Josh Gieni
Josh Gieni
I was born and raised in small town Saskatchewan with values and ethics rooted in country heritage. Saskatchewan, ‘land of the living skies’, was first explored by a European in 1690 but was not colonized until the 1800’s and only became recognized as a province in 1905. Sasky has a short history of 110 years. Some of the original settlers like my great grandfathers and grandmothers, Eden and Myrtle Paulson, Lee and Pearl Guenther, Joseph and Rose Gieni all lived in earth housing at one point in some of the most extreme weather conditions on the planet. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan has topped the charts with the Antarctica and Arctic locations as the coldest place on earth a few days during recorded weather history. A perceived temperature of -80 degrees centigrade is something that cannot be explained and must be felt to fully comprehend the dangers it creates. Combine extreme cold with an earth house and the nearest neighbor being 10’s of kilometers away and you have situation that only the brave or very crazy would want to attempt. The settlers of the west were some of the world’s last pioneers in search of free land that could still provide for a sustainable life. Although I have created an image of a place that screams ‘this is the best place on earth’, I have ironically spent a large portion of my life travelling and living abroad. I lived in Japan for two years, Australia for one and have drove thousands of kilometers from north to south and east to west covering a large portion of North America during my summers off as a teacher and high school principal. I have owned a Westfalia for almost 10 years and it is how I moved to Montreal. I resigned as a Principal in 2009 packed up my West with the objects I did not auction off and hit the road with learning French and understanding Quebec (Canadian) culture as my primary objectives. After one year of teaching I opened a bicycle shop with fast Freddy Cousineau and have been selling and racing bikes ever since. I believe my second career aligns with the first as inspiring an active cycling lifestyle gives me the same rush as helping student’s reach their potential. Together we are more and I live the idea. I hope you enjoy my collaborations with Go-Van in support of another direction that only makes sense. Less is more. Life is beautiful when we can simplify.