Steampunk Road Trip – Coming Back Home

 

Well, travelers, we’ve had quite a global road trip this month, but we’ve only begun to see part of what’s going on around the world. There are so many more countries and groups and people yet to visit. While this road trip is drawing to a close, I hope that your own road trips, physical or virtual, will continue and that you get to participate in more aspects of our community around the world.

We may often be limited by time, distance, or finances, among other things, from traveling everywhere we want to go, and attending every event which fuels our interests and imagination, but thanks to several forms of technology, we can still learn and be inspired.

The benefits of road trips aren’t just for the traveler. Hosts get plenty of enjoyment and fulfillment, too. On all sides of a visit, each of us can share and receive, motivate and be motivated. We can be impressed, express our wonder, and spread our excitement.

We’ve had a taste for what exists and happens beyond our own towns and cities. We’ve had doors opened to us, and opportunities presented. There’s still more to explore, but for the moment, we are coming home, bringing our experiences back with us to add to our personal expressions of steampunk.

While you are unpacking from this trip, and settling back into a routine at home, planning your next road trip, I’d like to share these songs from The Greatest Showman. As much as I learn, as much as I experience about steampunk, the people, and everything connected with our community, it’s never enough for me. “Can’t let this moment end. You set off a dream in me.”

The Greatest Showman – Never Enough

Paraphrasing a thought from “From Now On”, “And we will come back home. From now on, what’s waited till tomorrow, starts tonight.” There’s no time like right now to add to our steampunk lives, to create richer experiences, and to energize our dreams.

The Greatest Showman – From Now On

 

 

Plan your road trips, and go be amazing this year!

 

Continuing the inspiration from The Greatest Showman, join us next year for

Steampunk Hands Around the World 2019 – This Is Me

 

If you might have missed any of our stops, check out the whole steampunk road trip on the Master Link List

 

Steampunk Road Trip – Conselho SteamPunk

 

One more stop, travelers! I have actually been saving this one for our final visit. Bruno Accioly, the co-Founder of Conselho SteamPunk in Brazil was one of the first steampunks I really got to chat with, as well as hearing about the group and seeing how it developed over all these years.

Brazil is the largest country in South America, and the fifth largest in the world. While we’re here, perhaps you’d like to try the Samba, or attend one of the carnivals. Coffee is prevalent, but if you have a sweet tooth, perhaps you’d like to try brigadeiros (chocolate fudge balls) or beijinho (coconut truffles and clove). Perhaps you would prefer a local fruit plate, with mango, guava, and papaya.

Ola, Bruno! It’s good to chat with you again! Conselho SteamPunk has been around for quite a few years, and it was started with a small group of steampunks. Who are those peope, and what are you doing for the group these days?

Bruno Accioly: The other co-Founder of Conselho SteamPunk are Raul Cândido Ruiz and Karl Felippe. These days, I deal, mostly with media liaison,  organisation,  strategy,  new projects and web infra-structure handling.

That’s plenty to keep you busy 🙂 With Brazil being such a large country, is Conselho SteamPunk focused in one region or spread out across the land?

Bruno Accioly: Conselho SteamPunk has Lodges in 16 states in Brazil.

Events occurs in any of this states as every lodge is free to organize its events.

The biggest event, SteamCon Brazil, tends to happen on the fourth quarter of the year in a Ferroviary Village called Paranapiacaba, in the city of Santo André, São Paulo.

 

Sounds like there are quite a few steampunks in order to keep up all those Lodges. How did the group first come together?

Bruno Accioly: I had a blog steampunk.com.br, in 2007, Raul and Karl wanted to make one and contacted me so we could work together in some way.

The group was created back in 2008, under Pronoia and Zippie ideals to be an organisation that would potentially flourish everywhere a person had developed the taste for the genre.

We the created a system so people who were interested in SteamPunk could create their own Lodge and we gave those people @steampunk.com.br emails and a website so they could publish about SteamPunk in their own region.

 

Wow, what a great way for people and groups to get started. You made it so easy and convenient for them to stay in touch with others. What are some of the activities your group does?

Bruno Accioly: We have an yearly SteamCon Brazil and every lodge throw a bunch of SteamCamps, SteamParties, reunions and picnics over the year.

 

It sounds like a very communal and interactive group. While each Lodge holds their own events, it still sounds like people could easily plan their own road trip to visit many of the other Lodges. Are there some big events that the group has participated in?

Bruno Accioly: Since 2008, Conselho SteamPunk promoted every illustration, look, cosplay design, sculpture and books published by the community.

Authors like Gianpaolo Celli (“SteamPunk Histórias de um Passado Extraordinário”), Flavio Medeiros Jr (“Homens e Monstros”), Enéias Tavares (“Brasiliana SteamPunk”), Octavio Aragão (“A Mão que Cria”), A.Z. Cordenonsi (“Le Chevalier”) and myself with “Crônicas Póstumas” are always promoted for their tales, publications, books or any transmedia developments.

Recently I PotatoCat Games released a cardgame called “Cartas a Vapor“, illustrated by me and based on the worlds created by Enéias Tavares.

Now Enéias Tavares is investing in a webseries called “A Todo Vapor”, with professional actors, directors and a crew of film makers.

 

Such great projects! Makes me want to learn Portuguese so I can read the stories and play the games! Since everything sounds so enticing, and people are bound to create road trip plans, what might they find when they arrive?

Bruno Accioly: We are very pleased when we get visitors here, as the group vision was broaden in part because of Johanna Sievers, a “Steamer” from Germany that came to Rio in our first year.

 

Excellent! How can people get in touch with you and the group?

Bruno Accioly: Our email is conselho@steampunk.com.br

Our website: www.steampunk.com.br

On facebook: www.facebook.com/vapor.marginal and  www.facebook.com/conselho.steampunk

There are Facebook groups also in place.

You can take a look at some projects of ours on www.steamcast.com.br and www.vapormarginal.com.br

 

Bruno, thank you so much for spending time with us today and sharing about you group. I look forward to hearing about more new projects and activities!

We’re about to head home, fellow travelers. Look for the wrap up next and check out the whole steampunk road trip on the Master Link List