Man aims to drive across world in 9/11 cause

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A Shelbyville man hopes to raise some money for the survivors of 9/11 in a bit of an unusual way.

Nathan Jenson hopes to drive across the world.

The plan is for Jenson to buy a military vehicle and an SUV and drive 16,850 miles, from Ground Zero in New York City, across the United States, to Russia on a ferry and then across Asia and Europe to old York in England.

He plans to do it in the dead of winter.

Donations collected from the trip will benefit America's 9/11 Foundation. He hopes to get companies to advertise on the side of his vehicles and to get media attention throughout the trip.

Jenson, who makes documentaries for PBS and is a volunteer firefighter for the Manilla Volunteer Fire Department, said he knows it is unusual, but it's something he hope will get some attention.

"It's going to be difficult," he said. "I want it to be difficult."

Jenson and some friends also hope to make a documentary during the trip.

As unusual as his idea sounds, he's done something similar before. Jenson received a bit of fame in 2007 when he took a trip across the United States.

Along with some friends, Jenson, who is British, quit his job, sold his house and obtained a double decker bus from London. He took it from California, England, to California, United States.

In Indiana, the bus got stuck under an overpass. He found his way back to Indiana after the trip because of a girl he met along the way. And, though he's since met another girl, he's stayed in the area.

Jenson acknowledges that the trip could be treacherous. He said he wants it to be as difficult as possible to provide some greater meaning to what he's doing.

He said he knows it will likely be even more difficult than the bus trip he took. But he hopes it will be more successful, too.

"I didn't raise as much money as I would have liked to," he said.