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At first, it seemed like a wildly ambitious project. Internally, it was referred to as “The Road Trip.” The basic idea was this: Dennis, the CEO of Intrax, would jump in an RV and drive across the country to visit people participating in the various cultural exchange programs that Intrax offers. Of course, all of it would be filmed and packaged into a documentary series that gives unique and authentic insight into what cultural exchange is.
Filming a documentary series is no small feat. It involves months of planning, logistics, staffing a film crew, and communicating with participants, school staff, field staff, internal staff, RV rental companies, hotels, etc. Then there are the production challenges of figuring out a small film crew that can be nimble enough to capture dynamic locations and be ready to pack up and move on a dime, yet be slick enough to visually hold the attention of a viewer.
Who was going to pull all of this together? That would be me. I’m Nick, Creative Director here at Intrax and Producer/Director of the new docuseries, Out of Office with Intrax.
I’ll be honest, when Dennis first mentioned this idea to me in my first month working for Intrax back in early 2023, it sounded like a huge undertaking. Something that would require a large crew and tons of support staff. But we didn’t have that. This project needed to be done with a scrappy mindset. Luckily, I have a background as an indie filmmaker, and "scrappy" is my middle name. So, we landed on a three-man crew and a rented RV.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but we crafted a plan targeting the Pacific Northwest focusing on two of our most popular cultural exchange programs: AYUSA student exchange and AuPairCare. I had been in contact with a family in Portland Oregon and a family in Kirkland, just outside of Seattle, Washington. I also lined up a high school visit in McMinnville, Oregon, to chat with some AYUSA folks. As luck would have it, their end-of-year event was happening the same week we would be visiting. What’s the event, you may ask? A group of students retreating out in the Oregon wilderness to visit the Belknap Hot Springs and a hike to the famed “Blue Pool.”
Alas, the adventures of the Blue Pool, Portland, Oregon, and McMinnville High School will be saved for future blog posts. For now, we’ll focus on Kirkland, Washington.
We arrived in Kirkland on an unusually sunny day in May. We drove through town in our massive RV and were charmed by its scenic beauty and small-town vibes. We were there to chat with the McDaid family. The McDaids, Adam and Areig welcomed us with open arms, and Dennis had a deeply meaningful conversation about their experience hosting an au pair. Their current au pair, Momo, is from Japan, and their connection was evident from the moment we met them.
Often with documentary filmmaking, you can plan and plan, but in the end, certain elements of the story will emerge on their own if you let them. With a story about the au pair program, it could have gone in many directions. With the McDaids, the story that emerged was one of true cultural exchange. The McDaids spoke about Momo embracing the family’s Muslim culture, holidays, and even joining the family at the mosque. Additionally, we learned about the McDaids embracing Momo’s Japanese culture and celebrating Japanese holidays with her. What emerged was a true representation of the cultural exchange program—an open and welcome exchange of culture.
One of the most intriguing nuggets of info about the McDaid family was that they had recently opened up a coffee shop in nearby Seattle. At this point in the trip, we were all in need of a pick-me-up, so we jetted over to try some of the family’s coffee. Their shop, The Burnt Coffee Co., was colorful, charming, and had a deeply satisfying aroma of African coffee. After a few sips, we met up with local field staff, Shirley Root. Shirley has been working with the McDaids for some time and was able to offer more insights into the au pair program and what it’s like working with families and au pairs.
However, we didn’t just pick her brain about the au pair program; we also tapped her to be an impromptu tour guide and enjoyed a quick tour of some of the Seattle sites.
Episode 1 of our new series, Out of Office with Intrax, is out now.
By Nick Testa
