Jan 10, 2011
The Hitchhiker Mike Allen was my uncle, my dad’s baby brother. He was a hitchhiker, he was a meditator, he was a BASE jumper.  His philosophy was simple; it was not about the destination it was about the ride. He had gone to India in the 80’s and was a devoted studier of Eastern philosophies, when people picked him up on the road he would tell them about what he had learned in India. He was often in areas where people had never been exposed to Eastern philosophies. They(the rides) took what Mike said as gospel and even ask him to visit churches as “The Hitchhiker!” The treated him like a God. Mike died in 1991 in an automobile accident. After he died, I discovered the great films he had made about BASE jumping and starting making the film Gravity. Slowly I followed leads until I found the story. It was like hitchhiking without knowing my destination, enjoying the ride, learning stuff on the way. The ride is the destination. Thinking of Mike as I found this photo and was reminded of the teachings of  ”The Hitchhiker”.

The Hitchhiker

Mike Allen was my uncle, my dad’s baby brother. He was a hitchhiker, he was a meditator, he was a BASE jumper. 

His philosophy was simple; it was not about the destination it was about the ride.

He had gone to India in the 80’s and was a devoted studier of Eastern philosophies, when people picked him up on the road he would tell them about what he had learned in India. He was often in areas where people had never been exposed to Eastern philosophies. They(the rides) took what Mike said as gospel and even ask him to visit churches as “The Hitchhiker!” The treated him like a God.

Mike died in 1991 in an automobile accident. After he died, I discovered the great films he had made about BASE jumping and starting making the film Gravity. Slowly I followed leads until I found the story. It was like hitchhiking without knowing my destination, enjoying the ride, learning stuff on the way. The ride is the destination. Thinking of Mike as I found this photo and was reminded of the teachings of  ”The Hitchhiker”.


About
Gravity is a non-fiction feature that captures what it feels like to jump off a building, cliff or bridge and walk away alive. It is about the essence of life, of freedom, of what it feels like, for a moment, to defy gravity, and to fly.

In the early eighties Carl Boenish coined the acronym “BASE” (standing for Buildings, Antenna, Span, and Earth, the objects jumped) and invented a sport. Carl was the catalyst behind modern BASE jumping; an electrical engineer and filmmaker who believed that BASE jumping would allow mankind to overcome artificial limitations. He religiously chronicled the early days of BASE in beautiful 16mm film, often with cameras mounted to the jumpers’ heads. He saw BASE as the next amazing thing to film. Subscribe via RSS.