‘Hippies’ display competitive style in Amazing Race
B.C. pair live off the grid, but are no technophobes
“The team from Alaska is here,” the Amazing Race Canada production assistant called into his radio, momentarily confusing Fairmont, B.C., with Fairmont, Alaska.
If Kristen Idiens and Darren Trapp minded, they didn’t let it show.
Idiens and Trapp are identified in Amazing Race argot as Dating Couple, but their other Amazing Race tag, The Hippies, has stuck — in part because of their look, and in part because of their unconventional lifestyle.
Idiens and Trapp, whitewater river guides who call Fairmont Hot Springs home — in B.C., not Alaska — are determined to live off the grid. They use recycled materials for building homes, so-called Earth Ships. They have travelled the world, doing volunteer work in Africa while promoting a sustainable lifestyle. They’re into yoga — not that there’s anything wrong with that — and, at this early stage in the Race, were determined to stay mellow and not let the TV cameras and constantly crackling radios harsh their buzz.
Their mantra may be, “We believe in equity for all living creatures and creating our own realities, through positive thinking and sharing love everywhere we go” — but “sharing love” does not extend to saying, “You go first,” when it comes to The Amazing Race Canada.
They may be determined to live off the grid, but that doesn’t make them technophobes: Their Twitter handle is @KristenDarrenBC; their hash tag is #kristenanddarren.
At the pit stop of the second leg of the Race, they were optimistic about the road ahead, “using our fitness level, logic, resourcefulness and maintaining a positive attitude toward each challenge.”
The Amazing Race prize — if they win — is $250,000, the opportunity to fly free for a year anywhere Air Canada flies — in executive first class, no less — and a pair of Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays. It’s hard to imagine hippies flying first class, let alone burning rubber in a Chevy Stingray, but that’s what altruism — and friends — are for.
Idiens is serious about living off the grid, despite the optics of competing in The Amazing Race.
“It takes a little effort and some planning, but it can be done,” she said, and laughed at the irony of promoting a green, sustainable lifestyle while competing in a summer TV reality show.
“I found out about it through her,” Trapp said, gesturing toward Idiens. “She dragged me into this.”
“I don’t know how I found out about it,” Idiens said, for her part. “I think I just saw it online, to be honest.”
Welcome to TV in the modern age, where river guides determined to live off the grid learn about a reality TV show by surfing online and deciding to dive in.
Idiens learned of The Amazing Race while living overseas, in Mongolia, when she stumbled across Amazing Race Asia with her roommate one night while watching TV.
“The moment I saw it, I said, ‘Let’s do it!’” Idiens recalled. “We wanted to apply but then I found out, we’re not Asian so we can’t actually apply. So when this came up, I was, like: ‘Ohhhh!’ Let’s do this.”
“We want to see the whole country,” Trapp said, in explaining what he and Idiens hope to get out of Amazing Race. “To win, you get to do that. But also, we already have a plan for the money, if we win. We want to put it towards developing a sustainable living community somewhere in BC.”