in life and get real.
Aside from raising money and awareness for Mind, one of the best things about doing a trip like this is the people you meet. In the past few weeks we’ve met and spoken with a plethora of explorers, world record holders and all-round expedition gurus. Each of them has been truly inspirational. We’ve already recounted our meetings with Sam Rutherford and Hugh Sinclair, but since then we’ve had the pleasure of speaking with two more remarkable individuals, Simon Wilson-Stephens and Olly Hicks.
First up was Olly. Olly is younger than Jo and I—23, I believe. On 28 September 2005, after four months at sea, he arrived at Falmouth having rowed solo across the Atlantic, the youngest person ever to do so. Mind-boggling: just him, the ocean and a pair of oars. And not a lot of food by the sound of things. My great-uncle won a bronze medal in the Olympics for rowing, and I was always pretty good on the rowing machine at the gym, but the thought of rowing all that way—on my own—defies imagination. Even more remarkable is Olly’s next project—rowing around the world solo, due to lift off at the end of 2007.
Next in the line of remarkable people is Simon Wilson-Stephens. Simon had suffered from depression since the age of 15 or 16. His depression came to a head after the turn of the new millennium, when, as Simon says, his ‘wheels came flying off’ and he had a breakdown, his foundations crumbling as he tried to settle back into life in the UK after a stint in Africa organising safaris. Simon recovered and decided to go back to East Africa and follow one of Henry Morton Stanley’s expedition routes by bicycle and kayak. He, with new friend Stanley the dog, completed the trip and in the process raised £16 000 for the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. When I spoke to Simon a few days ago, he had just run the London Marathon and Stanley the dog was off for a walk.
It’s Simon’s fault that we’re now booked in to give a talk at the Royal Geographical Society on 12 December. The prospect fills me with more horror than a wrestle with a Ukrainian gangster.
And finally, Jimmy Goddard. I haven’t actually met or spoken to Jimmy, but my friend Tom Townshend is in training for not one but two triathlons this year in order to raise money for Jimmy’s Trust. Jimmy is in his late twenties and was paralysed from the chest down by a horrific climbing accident in 2004. Jimmy refuses to be beaten by his disability and is about to be the first paraplegic person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Hearing about people like this is a humbling experience and makes you regret those times you whinged about your own petty problems.
Only 16 days to go until we leave for Bangkok, and there are still a million things to do. Our main tasks are fundraising and sponsorship. Letters have been flying out of Tuk to the Road HQ beseeching individuals and companies to part with their hard-earned cash. Subsequently I come down to breakfast most mornings to find a pile of cheques, which I rip open in anticipation—£790 came in one day last week, and over £200 arrived this morning. Mental health is something that affects so many people, and almost everyone we speak to about our trip and Mind has been affected by it either directly or indirectly. No wonder the cheques are flowing in. We’re up to about £10 000 now, but I am sure that once we get on our way and show people that we are really doing it—really driving 12 500 miles in a pink tuk tuk—then more people will donate. They had better do, because otherwise Jo, being a naturist, is going to tour the country naked on our return. And ‘they’ thought the Naked Rambler was bad.
The past few days have been frustrating in terms of sponsorship. Although we have been consistently bowled over by the kindness of individuals, when it comes to dealing with big corporations the matter is very different. One particular company, which shall remain unnamed, has led us up the garden path. Over three weeks ago this company replied enthusiastically to a proposal to sponsor our flights, asking us what dates we wanted to fly, telling us they loved the idea, etc., etc. Now, 16 days before we leave, the company says no. Grrrr! But have no fear, for we’ve found some cheap flights via Kuala Lumpur on the afternoon of 20 May.
We have had some luck on the sponsorship front,however,with Liftshare and Activair. Both have kindly provided us with financial sponsorship in return for having logos on Ting Tong. The great thing about having Liftshare on board is the fact that they tick the Big Green Box. The next thing to consider is how we can make our trip carbon-neutral—perhaps Future Forests could sponsor us by planting enough trees to negate the effect of our trip on the environment.
On a rather different note, Jo and I would like to send all our thoughts and love to the families of two very special people: Rose and Livs. Both girls were great friends of ours and tragically are no longer with us. I know that they would have approved of our madcap three-wheeled adventure, and we will be thinking of them often over the next few months.
Only ten days to go until we get on a plane to Bangkok, and tuk tuk fever is setting in. I feel like I have written a thousand letters recently, telling people about our mission and asking them to support us and, more importantly, Mind. Luckily the response has been great and more and more cheques arrive daily. We’ve still got a massive amount of fundraising to do before we hit our £50 000 target, but I think a lot of people will donate when we are actually on the road. I guess our mission has to be begun to be believed. I still don’t believe it’s happening, so why should anyone else?
The past few days have been an astonishing testament to the power of cyberspace. A few weeks ago Jo got in touch with a guy called John who lives in Bangkok and runs www.khaosanroad.com. John put our story on his site’s home page and within 24 hours three more potential sponsors and several travel magazines and websites contacted us. One of these is Travelfish (www.travelfish.org), a brilliant site all about travelling in South East Asia. Ting Tong is now going to be sporting a Travelfish sticker, and a story about our mission will soon be gracing their pages. Gapyear.com (www.gapyear.com) also contacted us and is going to feature our blog on its site and help publicise the trip. Suddenly it feels like it’s all happening.
Mind Week starts this Saturday and then it’s our launch party on Wednesday. I’m vaguely terrified about the latter since between 6 and 7.30 p.m. Skype, one of our sponsors, has arranged a press launch at the Cobden Club for us and apparently there are journalists from the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Financial Times, handbag.com and various other publications coming along. Yikes! I used to find it hard enough to say anything at the South Bank Show departmental meetings, let alone open my mouth in front of an assortment of journalists.
I should be in bed getting a good night’s sleep to prepare for the hectic week ahead, but I am feeling sad right now. The trip is starting
