Thursday 10 July 2008

Giving

I received a phone call from a guy at world vision the other day. I'd sent an email to them about a month ago to ask help and advice on how to best promote child sponsorship through our venture. I'm not sure yet of what my legal guidleines are of saying we are now associated with World Vision but the man on the phone told me that they could provide us with a link directly from the A2B site and an amount of traffic our site generates. Most importantly, they can tell us how many people have made the decision to sponsor a child directly through our link. I can't tell you how happy this makes me as we will now be able to measure how effective our promotion of this cause is and how many lives we have helped change for the better.

Child sponsorship is not the only area of charitable promotion we wish to aid in however. It is quite impossible to help everyone, as much as we'd like to, so we have to choose those that we believe in most or simply have a connection to. That said, I plan to approach someone in the areas of wildlife protection, environmental awareness and education; three areas I believe in very much.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when? - Rabbi Hillel

Thursday 26 June 2008

The Spirit of the Gold Coast

Going back on the boat was absolutely the best thing I could have done. It was sad to leave my other job but since the whale watching season started, it has really hit home to me how much I missed the ocean and just being on a boat. It's where my heart lies. The fresh air, open spaces and let's not forget the unbelievable creatures I see on a daily basis. As far as how it all relates to the journey, it has without doubt inspired me in a way the classroom never could have done. My lifestyle is healthy, I'm going to the gym, eating well and generally happy. It's great!!!!!! The future looks bright, the sponsorship search is going well and things are moving forward in a very positive way.

Sunday 22 June 2008

A small victory

I have some good news and some bad but not terrible news. The good news is that we have received our first offer of support. An adventure clothing company in Japan has offered us a 35% discounted rate on the purchase of their clothing. It's not exactly what we are looking for but it's a start. Our sponsorship drive will continue and hopefully there will be some better news on the horizon. The bad news is that it may be harder than I had hoped to get a Chinese visa any longer than a couple of months. There are current restrictions on visas because of the Olympics which are making research a little difficult and confusing but with any luck, after the Olympics we will start to get a clearer picture of the situation.

Wednesday 11 June 2008

Sponsorship

I've spent many hours and many cups of tea preparing our sponsorship proposal letter and it's finally ready. I wanted it to be perfect. I've made a list of companies I think would most likely be interested in this kind of sponsorship deal and also companies whose equipment we need. I sent the first lot off yesterday and there are whole lot more to go today and throughout this week. Mayumi has also sent a Japanese version to companies in Japan. A rather large outdoor adventure clothing company has requested more detail which sounds promising so we'll keep our fingers crossed. I've also created a new logo and come up with what I think is quite a catchy title. Australia 2 Britain, thus making it A2B.

On other fronts, I officially finished my teaching job at the end of May and the whale watching season has begun. The weather has been awful recently but you can't complain when your office is the ocean and your co-workers are giants of the sea. It's a great job!!

We've also been doing a lot of visa research. It seems we shouldn't have too many problems with aquiring visas for all of South East Asia and China but we will need to check how long we'll be able to stay in each country, especially China. More on that to come.

Thursday 22 May 2008

The Plan and The Partnership

The plans are in so I guess it's about time I stated plainly and boldly what they are. I've been a little hesitant because the scale of it is quite incomprehensible. I am goint to ride my bicycle from Australia to Britain. I know, I know....don't be stupid but that's what I want to do. You can see in different areas of the blog that I have already started the ball rolling by seeking sponsorship and setting up a to do list. I've allocated a period of about 4 years to complete this journey but that time of course is open to change. I said in my very first post that I wanted no limitations so the world is my oyster.

The world is not only my oyster though. There is another person out there who is stupid enough to want to ride with me. I would like to introduce my partner Mayumi Takasuga. She is 28 years old and is from Osaka, Japan. She's been in Australia for a year and we met about 10 months ago. Before she came to Australia she was a lab technician which meant she had to do autopsies. How interesting is that!! If you can read Japanese, check out her blog at http://mayuworld.blogspot.com/.

It's going to be a long tough journey and I hope she's up for it. I hope I'm up for it!!

Sunday 18 May 2008

My Kingdom For A Sponsor

Well, the promotion machine has officially been set in motion with the first request of sponsorship letter being sent off today. I've contacted a bike company in Germany who make recumbent bikes. The bike shown is called a Streetmachine GTe and is what I would ideally like to ride. I'm hoping they come on board as our major sponsor. That will give the momentum of this sponsorship drive an unbelievabley big kick in the guts but we'll just have to wait and see. I've also made the decision to approach graphic designers, printers and website designers and hosters for sponsorship over the next few weeks. The second I get a major sponsor, I'll produce a letterhead, a business card and a sticker which will all help to get others on board. The next month or so will hopefully start to bear the fruit of the work I've been putting in. This is getting big!

Thursday 1 May 2008

The Promotion Machine

I've kicked off the promotion of the tour by contacting the Darwin Sailing Club in hope of getting on a yacht to Singapore. The administrator of the club said she would put up a sign on the notice board so that if anyone was looking for crew at that time, they could contact me. I made up a word document with all the details and a map and sent it to her. I'll have to just wait and see.
I've also started designing a business card and am brainstorming ideas for an emblem for 'Tripper Industries'. I'm a bit of a quote fan so I'd like to put a good one on the back of the card. If you have any good ideas, let me know. Another thing I thought might go down well when I seek sponsorship is to make some 'Tripper Industries' stickers.

The wheels are in motion and momentum is building.

Sunday 27 April 2008

The ANZAC Spirit

Well, ANZAC Day has come and gone again for another year. It's amazing how much influence it has over an Australian soul. I never see it coming but every year, without fail, I wake up on the 25th of April and a flood of respect for the diggers who fought for my freedoms washes over me.

The feeling comes in different forms and isn't restricted to ANZAC day but it is particularly strong on this day. It's a top up of patriotism, a destroyer of selfishness and a realignment of priorities. It starts before sunrise with the sounds of a lone horn amidst a throng of thoughtful souls and continues all day with beer, two-up and heartstring pulling odes of spirit and unification.

I write this with a particular situation in mind. A situation along the road on my planned adventure. After journeying from Australia to Europe, I want to stand with pride on the battle ground of Gallipoli on ANZAC Day 2 or 3 years from now. It will be a moment to strive for, a moment to keep in mind when things get tough. I want to see where the ANZAC spirit comes from, see the land where it was forged and smell the air where so many of my countrymen wrote themselves into history. It's a young Aussies right of passage. Something that must, and will, be done.

Monday 14 April 2008

A Cry For Help

As you can see on the right, I've established a gear wish list and a check list of things I need to do. There are of course more things to be added to both of these but it's a start.

The first thing you'll notice is that I don't even have a bicycle yet. I'm in the process of writing letters to send off and hopefully help me aquire some sponsorship. The extent of my journey is not yet clear to even me but I'm allowing myself to plan to China. My dreams are 'a little' larger than that but from Australia to China is, in itself, a very, very big journey. Raising money for those less fortunate than myself is another major goal. I'd like to use this journey to inspire people to sponsor children. More on that to come. My dreams are big but so is my heart and that will hopefully be enough to capture the imagination of a sponsor.

I not only need wheels but gear of all sorts. A tent, a sleeping bag, saddle bags for the bike, camping gear, tools, spare parts and everything in between. The plan is to be self sufficient so I need to carry all the necessary gear but with a focus on keeping down the weight. This means getting quality gear and that of course isn't cheap.

If you are interested in supporting my journey, or you know someone who might be, please contact me through my comments link. I'm working on an advertisement display for this site so I will be able to display logo links on this page to your business.

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” - Goethe

Saturday 5 April 2008

The First Step Is Always The Hardest

I quit my job yesterday.

I can't believe how difficult it was. My heart was racing, my hands were shaking and I'd had intense muscle tension in my neck for the week leading up to it. It almost killed me.

The company I have been working for is called 'The EIP Group'. I started working for them a few years ago teaching English to predominantly Japanese and Korean students. More recently, however, I was fortunate enough to be welcomed in as a director. My future would have been secure. This made my decision all the more difficult. It has been made though and has marked a definitive moment in my life. It is a very clearly defined turning point; the very first step to a new chapter. The only thing to do now is decide exactly what that chapter will entail.

The only thing I know so far is that it will include a bicycle and many hours on it. At present I'm not sure how large I want this chapter to be but in early 2009 I will set off from my home on the Gold Coast which is on the mid-east coast of Australia and ride north. I want no limitations on this journey. Let the planning begin.

The open road.