Joe Zambon on Travel, Connection, Service Projects & Living Simply

Joe Zambon is a gentle, ever-positive soul. He is a musician known for his soothing melodies, skillful guitar playing and uplifting voice. Driven by his faith and willingness to listen to and connect with people, Joe has spent the last few years actively working with the youth, touring across Canada and the US (for his music and speaking engagements), and volunteering locally and abroad.

"I want to live a life that is outward-focused. From my work to my hobbies... I try to really connect with people because (I think that) people, in many ways are the best way that I can enrich my life."

When touring, Joe typically stays with strangers who welcome him with kindness into their homes. He says that that's his favourite part about being on the road - encountering different characters and having meaningful conversations with strangers (who become friends).

Joe is not afraid to ask the big questions in life; where we journey to, how our journey is so far, and how that journey shapes who we are as people and the decisions we make day to day. After all, being able to understand what a person has gone through and is going through gives way to more understanding and openness.

Propelled by his own - and listening to others' - hurts and brokenness, Joe hopes to bring about "a bit of healing" to the world through his vocation. He hopes to help the people he encounters in his work and travels reconcile with their past and feel unbound by the circumstances that might have crippled them before. He wants to help them take a step closer to where they want to be.

When asked about his mission work, Joe confesses that he feels challenged by the different opportunities to work on service projects. How so?

Having to put one's self in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory can be daunting. The challenge is to get past that fear - to immerse one's self in that uncomfortable situation, accept that that lifestyle is another's everyday reality, and find a way to make that reality a little bit better, no matter what the consequences are to one's own comfort.

When one travels or works on service projects, one learns to live simply.

"When I was doing mission work, I realized that I didn't need a lot of the stuff that I had... When I travel, I basically travel with a backpack, and I'd be gone for a while, too... The idea of being able to live on less is something that I think our generation can really learn from... and not just because it's easier (than lugging around a big suitcase) but also because it's better for the heart, and it might even be better on the wallet as well."