Adventures in Copywriting: Flying Through the Jungle
Here's an assignment I once got that is a prime example of potentially boring content suddenly become very exciting.
Yes, it could have been extremely mundane. I was going to be writing about a mechanical fitting that goes on the end of a rope, and anchors the rope into something like a wall or a post.
But that lack of excitement vanished when I found out that my interview for the story would be a guy named Darren Hreniuk, who for over ten years had been operating zipline tours of the rain forest canopy in Costa Rica. These tours allow the average person to see the rainforest up close and personal, by flying through the trees on a zipline. Not only is it an unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experience, it's how Hreniuk decided he could bring travelers into the rainforest without having to install invasive trails over the fragile ecosystem of the forest floor.
I had a short window for interviewing Hreniuk--he was landing in San Jose, Costa Rica and I could interview him by phone while he was at the airport. After that he was back to the jungle and out of cell phone range.
He was an amazing guy—loved showing people what it was like to "fly" through the trees of the canopy. He was extremely well-versed on making it a safe activity, and he walked me through what it was like to have to put up those lines in the first place. He was basically hanging on a rope down a cliff or suspended in a tree, and needed to be able to carry mechanical fittings with him, fix one onto the end of a line, and securely anchor it—all while he was dangling there. He was a real fan of the fitting that I was writing about because it was light, didn't require tools, and could support several times the weight it was rated for.
He also talked about the fact that he never skimped on anything in terms of materials—since people's lives would be on the line as they flew 50 feet above the forest floor, he was out to make sure that no mishaps would happen. And they never have.
He and I really connected in that short time, me from my Glendale, California apartment and he on his cell phone on his way back out to wilds of the the Costa Rican jungle. I have an open invitation to take that tour for free the next time I'm in Costa Rica.
Hey, I've been there before, it could happen!