For the past year, I’ve been organizing a very special project over on hackaday.io. It’s the Travelling Hacker Box, a box full of random electronics junk, sibling to the The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk, and a project that has already traveled more than 25,000 miles. Earlier this month, I said the Hackerbox is going international, I asked for contributors to receive the project in faraway lands, and now it’s time for the final report. This is where the Travelling Hackerbox will be going over the next year.
More than 200 people responded to the call for hackerbox recipients, and after weeding out a few people who can’t follow instructions, I have a pretty good idea of where the box is headed. The planned trip consists of stops in:
- Canada, from Vancouver to St. John’s, with a total of 12 stops.
- Greenland. Yes, Greenland.
- Ireland, then on to the UK, with stops from Glasgow to Brighton. Total of 10 stops.
- Netherlands, 3 stops
- Belgium, France, Spain, Malta
- Italy, 3 stops
- Switzerland, 4 stops
- Germany, 6 stops
- Denmark, Norway, Sweden
- Estonia, 2 stops
- Latvia, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Israel, UAE
- South Africa, 3 stops
- Australia, Perth to Melbourne to Sydney To Brisbane, total 11 stops
- New Zealand, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland, 3 stops
- India
- Pakistan, 2 stops
- Brazil, Panama, and Mexico
Since the inception of the Travelling Hackerbox, I’ve been keeping track of the distance the box has traveled by referencing the closest airport to the recipient and plugging those destinations into a great circle mapper. The first box, before it was stolen by a jerk in Georgia, traveled about 14,100 miles, great circle distance. The second iteration of the box, before it was disemboweled following the Hackaday SuperConference, traveled 28,200 miles, or about 45,000 km.
The planned travels for the International Travelling Hackerbox will put an additional 52,000 miles — 84,000 km — on the odometer. That’s a minimum distance traveled equal to around the Earth twice, and when this trip concludes, the Travelling Hackerbox, in all its incarnations, will have almost traveled halfway to the moon.
Right now, the path the hackerbox will take is relatively set in stone. I have only contacted recipients on the Canada to Greenland leg of the trip, though. If you want to receive the box, you might be out of luck. Unless you’re in some place that’s really, really awesome (Antarctica, St. Helena, North Korea, a cool hackerspace, or Easter Island), the travel agent for the Hackerbox is himself on vacation.
The Hackerbox will travel on, and I’m encouraging all recipients of the box to post a link of their teardown of the box on the project page. Check out that link for a status update of the box.
ooh, i missed the signup phase .. if you guys need another stop in Belgium (close to antwerp) I’d be pleased to contribute some electronic goodies..
Does someone knows where it stops in Belgium? Seems to be just next to where I live, would be interesting to take a look at what is inside!
Does someont knows where it stops in Belgium? Seems like it is just next to where I live. Would be interesting to take a look inside!
Comparing your map to your list, it looks like the list missed (or the map has added) a stop in Israel or thereabouts.
Is there a list of destinations up? one appears to be very close to me :D
Yep same for me! Should have we received any notification? Getting excited here!
I’m only scheduling the box until Greenland, because Canada to Greenland to Ireland will take two months.
There are 80 more people on the list after that, but I’d rather not let them get their hopes up.
I see myself on the map I am already hoped :)
“Unless you’re in some place that’s really, really awesome (Antarctica”
Wait, wait, wait. It’s going to Christchurch, right? You’ve *got* to get it to Antarctica. Christchurch to Antarctica is as simple as finding someone who’s going down to McMurdo. Find the right few people and you could get it down and back through Christchurch in no time.
Honestly, this is way too easy not to happen, and you don’t want to miss the last continent on the globe, right?
To the one in Denmark. Contact me, and I will drop something off to.
Perth to Melbourne? That means bypassing me in Adelaide. [sigh]
As the saying goes – Always the best man, never the groom.
Woohooo… PAKISTAN which 2 stops…???
I’m from vancouver, where is it going in Vancouver?.
Hopefully not The Vancouver hackspace, That place is toxic.
You forgot poland ;)
No, seriously – we have two cool hackerspaces here. One in Warsaw (https://hackerspace.pl/) and one in Cracow (https://hackerspace-krk.pl/)
Looking forward to this. It’s great we still have this going.
Either Austria (vienna) counts as Australia, Germany or Switzerland? :)
Don’t foget to put a procedure to follow in order to inform and resend correctly the box ;)
Whoever’s receiving the box in Munich: shoot me an e-mail.
Where in India ?