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I started this site in 2008-2009 for my first big foray into world travel/rallying, which got me into the current predicament of not being able to stop doing such crazy trips.
Latest updates are available at my personal site, scottbrills.com, so head there to stay up-to-date with my latest adventures.
You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram, for those of you that dig that stuff.
Scott here, reporting live from Aswan, Egypt. Why Aswan, Egypt? Well, I’ve gone and signed up for yet another cross-continent charity rally, this time from the U.K. to Cape Town in a pair of cars that look like shoes.
Collin has grown-up responsibilities now, so alas, he could not participate this time around. Instead I am joined by five other awesome individuals from all over the world, and together we launched from the U.K. with this year’s Mongol Ralliers at the Festival of Slow, and proceeded onward to the Czech Republic, where I once again attended the Czech Out Party.
Be sure and follow along with us as we get into all types of crazy situations! www.shoebaru.com
Whew–it’s been one busy summer!
Our story has been getting even more attention through being featured in the American Artists & Writers newsletter, the Rotary International Reconnections newsletter, the main page on the Rotary International web site (where it was translated into six languages!), and Shaun Boyd’s LifeReboot blog.
National Public Radio’s The Story with Dick Gordon interviewed Scott about his experiences while participating in the Mongol Rally during the summer of 2009. Thanks to Dick Gordon and his producer Janet Babin for the interview. (Split into two parts to get around YouTube’s ten minute length restriction.)
[youtube width=”440″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWGgkjxxmX4[/youtube]
[youtube width=”440″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwIX0kKrmls[/youtube]
We are featured in the May 2010 issue of The Rotarian, Rotary International‘s magazine. Not only did we receive a massive 18-page feature, but that is Scott on the cover of the magazine, running in the Gobi Marathon.
You can read the entire thing in Adobe PDF format by clicking here.
I finally had the time to gather up all of the video that we shot and compile a ‘rally recap’ for everyone to view, which I ‘premiered’ at our speaking engagement at the West Bloomfield Library a few weeks ago. It gives you some idea of the terrain we covered and is a pretty interesting watch, so be sure to check it out.
Below are some preparation tips for those of you that are considering doing the Mongol Rally in forthcoming years:
You’ll be doing a lot of promotion before the rally, trying to raise funds for charity and whatnot. The first thing you should do is get yourself a web site (GoDaddy sells domain names for about $10 and you can have it forwarded to anywhere) and print out some business cards. Amazingly, we were one of the only teams in the rally that had cards printed, and every other team thought it was a great idea but hadn’t thought of it themselves. Check out our cards, and then head on over to Prints Made Easy where you can get 100 full-color cards for $15! I would get more than that if you’re serious about fundraising though–I went through about 1500 myself.
On the morning of our big presentation at the West Bloomfield Public Library we were interviewed on WJR 760 Radio’s Warren Pierce Show. This is the sixth time we have been a guest on his show. Warren, born and raised in Detroit, hosts a morning talk show every Saturday from 6:00AM to 9:00AM. Thanks to both Warren and producer Rachel Nevada for having us on the show.
[youtube width=”440″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAo9b4C-5YY[/youtube]
Collin and Scott will be on hand at the West Bloomfield Public Library (main branch, West Bloomfield Township, Michigan) on February 28th at 3:30PM to talk about their trip and give a slideshow presentation of what they experienced. It’s free to attend and everyone is invited, so if you can make it down please come! Light refreshments will be served.
Featured in the Oakland Press on February 21st, 2010.
Scott was interviewed by the founder of Mango Languages (one numberswiki.com
of our sponsors), Jason Teshuba, on his recent trip.
As most of you that have been following our journey know, we undertook the Mongol Rally in part to raise donations to assist with the construction and outfitting of a kindergarten in (very) rural Bulgan Province, Mongolia. While preparing for the trip we had numerous events, fundraisers, and auctions as well as donations from friends and family to help out with this task. To accomplish this we worked together with my Rotary Club, West Bloomfield Michigan (District 6380), the Bayanzurkh 100 Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (District 3450), and Prison Fellowship International, Mongolia (as most of the children attending the school are the sons and daughters of the nearby prison staff).
Received this video from Mercy Corps detailing some of the projects that they have implemented thanks to funds raised by ralliers like us.
Believe it or not, the two packages that I laboriously sent back from Dushanbe, Tajikistan have finally made their way to my doorstep after nearly two months of being transported across the world by camel (I’m guessing). Now you get a chance to see the excellent workmanship that went into sewing these parcels together and then stamping them shut with wax seals.
Here are some interesting statistics from our 2009 Mongol Rally adventure:
Duration: Scott spent 34 days in the U.K. prior to the rally (sightseeing, trip prep, and the Rotary International Conference), 52 days traveling to Mongolia, and 14 days in the country once he arrived, and an additional three days of traveling along with a stopover in the U.K. again. That makes for a grand total of 103 days.
Collin’s trip was a bit shorter, with 2 days in the U.K. prior to the rally, 48 days doing the rally, and 2 additional days in the U.K. at the end of the trip for a total of 52 days.
My friend Joe from Team Rubik Crew took the time to produce and create this great video while he was doing the rally this summer. He took Tupac Shakur’s classic “Changes” song and had different people he met throughout the country sing bits of it. Worth a watch, whether you’re a fan of Tupac or not!
I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to get accustomed to normal life again. I’ll tell you one thing–it’s definitely not as exciting as rallying around the world!
