An adventurer and content creator who has travelled the world claims his mum "always worries" – so he takes photos with enormous signs to reassure her. His notes to his mother have made him well known – as they’re plastered on planes, across fields and hung from the sides of mountains.
Jonathan Kubben, 34, @jonathankubben, gathered his friends and family around in 2016 to tell them that he’d decided to change his entire life. The young man, then 28, has quit his job, sold his car and bought a one way plane ticket – he planned to travel the world.
He landed in Cuba soon after and has since been "living life on the edge" travelling from Mexico and Colombia, to Japan, Spain, South Africa and more. But, while he was scuba diving with sharks in the ocean, jumping out of planes and climbing 6,088 metres out of planes there was one thing he still had to do.
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He told Daily Star: "My mom always worries even if I’m somewhere that’s not dangerous". So he still had to reassure his mother – Imelda Quinonez in Mexico – that he was safe somehow and an idea was born that has since gone to the extreme after Jonathan went viral.
Now, whether he’s sunbathing on the beach, hanging out with the Colombian army or playing with crocodiles in Mexico he takes a photo with a sign saying "Mom, I’m Fine". But, if you think that doesn’t sound like a big deal then you’ve never seen a sign like Jonathan’s.
Jonathan’s sign was emblazoned across Volaris airline’s planes, held at the bottom of the Cenote Suytun in Valladolid, Mexico, taken to the top of active volcano Ijen in Indonesia and spelt out by people at Machu Picchu Peru. He’s flaunted the sign to his mum at Ted talks in Brussels, sunk the sign among sharks while he scuba dived in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, been covered in paint at Holi, a festival in India, and been stretched across the enormous Atomium in Brussels.
It doesn’t end there though as Jonathan has also taken his sign up the Huayana Potosi mountain in Bolivia. He claims it’s been his least favourite country to visit so far, but not because of the people or place.
Jonathan told the travel team: "It's more about the experience. I almost died twice in Bolivia. That was the most difficult. I nearly died because of climbing the mountain. It’s 6,088m high which is too much I guess and so I almost died there."
Meanwhile his favourite country, where he has taken dozens of photographs is Mexico – where he is from and now builds schools out of recycled plastic. Since creating his signs, Jonathan has been on billboards and TV, done campaigns with Cristiano Ronaldo, launched a clothing brand, worked with UNICEF and won "influencer of the year."
Now, Jonathan wants to take his sign to his mum even further and wants to send his sign up into space by putting it on a satellite.
After that? Well, for the last few months, Jonathan hasn’t made penny out of his social media channels. He’s now working across conferences – speaking to over 10,000 people – runs a creative agency called Mindsberg and as a humanitarian.
Jonathan’s "MOM I’M FINE PROJECT" looks to help children and education across the world as well as preserving the environment. He explained: "As I have always been sending a message to my mom, I want to do something for those who do not have a mom."
He added: "Nowadays, we are repeatedly exposed to negative news that emphasise division and differences. MOM I’M FINE PROJECT distances itself from the negativity and creates schools made out of [recycled] plastic around the world, where children from the communities can learn art, sports and wellbeing for free."
