#wolowednesday

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Wolo Wednesday - Going Green

Greetings Wolo World! St. Patrick’s Day is upon us, and for this #WoloWednesday, we are giving you a list of some of the places across the world that are “going green” in honor of of the patron saint of Ireland. The “Global Greening Initiative,” now in its eighth year, was started by Tourism Ireland to drive overseas tourism to the lush country (keep an eye out for a future Irish edition of #WoloWednesday). This year, 100 landmarks and building in over 30 nations and territories will participate in lighting up their walls, statues and/or signs in an emerald hue. For the full list, click here.

North America

Empire State Building

Las Vegas Sign

Niagara Falls

Whistler

South America

Christ the Redeemer

Europe

London Eye

Mannekin Pis

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Rome’s Colosseum

Asia

Great Wall of China

Africa

Rhine Statue at Nairobi National Park

Equator Sign and Line, Uganda

Oceania

Sky Tower in Auckland

And to honor Wolo co-founder Mike Swisher's Chicago roots, we also wanted to highlight this experience, which has been a tradition for over 50 years.

See the Chicago River Turn Green

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Wolo Wednesday - People

Greetings Wolo World! So the past two weeks have brought two different kinds of #WoloWednesday’s: Themes (Mardi Gras) and Locations (Manhattan). Well, today, we bring you the third and final part of our #WoloWednesday trifecta: People.

Wolo stands for We Only Live Once. One of the main parts of our philosophy is that experiences are more enjoyable when shared with friends. Why? Because everything is more pleasurable with friends, something that is a result of what’s called the “sharing effect.” In a 2014 study, researchers showed pairs of friends a series of photos that were emotionally positive, emotionally negative, or neutral. The duo was separated, and each individual was told beforehand whether or not their companion was viewing the same photo (though, in reality, they were always viewing the same photo) and were asked to rate their how they felt.

In cases of the emotionally positive and emotionally negative photos, participants rated feeling more positive when told they were viewing the same picture (there was not much of a significance when it came to neutral photos, however). Thus, the research group concluded that “[s]haring exposure to emotional stimuli with a friend buffers the impact of negative stimuli and enhances the impact of positive stimuli.” So no matter what you’re going through, the good will be great and the bad won’t seem as bad if you’re going through it with a friend.

And here at Wolo, we believe that most strangers are friends that we haven’t met yet. So we want to introduce you to some of the members of this wonderful community and get to know one another a little bit better. Who knows? You very well could end up taking a trip with one of these people some day!

Kicking things off is yours truly (you didn’t think these columns wrote themselves, did you?). It was a strange thing interviewing myself, but I’m excited to share my responses with you all! Allow me to present… #WoloWednesday with Zekee.

Who are you, and what do you do?

Hi everyone! My name is Zekee Silos, and I write this column! Other than that, I’m a bit all over the place -- I write, I act, I drive for Lyft, I work as a Brand Ambassador for various companies -- basically, I like to try different jobs and follow the ones that seem like a good fit for me.

How did you hear about Wolo?

I know Wolo’s founders, Ray and Mike, from college. Well, kind of. Ray and I met back in 2005, when we did some volunteer work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. We drove across the US with 36 other students and spent our winter break there, gutting houses and helping with the debris and devastation. I had known of Mike for a while, through Ray, but we didn’t meet until we randomly bumped into each other at a bottle shop in Sydney, Australia, where we both were living at the time. Crazy, I know.

What are three experiences currently on your Wolo list?

Compete on a game show. Specifically Jeopardy. Some of my college roommates and I used to DVR an entire week’s worth of episodes and turn it into a drinking game. It truly is the fastest 30 minutes of television.

Go on an archaeological dig. In sixth grade, my history teacher taught us about Lucy the Australopithecus, the skeleton that was found back in the 70s that was a key link to our evolutionary history (thanks Ms. Ludlow!). I loved the story of how she was named -- based on the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles -- and have wanted to go on an excursion like that ever since.

Take the next flight out of an airport. Because, you know, WOLO.

What are three awesome things you’ve checked off your Wolo list?

Officiate a wedding ceremony. I got ordained online in 2011 through Universal Life Church (it’s easy and free), ready to officiate a ceremony one day if I get asked. Fast forward four years, and not only did I officiate one, but two weddings in the same year for my friends Kelsey & Dan and Debra & Brian. I’m officiating my third wedding next year, my first outside the US, for my friends Kevin & Ellie in South Africa!

Fill an entire passport. I didn’t know how long this would take or even if it was possible because some countries require a certain number of blank pages in your passport before you can enter. I was in Namibia, and because of I needed blank pages to enter South Africa, I went to the American embassy to request extra pages (sadly, getting extra pages in American passports is a thing of the past). I filled my original set of pages beyond that until that passport expired in 2016.

Take an acting class. This was something I always wanted to do, since middle school, but never allowed myself the opportunity. When I lived in Sydney (during the year I met Mike), I was in very much a WOLO state of mind, so I signed up for my first acting class. I moved to New York City three years later and pursued a career in entertainment for a while (and still continue to act and do improv today).

Top three cities or countries that you haven’t been to but want to visit.

South Korea. I’m not sure what it is, but something about the country intrigues me. I definitely want to go.

Malawi. I quit my job and went traveling indefinitely through Southern Africa after saving a bunch of money. Three months in, I was halfway through my budget. I wanted to get to Southeast Asia at some point, but I also had more of Africa to see. I was in Zambia at the time, and had a decision to make: do I continue traveling eastward and then north through Africa, or do I spend the second half of my budget in Southeast Asia? I opted to go to Singapore, Hong Kong, and end in the Philippines, because that’s where my family is from. Malawi was where I was going to head after Zambia, so someday I want to resume the rest of that trip.

Canada. I mean, I went to Vancouver when I was a kid, and briefly spent some time in Toronto, but I want to really explore our northern neighbor from coast to coast. I feel like Canada that coworker that you’re super friendly with but don’t know that well. So I want to get to know them better.

What language would you most like to learn and why?

Tagalog. My family is Filipino, and though both sides of my family speak different dialects than the national language.

What item on your Wolo list scares you the most?

I’ve gone bungee jumping and skydiving, and neither of those scare me as much as getting laser eye surgery. I am absolutely in love with the idea of one day never having to wear contacts or glasses again, but the entire process of LASIK and the other types of corrective eye surgeries give me chills.

What’s something you’ve done that wasn’t originally on your Wolo list, but are excited to say you’ve accomplished?

Dance on stage at a major concert. It was the annual festival that my college puts on, Extravaganza, and Girl Talk was performing his set. I had served on AS Program Board, the organization responsible for

What’s the most obscure, outrageous or far-reaching thing on your Wolo list?

Definitely traveling in space.

Thank you for your time!

Like what you read? Click on any of the links above and add any of Zekee's experiences to your own Wolo list. Here's a cheat sheet below:

Compete on a Game Show

Go on an Archaeological Dig

Take the Next Flight Out of an Airport

Officiate a Wedding

Fill an Entire Passport

Take an Acting Class

Travel to South Korea

Travel to Malawi

Travel to Canada

Learn Tagalog

Get Laser Eye Surgery

Dance on Stage at a Major Concert

Travel in Space

[becausewolo-blog]

Questival

Greetings, Wolo World, and Happy #WoloWednesday! Last week, members of the Wolo team competed in a 24-hour adventure race called Questival. Questival is put on by Cotopaxi, an adventure gear company dedicated to making “gear for good.”

The goals of the race are to “build friendships, push yourself, experience your surroundings, and have a whole bunch of fun.” Teams are comprised of 2 to 6 people, tasked with accomplishing challenges in a 24-hour period. Our team consisted of co-founder Ray Collins, content contributor Melissa Wittmayer, new friend Shawn Lamb, and #WoloWednesday columnist, yours truly, Zekee Silos. (Co-founder Mike Swisher was part of the original lineup, but after receiving an invite to go to Costa Rica, we looked long and hard for a replacement. On race day, I texted a friend from college, knowing that she had plans during the 24-hour period, but sent it anyway just to check. Though she wasn’t able to join us, she connected us with her friend Shawn, who none of us knew at the time, and the rest is Wolo history. Welcome to the family, Shawn!)

Cotopaxi releases the task list in the 24 hours leading up to the event, in order for teams to create a game plan. The tasks, each assigned a point designation by the Questival crew, are broken up into eight categories -- things like Community & Cultural, Hiking & Travel, Camping & Survival, Adventure & Quirky, Service & Environment, Food, Social Media, and Sport & Fitness. There were a couple tasks that you could do in preparation for the event, as well as items to cross off during the two-hour Check-In prior to kick off. But at 7pm on race day, the Questival staff distributes a “totem,” a flag branded with the motto “Do Good” on it, that must be in every official photo or video post uploaded to the Questival app in order for your team to score points.

Our 24 hours were filled with dozens of memorable moments for our team. We connected with strangers in odd and fun ways (Shawn traded a shoelace from his shoe with someone from another team, Ray and I started a dance party with a table of senior citizens, and Melissa gave compliments to people in a British accent), explored the great state of Colorado (lots of hiking just outside of Denver), camped in Wyoming (we had to dance like Michael Jackson across a state border), and cross things off our own personal bucket lists (I started a fire without matches or a lighter!).

Although we finished in 157th place out of 717 teams, the experience will last a lifetime. It was a whirlwind of a day, but one that has bonded the four of us forever.

Questival happens annually in over 40 cities across the US and Canada, and they plan on expanding to even more in 2018.

Visit Wolo’s Questival team page here to see the rest of our photos and videos from the race.

Add to Your Bucket List

Compete in an Adventure Race