about our friend Orane Williams. We're currently helping Orane with his personal branding package and on this night, we worked on some video for his website. Stayed tuned!
Home Base
After all the hustle and bustle we make time to workout and enjoy life. There is a place in Newark, NJ that I believe Newarkers don't quite appreciate. Weequahic park is the name of this place and Guru and I enjoy the scenery just as much as we enjoy the 2.3 mile trail. Here are a few flicks...
ELI in SOHO
In route to shoot J Cole at the Highline Ball room, we took a moment to play in the rain with our brand new t-shirts from our summer 2014 campaign called E.L.I. (Explore+Live&Inspire!). Here are a few flicks...
Urban Exploring: Jake x GoPro in NYC
I was a little pissed that I had to give up an entire day just to take my son Jacob to the dentist all the ways in midtown NYC. See my wife and I go there and absolutely love our dentist, he offered to take a look at Jacob's problem even though he doesn't work with kids. Anyway living in Hillside, New Jersey means that we would have had leave New Jersey at 10:30a in order to make it there by 12p. Again, I wasn't happy with the thought of messing damn near an entire day of work just for an hour dentist appointment. But just like everything else in my life, I find a way to turn the bad into good and I did exactly that by turning Jacob's visit to an NYC dentist into an Urban Exploring Journey.
We parked the car in Newark and as we walked to Penn Station I saw the perfect photo opportunity and that's how the story started. During the train ride, Jacob asked... "Why are we riding the NJ TRANSIT train instead of the PATH train" I then explained... Because we're headed to midtown and NJ TRANSIT is faster than the PATH when heading to midtown. Then, following question was..."Dad, when I'm 33 years how old will you and mom be?" I answered... Mom and I are twenty five years older than you and in school you're currently learning how to add nickels, dimes and quarters. So... Add two dimes and a nickel to 33 and that's how you'll forever get your answer. He goes... "Ahhh 33 plus a dime equals 43, add another dime to get 53 and then a nickel to get 58. Y'all will be 58 when I'm 33." We played that game for a few more minutes. I thought that was fun and made the train ride easier.
Now that we're here in the big city, we got the perfect opportunity to grab another awesome picture. The Empire State Building is behind us and the essence of Madison Square Garden is to the side.
Unfortunately the dentist office was too dull and too serious for a photo op, but fire me for not taking a pic anyway.
Because I'm the dad there was absolutely no way I could handle the project alone of bringing the kid to NYC yet alone the dentist without any supervision. So super mom came to the rescue, well actually she only works a few blocks away so she came just to check on her boys... Isn't she a beauty?
But just like in our bedroom, she couldn't stay long, so Jake and I were once again on our own, I decided to feed my kid by taking him somewhere unique and fun.
Check out where we ended up, Shake Shake! Heard of it? Nah? Well, here's a new discovery for you! Word on the street is that this place has some of the best burgers around and Jake and I was determined to test them out even if we had to wait in this long line.
Finally, after waiting for a half hour, we got our food. But that didn't mean we were in the clear, we still had to find a seat. When super mom isn't around super dad steps up to the plate, and with that being said I got us a seat by utilizing my pretty smile while hugging my beautiful son and damn right someone offered HIM a seat.
Time to eat, I got the burger and he got a hot dog. We shared fries while slurping down vanilla and strawberry milkshakes. And if that's not fat enough, we got a COKE just to ensure that all the goodness is flushed all the way down. Yum!
Do we look full enough?
So we chewed up an entire hour at Shake Shack, which was perfect because we had to be at mom's office by 2, we had about 45 more minutes to burn. We started on 44th and 8th and had to troop to 41st and Broadway. Now to you New Yorkers you might say "that ain't far" but try walking with a lazy seven year old, however I had a plan! I knew he never been to Times Square, which was in the near area and with that came more photo opportunities...
My super dad powers also reminded me of the dressed up characters that pose up out here looking for tips, so I decided to take a walk in the opposite direction, felt it would be worth it...
What do you think?
Fun is over, let's get mom...
We made it, however she's busy so we'll wait...
Finally, we recused super mom, thank god for summer Fridays she got off at two and now we head back to Jersey. Jake is tired, but he's with his favorite super hero's so he can rest his head easy.
Moral of the story... Sometimes we can't control everything, so instead of soaking in disappointment or frowning down on change you should always try to make the best out of the situation. Today my kid is happy and got to explore parts of New York that he never got to see. And if that's not enough, none of my clients called, emailed or checked for me today, so you can say that it was a much need QT dad and son day planned by the universe. It was a WIN WIN WIN! I got quality time with my kid, he enjoyed a day off from school and The Artoholiks got another story out of me. Hope you enjoyed!
Photobooth: The InstaMEET
Here are the photos from Episode 4 of Urban Exploring 'The InstaMEET'
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Photos by Steve Cancel a.k.a @smbnyc