Preparing for a web series about aquariums in America, the first trip: the SouthEast

I've had this idea for quite a long time, and the PBS special about aquariums called 'Window to the Sea' has only made me more excited about it. It won't be for a while, but I'm planning to make a web series about the aquariums of america (with the help of friends). Not really for profit or anything, but just because it's something I want to do, and I really want to visit all the aquariums in my country (and probably Canada as well).

I thought I would start out with the location I'm most familiar with: the Southeast.

Here's a bit of a description about how it will work:

"At first, I wanted to visit every zoo, aquarium and natural history museum in the U.S.... in one summer. Yeah, that would never happen. Then I narrowed it down to just aquariums, but still, there's quite a lot of them to visit. So, instead, I divided aquariums up by their location. The first location of aquariums I want to visit will be in the Southeast. That will consist of around 23 facilities that will be visited in a span of around 30 or 31 days.

southeasttrip.png


Friends have told me this route looks like a Manta Ray, how fitting!

Filming at these places won't have much narration, but just having the footage of the facilities so they can be used later when making the episodes. I suppose what I might do, is begin each episode introducing the aquarium in person at the beach or something, talking about the history of it, and then narrating over the footage we took over the trip. Yes, I said 'we' in that last sentence... because I won't be doing this alone, I will have two others traveling with me. Wouldn't you want to experience these places with someone else rather than by yourself?"

Originally posted here.

I hope to start this trip during the summer of next year, so that gives me about a year and a half to plan for this (though in my mind I've been planning ever since I graduated from high school). I have a friend from New Zealand who has visited various places in the U.S. (and other countries) on about a month-long trip twice (once in 2007 and once in 2010), so... if he can save up money for a trip like that, surely I can visit the aquariums in my own back yard, metaphorically speaking... right?

I already know I will have to start saving up money and such for the cost of gas, hotels, and admission. There's also the consideration of anything to bring in case of emergencies and stuff.

So what do you guys think? Any suggestions about what I should do to prepare? What to bring?

And what about the web series, would it be something you would watch? I want to make it educational but also entertaining at the same time, adding a bit of humor in it when I can.
 
I think you'll get more feedback if you list the facilites you plan to tour. I also recommend that if you're going to put this into a video format later and add in the narration to mark down somehow as many of your intial impressions as possible during your visit. Retrospect changes things over time.

Also my personal advice is that visiting locations takes patience! 23 locations in one month is enviable and impressive, hell even half of that would be. But if you are truly trying to visit everything you can in the United states you have years and possibly multiple decades ahead of you. It's expensive to take off a month at a time.
 
I think you'll get more feedback if you list the facilites you plan to tour. I also recommend that if you're going to put this into a video format later and add in the narration to mark down somehow as many of your intial impressions as possible during your visit. Retrospect changes things over time.

Also my personal advice is that visiting locations takes patience! 23 locations in one month is enviable and impressive, hell even half of that would be. But if you are truly trying to visit everything you can in the United states you have years and possibly multiple decades ahead of you. It's expensive to take off a month at a time.

Well... I'm only 22, still in college and will still be attending by the time I make this trip, working on my bachelor's, I'll be able to take summer semesters off.

Anyway... here's the list of the 23 places I plan to visit in the Southeast trip, the list is pretty finalized, the list used to be 30 facilities, but I still may remove a few later on once I refine the details of the trip, I'll put an * by those:

-Audubon Aquarium of the Americas
-Clearwater Marine Aquarium
*-Dauphin Island Sea Lab
-Discovery Cove
-Dolphin Conservation Center at Marineland
-Dolphin Research Center
-Florida Aquarium
-Georgia Aquarium
-Gulf World Marine Park
-Gulfarium
*-Institute for Marine Mammal Studies
*-Key West Aquarium
-McWane Science Center
-Miami Seaquarium
-Mote Marine Lab and Aquarium
-NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher
-NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores
-NC Aquarium at Roanoke Island
-Ripley's Aquarium (Gatlinburg)
-Ripley's Aquarium (Myrtle Beach)
-Sea World Orlando
-South Carolina Aquarium
-Tennessee Aquarium

I made a complete schedule (that I won't share, sorta private) of what facility to visit on what day, and what days to travel and rest and whatnot... I've thought a lot of this through, and if I need to, I will stretch it out and break it up even more... like only take two week trips. Because like you said, it's expensive to take off a month at a time... but for me, not exactly since I'm still a college student, and I'm very grateful that I have a supportive father and aunt who look after me, as well as excellent friends that have agreed to help me with this.
 
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