Jesse and Shurastey
I don’t know where Jesse Kozechen spent his last night in Oregon, or where exactly in Brazil his trip began, but I know where his journey ended.
Jesse Kozechen’s following on Instagram stands at 617K followers. When I began writing this post a couple of minutes ago, he had 613K followers.
People love him.
And they love his dog Shurastey as well.
The first person to reach out to me via email this afternoon pleaded for an update on Shurastey. I didn’t have an answer, and I told them I would inquire.
Jesse Kozechen began chronicling his adventure with Shurastey on Instagram on April 14, 2017. A comment posted two hours ago on that first post reads: “Thank you so much for the hours and hours of traveling together, even though I'm here on the couch!!! It was an honor to see your videos and your lives. Thanks so much for the inspiration.”
The photo shows a younger Jesse Kozechen speaking to the camera, his arms wrapped around a panting golden retriever. A pair of yellow rosary beads hang from the rearview mirror of his white 70s-era VW Bug. The video ends with him hugging the dog and planting a kiss on its head.
Photos over the past five years show them in the snow at Martial Glacier in Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina; posing with a toy dinosaur at Uyuni Salt Flat in Uruguay; under the stars on the Atacama Desert in Chile; buried in sand up to their necks at Pipas Beach in Panama.
Along the way, he grew a mustache and goatee.
On February 4, 2022, Jesse and Shurastey entered the United States.
The photo from that moment shows Jesse’s arms stretched wide, kneeling in front of his VW, with a tired-looking Shurastey in front. An American flag hangs listless from a tall pole behind them.
His post, translated from Portuguese using an online app, reads:
“The craziest thing is to think that it all started with no intention of ending up in the USA 🇺🇸 it was just to go there in Argentina maybe Chile and come back, but when I set foot in Ushuaia at the end of the world, the only thing that came to me in my head was: “What if now I went to the extreme north, what if I went to Alaska” aaaaa my friends!
I had no idea how strong the force of thought was, which came as a joke when I was asked “And now where are you going?” And I would say “Alaska!” And everyone laughed, even me. But what started as a joke has taken shape over the last 4 years, and on February 4th, 2022 we enter the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, our 17th country, which for those who don't know is where ALASKA is!
I will again quote The Lord of the Rings here “It is dangerous to go out the door, Frodo. You step on the Road, and if you don't control your feet, there's no way to know how far you might be taken..."
I think that if I don't control the size of my dreams I can go much further and that's how instead of just staying there in Argentina I ended up here in the USA 🇺🇸!”
My first car was a 1971 Super Beetle. It was a gift from my brother, and the farthest I ever drove it on a trip was between San Diego and Grants Pass. The heater in those cars never worked well, and I can’t imagine Jesse was very warm driving in Tierra Del Fuego.
Still, there is something romantic about traveling the continents in a Volkswagon with a dog.
Jesse and Shurastey visited Disney World, Universal Studios, NASA, and the White House.
SIx weeks ago, they parked illegally in a right turn lane in Times Square. The video post shows Jesse, wrapped in the flag of Brazil, standing on the camping platform fastened to the roof of the VW. As the camera slows, Jesse hoists Shurastey high above his head towards a crowd on the sidewalk; he chose Jay Z and Alicia Keys to score the moment: “...in New York, concrete jungles where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York…”
They made it to Niagara Falls and eventually west on Route 66. As is often the case, Jesse chose a song to document a post. After leaving the Grand Canyon three weeks ago, the next post featured “California Dreamin’” by the Mamas & the Papas, the pair driving towards the setting sun.
Jesse grasped hands with a passing motorist two weeks ago, leaving the “Hollywood” sign behind him.
Six days ago, Jesse posted a photo of him and Shurastey looking at the Golden Gate Bridge. Three days later, he posted a photo of them camping somewhere in Oregon. The caption read:
“One of the last @bluecamping camps in the United States 😬 hey my friends it's time to enter Canada and finally head to Alaska
The camp from yesterday to today has already started to get cold and from now on it will get colder and colder but the good thing about the tent is that it withstands negative temperatures well and keeps the interior very warm and it also has a ventilation system that helps not condense so much hot air inside it!!!
We are camping in the state of Oregon in the middle of nowhere and from here we continue our journey towards the border with Canada 🇨🇦👀 but first let's visit some guys that I'm a fan!!!
Now let me prepare my breakfast, dismantle the tent so we can continue our journey!!!”
It was the last Instagram post from their journey; their account now has 687K followers.
Too often, we receive press releases in the newsroom that give a brief description of an accident, an act of violence, or a simple notice that someone has died. Such was the case yesterday.
“ODOT: SW Oregon: U.S. 199 (Redwood Highway): All lanes of U.S. 199 are closed 1 mile north of Selma (MP 18-19) due to a crash. This may be a lengthy closure for crash cleanup and police reconstruction. A detour is in place onto Draper Valley Road.”
Having read enough of these news releases, I know that “lengthy closure” for reconstruction or investigation nearly always means the crash was a fatality.
I live 20 miles from the scene of the accident and know how treacherous that stretch of road can be. Several fatalities occur each year between Grants Pass and Cave Junction
Today, we received an update:
“On Monday, May 23, 2022, at about 10:29 AM, Oregon State Police Troopers were dispatched to a motor vehicle crash at milepost 19 on Hwy 199 near Selma.
Preliminary investigation revealed a northbound white Volkswagen Bug, operated by Jesse Kozechen (29) of Brazil, swerved to avoid traffic that had slowed for a turning vehicle. The operator over-corrected and lost control, sliding into the southbound lane where it collided with a Ford Escape, operated by Eileen Huss (62) of Selma.
Kozechen sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased. Huss was transported with injuries. Huss’s two-year-old passenger was uninjured.
Hwy 199 was closed for two hours while the Oregon State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit investigated the scene.
OSP was assisted by AMR, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois Valley Fire Department and ODOT. “
I updated the post around 10 AM. Around 11:45 AM, I began receiving email messages from people in Brazil, and from a Brazilian in North Carolina, explaining how much Jesse and Shurastey meant to the people back home.
When I went to the Instagram account forwarded by one of them, the account had 435K followers. It now has 696K followers.
Jesse and Shurastey meant so much to so many.
Had the accident not occurred, they would have passed by on the road below my house 30 minutes later, on their way to Alaska. The cars I witness on that road every day are strangers to me, and I never know where they’re from or where they’re going.
Tonight, I know something about Jesse Kozechen.
I know he packed more life into his 29 years than most of us could ever dream of doing in 100 years. It’s fitting that Shurastey passed with him.
I’m not a religious person per se, but I like to think that their journey is continuing, where I know Jesse and Shurastey will make the most of it.
I will close this post by noting their account now has more than 700K followers and share a comment from one of our readers, Helmar Eduardo Szpunar Otto, with a link to one of Jesse's videos that shows Kozechen and Shurastey enjoying moments during their journey.
Otto said: “the lines of the video are about enjoying the last moments of life, in Portuguese.”