Crazy Journeys.com http://crazyjourneys.com Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:12:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 The Lesson from 2 expeditions seeking sponsorship to fund their next adventure http://crazyjourneys.com/2010/01/the-lesson-from-2-expeditions-seeking-sponsorship-to-fund-their-next-adventure/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2010/01/the-lesson-from-2-expeditions-seeking-sponsorship-to-fund-their-next-adventure/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:44:45 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=1594
  • Daily Ocean Rowing, Kayaking and Water Expeditions News Roundup Fri 27 Nov
  • The Adventure of a Lifetime – Cycling, Walking and Mountaineering
  • 50 Cent can teach you everything you need to know about raising expedition sponsorship dollars
  • Daily Bike News Roundup covering ultra, touring and endurance cycling
  • 7 Tips for your expedition or travel adventure web site
    • ]]>     Expedition Sponsorship AdviceExpedition #1 has sent a potential sponsor a letter asking for a meeting to discuss sponsorship of their upcoming trip to (Fill in your mountaineering destination of choice).

    It is written on expensively printed headed paper. It is long and detailed, documenting all the amazing features of the coming trip. How they are going to climb such and such a mountain. That it is high and dangerous and they will be the first to achieve it etc etc.

    It describes how amazing the trip is going to be. That it is going to test the participants body and mind to their very limits. That they will be away for months, braving life threatening and extreme conditions.

    Expedition #2 has sent the same potential sponsor a letter asking for a meeting. They have a similar trip planned. BUT their sponsorship letter is very different.

    It’s on plain paper. It’s brief and to the point. It OPENS with a simple statement…

    While looking at YOUR web site I saw that you are currently doing (You fill in the blank about their current hot piece of company news) and that your objective for it is (you then repeat something from their web site that was the reason).

    Our expedition to ******* can help you achieve your objective BY…. (Now they tell the sponsor How they can help them meet that objective. They tell the sponsor WHAT They CAN DO FOR HIM. They ANSWER THE question whats in it for HIM.)

    Which expedition do you think gets the meeting and the chance to close the sponsorship deal?

    What is your experience of raising sponsorship? What worked and what didn’t?

    This is a new web site and I would really appreciate your help in raising awareness. If you enjoyed this article please take a moment to comment or share it on Facebook or Twitter. I would really appreciate it. Thanks

    Luke Bream

    P. S. If you enjoyed the article then please stay in touch. You can do this by joining our email newsletter or become a FAN on Facebook or how about subscribing to the RSS feed.

    Incoming search terms:

    Related posts:

    1. Daily Ocean Rowing, Kayaking and Water Expeditions News Roundup Fri 27 Nov
    2. The Adventure of a Lifetime – Cycling, Walking and Mountaineering
    3. 50 Cent can teach you everything you need to know about raising expedition sponsorship dollars
    4. Daily Bike News Roundup covering ultra, touring and endurance cycling
    5. 7 Tips for your expedition or travel adventure web site

    ]]>     http://crazyjourneys.com/2010/01/the-lesson-from-2-expeditions-seeking-sponsorship-to-fund-their-next-adventure/feed/ 0     50 Cent can teach you everything you need to know about raising expedition sponsorship dollars http://crazyjourneys.com/2010/01/50-cent-can-teach-you-everything-you-need-to-know-about-raising-expedition-sponsorship-dollars/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2010/01/50-cent-can-teach-you-everything-you-need-to-know-about-raising-expedition-sponsorship-dollars/#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:36:22 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=1541
  • Daily News round up covering ultra marathon and trail running – FRI 27 Nov
  • CrazyJourneys Daily Bike News covering ultra, touring and endurance cycling
  • Part 4 Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
  • Young British Rower Sarah Outen sets Ocean Rowing Record
  • The Lesson from 2 expeditions seeking sponsorship to fund their next adventure
    • ]]>     Expedition SponsorshipExpeditions and adventure travel are expensive. Chances are that you are seeking sponsorship to fund your trip. How easy are you finding to raise the money?

    Times are tough for raising money. Global recession and personal job insecurity are putting the dampers on many budgets.

    There is still money available. Companies and individuals are still spending. advertising and marketing budgets have not disappeared. They are just more selective than before.

    In times of plenty. Companies like individuals are more relaxed about their spending. NOT ANY MORE. They want to see a return. They want to see an obvious and QUANTIFIABLE BENEFIT.

    Just because you think your expedition is fantastic, doesn’t mean they do. If you want the money YOu have to persuade them of the BENEFITS it will bring THEM not YOU!!

    I leave you with a quote by rapper Fifty Cent….

    The public is never wrong. When people don’t respond to what you do, they’re telling you something loud and clear. You’re just not listening.

    What is your experience of raising sponsorship? What worked and what didn’t?

    This is a new web site and I would really appreciate your help in raising awareness. If you enjoyed this article please take a moment to comment or share it on Facebook or Twitter. I would really appreciate it. Thanks

    Luke Bream

    P. S. If you enjoyed the article then please stay in touch. You can do this by joining our email newsletter or become a FAN on Facebook or how about subscribing to the RSS feed.

    Related posts:

    1. Daily News round up covering ultra marathon and trail running – FRI 27 Nov
    2. CrazyJourneys Daily Bike News covering ultra, touring and endurance cycling
    3. Part 4 Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
    4. Young British Rower Sarah Outen sets Ocean Rowing Record
    5. The Lesson from 2 expeditions seeking sponsorship to fund their next adventure

    ]]>     http://crazyjourneys.com/2010/01/50-cent-can-teach-you-everything-you-need-to-know-about-raising-expedition-sponsorship-dollars/feed/ 0     What is your definition of an Extreme Adventure? http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/what-is-your-definition-of-an-extreme-adventure/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/what-is-your-definition-of-an-extreme-adventure/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:18:05 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=1132
  • Extreme Ski Mountaineering on K2 by Inspirational Climber
  • This is the way to experience life ! 100 goals in 100 weeks
  • Sea Kayaking Adventure Tour explores North West Coast of Greenland
  • Do you want to achieve your sporting ambitions? Here’s how to get started
  • The Adventure of a Lifetime – Cycling, Walking and Mountaineering
    • ]]>     What is an extreme adventure? Is it walking unsupported to the South Pole, skiing down Everest or kayaking in the Arctic. There is no doubt that each of these is extreme however are they truly extreme for these actual participants?

    ExtremeI came across an interesting discussion on the motorcycle travellers forum Horizons Unlimited. In it they are discussing the term and particularly it’s use by equipment manufacturers and “posers” to describe adventures that in their eyes didn’t merit the term “extreme adventure”.

    Are they right?

    I have a feeling that they are missing the point. Chris Walker recently explored this point in a guest post on this web site. He highlighted that extreme is a relative term and is dependant upon our personal comfort zones.

    For one individual an extreme adventure is set at one level and for another perhaps more experienced, that level is considerably higher. Rather like our tolerance levels to alcohol.

    The more often we are in a particular situation, the more used to the particular demands it places upon our body and mind the less extreme it feels.

    A couple of years ago I was walking in the Austrian Alps with a German girlfriend of mine during the late summer. It was more “scrambling” and at times the situation was pretty exposed and perhaps we should have been roped up. However my point is that on the first day I was really scared, really feeling the exposure. After a week of walking and in fact progressing to far more extreme situations than on that first day my tolerance level had risen to the extent that I didn’t feel scared at all.

    If you had asked me on day one “was it extreme?” I would definitely have said yes. Ask me at the end of the week or now and I would say NO.

    Extreme adventures and our comfort zone

    We learn that extreme adventures are relative and personal. As we move outside our personal comfort zone our experience feels extreme. Perhaps this is our body and minds way of coping, of making sure we are on full alert and giving our all.

    To my mind the motorcycle forum is being judgemental about someone else’s dreams and goals. A position that I feel uncomfortable with. Reaching out for your goals is hard and we are inevitably exposing ourselves to failure. Surely it’s better to encourage and support each individual in their “relative” pursuits of extreme adventure than to knock them and demean their efforts.

    To grow as individuals and experience everything that life has to offer we must move outside our comfort zones. This is difficult, often painful and definitely scary. But do it we must.

    ExtremeTo read Chris Walkers guest post about extreme adventures please visit Himalayan trekking guide celebrates that tiny moment in time called now

    Credits for the images in this article about extreme adventure and coping in difficult and challenging circumstances belong to www.adventurecameras.com

    Please support CrazyJourneys.com by taking a moment to comment on this article about extreme adventure travel and also tweet or share it. Help Luke to spread the word. The buttons are below:

    Incoming search terms:

    Related posts:

    1. Extreme Ski Mountaineering on K2 by Inspirational Climber
    2. This is the way to experience life ! 100 goals in 100 weeks
    3. Sea Kayaking Adventure Tour explores North West Coast of Greenland
    4. Do you want to achieve your sporting ambitions? Here’s how to get started
    5. The Adventure of a Lifetime – Cycling, Walking and Mountaineering

    ]]>     http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/what-is-your-definition-of-an-extreme-adventure/feed/ 0     A travel blog with credibility. This traveller has a message to share http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/a-travel-blog-with-credibility-this-traveller-has-a-message-to-share/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/a-travel-blog-with-credibility-this-traveller-has-a-message-to-share/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:50:08 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=1113
  • 7 Tips for your expedition or travel adventure web site
  • Daily Bike News Roundup covering ultra, touring and endurance cycling
  • The Adventure of a Lifetime – Cycling, Walking and Mountaineering
  • This is the way to experience life ! 100 goals in 100 weeks
  • An intelligent travellers adventure as he cycles around the world
    • ]]>     Some travel blog’s have beautifully photography, some have well designed pages while others are full of amazing prose that give us a wonderful sense of being in the place the author describes. Rarely to they urge us to seek a better life. Andy’s Blog HoboTraveler does just that and his writing as a result is inspirational and very compelling.

    AndyI think perhaps it is his complete credibility. Here is a man who has been there, lived there, seen it, done it and got the T-shirt. He is homeless and has been a perpetual traveller for 10 years and visited more than 80 countries.

    HoboTraveler.com is difficult and confusing to navigate around. But I strongly recommend that you take the time to do so. Hidden within it’s 8000+ pages are some really gems. Truisms that will inspire, comments that force you to look closely at ones own belief systems and strong opinions that he is not shy to share.

    If you are tempted to venture on your travel adventure and are on a tight budget there is an excellent section on how he has funded his travel over the years. It demonstrates that with a bit of hard graft and an entrepreneurial spirit following your travel dreams is very possible.

    It is so tempting to wait to follow out dreams for everything to be perfect. Often we put things off because we don’t have enough money, its not the right time, I cant leave now. Excuses are so easy to find. But please follow Andy’s example and get started. Live life in the here and now. Reach out for you goals and let nothing stand in your way.

    The following quotes from his Blog give a flavour of the man and his writing.

    Andy

    Travel Blogs aspire to be somebody, to be a something, to be more than just one person rambling about his or her vacation.

    Travel is one of the most selfish, self-centered, self-absorbed things to do on the planet, we do it alone, and all the decisions are made by us.

    Make a list of all the things you want to do before you kick the bucket. When someone says, get a life, this is what they mean. We negotiate our life while living on a small precipice; we look over the edge seeing all that is possible. However, still as timid souls we ask too little of ourselves, we believe in tomorrow more than today.

    I stole this tip, I am copying this tip, and I am buying into this tip from a movie called, “The Bucket List.” Two men who have terminal cancer make their dream list of what they want to do before the kick the bucket. The difference between these two men and the rest of the world is they decide to be the heroes of their life.

    Make a list of all the things you want to do before you kick the bucket, then start to today to find the hero of the story. Please go watch the movie “The Bucket List,” and make all the tomorrows become today, then one day at a time you can become the hero of the story.

    Once you have “The Bucket List,” you will learn there are people who love you and will help you achieve your dreams, and there will be many who say this is just a movie… it is not a movie, it is the story of your life, do not lose the negotiations, your life is at stake.

    AndyTo read Andy’s blog about experience travel and the adventures it brings please visit www.hobotraveler.com

    Credits for the images in this article about adventure travel and following our dreams belong to Andy.

    Please support CrazyJourneys.com by taking a moment to comment on this article about adventure travel and also tweet or share it. Help Luke to spread the word. The buttons are below:

    Related posts:

    1. 7 Tips for your expedition or travel adventure web site
    2. Daily Bike News Roundup covering ultra, touring and endurance cycling
    3. The Adventure of a Lifetime – Cycling, Walking and Mountaineering
    4. This is the way to experience life ! 100 goals in 100 weeks
    5. An intelligent travellers adventure as he cycles around the world

    ]]>     http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/a-travel-blog-with-credibility-this-traveller-has-a-message-to-share/feed/ 2     Forget expedition 4 x 4′s These overland adventures are travelling in an 11 year old car http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/forget-expedition-4-x-4s-these-overland-adventures-are-travelling-in-an-11-year-old-car/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/forget-expedition-4-x-4s-these-overland-adventures-are-travelling-in-an-11-year-old-car/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:28:02 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=1072
  • Do you fear travelling alone? Sometimes it leads to our best adventures!
  • One of world’s top explorers Eric Larsen – Save the Poles Expedition
  • Eccentric British expedition crosses Sahara by sky car
  • The Adventure of a Lifetime – Cycling, Walking and Mountaineering
  • A magical intercontinental cycling tour through Europe and Asia
    • ]]>     This expedition listing is about Liam and Luke’s overland adventure tour driving through Europe, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Napal and beyond. Driving the most unlikely expedition vehicle, these crazy adventurers have not chosen an expedition 4 x 4 but are 9500 miles into their overland tour driving an 11 year old VW estate car. And it already had 136,000 miles on the clock. Fair shout!

    Overland Adventure Expedition – Getting started..

    Liam and LukeSpare key for the day I lose the original. Baseball bat for when I need to open a can of beans in a hurry. My kettle for when I want to spill boiling water over my hand. Three man tent for the nights I meet a hot Swedish chick and her equally hot friend.

    Compass….for finding the car in the dark after a skip of pints. Medical kit filled with hangover cures, baby prevention plastic and 1 plaster, incase of an accident. The thickest sleeping bag I could find..suitable for the arctic because I hear Iran has really being effected by global warming.

    No real destination, map or plan to take me there, sure ill figure it out along the way.

    Overland adventure tour – Iran, Iraq and Pakistan

    These lads certainly don’t lack spirit, determination and a sense of adventure..

    We were all very brave men when we were telling everyone that we were going to Iraq but as we came closer and closer to the border a little bit of worry/panic started to set into us all. Nervous laughs and jokes was the order of the day.

    Seje was the worst by far and to be fair he had good reason being an American and standing out of a crowd like he did didn’t help the situation. I have to admit I was worried he might attract some unwanted attention to us which could escalate into something more serious.

    Liam and LukeDue to the unstable situation in Pakistan at this time the Pakistan government required us to have an armed guard or armed police escort with us at all times and we felt it was obviously safer to have someone with us then going it alone.

    What normally happened with the guards was that every 20 or 30 kilometres there would be a police check point where we would fill in our details and pick up a new guard. A truck driver didn’t get out of the way fast enough so our escort smashed his wing mirror…that some rights the gardai don’t have

    The main round-about into Tehran…it was like demolition derby trying to get on and off the bloody thing. After driving in and out of Istanbul I thought I had experienced the worst driving im likely to see along my trip…..what a fool I was.

    The Lonely Planet description sum’s it up perfectly: “Almost anything goes on these roads and often does. Its not unusual to see motorbikes weaving between pedestrians on the footpath in an attempt to escape the gridlock or cars reversing down the highway at speed along an expressway to reached that missed exit

    The sheer volume of traffic can be overwhelming and makes crossing the street seem like a game of Russian roulette, only in this game there are few empty chambers”.

    Liam and LukeTo read Liam and Luke’s funny blog about their overland adventure travelling in the unlikeliest expedition vehicle please visit rusheeneast.blogspot.com

    Credits for the images in this article about an overland adventure tour and their unusual expedition 4 x 4 belong to Liam and Luke.

    Please support CrazyJourneys.com by taking a moment to comment on this overland travel adventure and their expedition car and also tweet or share it. Help Luke to spread the word. The buttons are below:

    Incoming search terms:

    Related posts:

    1. Do you fear travelling alone? Sometimes it leads to our best adventures!
    2. One of world’s top explorers Eric Larsen – Save the Poles Expedition
    3. Eccentric British expedition crosses Sahara by sky car
    4. The Adventure of a Lifetime – Cycling, Walking and Mountaineering
    5. A magical intercontinental cycling tour through Europe and Asia

    ]]>     http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/11/forget-expedition-4-x-4s-these-overland-adventures-are-travelling-in-an-11-year-old-car/feed/ 1     Eccentric British expedition crosses Sahara by sky car http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/eccentric-british-expedition-crosses-sahara-by-sky-car/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/eccentric-british-expedition-crosses-sahara-by-sky-car/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:37:15 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=745
  • Expedition Amazonas – 153 days on the Amazon
  • Forget expedition 4 x 4′s These overland adventures are travelling in an 11 year old car
  • Ocean kayaking expedition 850 miles on the Sea of Cortez
  • Do you know when to admit defeat? Do you have the character to try again?
  • One of world’s top explorers Eric Larsen – Save the Poles Expedition
    • ]]>     It takes courage and belief to mount an expedition. It is to easy to listen to doubters that convince us that our dreams are impossible or beyond us. Sometimes expeditions are successful and sometimes not but to me it is the journey from dream to reality that is the most inspiring. I love to see people take a leap of faith and make it happen. This film is about an eccentric British expedition to launch a flying car!

    I hope you enjoy this incredible expedition video – Please take a moment to comment afterwards and give your thoughts on the film or even the future of flying cars as expedition transport?

    For more information on this amazing flying car expedition and also their latest car development (shown below) please visit the web site www.skycarexpedition.com

    flying carCredits for the images used in this movie about a flying car expedition belong to Skycar Expedition.

    Please support CrazyJourneys.com by taking a moment to comment on this adventure expedition film about a flying car and also tweet or share it. Help Luke to spread the word. The buttons are below:

    Incoming search terms:

    Related posts:

    1. Expedition Amazonas – 153 days on the Amazon
    2. Forget expedition 4 x 4′s These overland adventures are travelling in an 11 year old car
    3. Ocean kayaking expedition 850 miles on the Sea of Cortez
    4. Do you know when to admit defeat? Do you have the character to try again?
    5. One of world’s top explorers Eric Larsen – Save the Poles Expedition

    ]]>     http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/eccentric-british-expedition-crosses-sahara-by-sky-car/feed/ 4     Has your life changed for the better after a piece of bad news? http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/has-your-life-changed-for-the-better-after-a-piece-of-bad-news/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/has-your-life-changed-for-the-better-after-a-piece-of-bad-news/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:56:29 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=613
  • A travel blog with credibility. This traveller has a message to share
  • Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
  • This is the way to experience life ! 100 goals in 100 weeks
  • Part 2 Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
  • Do you fear travelling alone? Sometimes it leads to our best adventures!
    • ]]>     Some of our best experiences often come about after something bad happens. At first we cannot see past our piece of bad luck however upon reflection it often steers us on some new and unexpected path that proves interesting, exciting and sometimes life-changing.

    This has bean true throughout my life and today’s guest post by Grant Lingel the author of Imagine – A Vagabond Story describes a great example of this principle in action when a piece of bad news led him on a fabulous adventure through Central America.

    backcoverphoto

    My Adventure by Grant Lingel

    I’ve never really considered myself much of an adventurer. I was raised in a quiet, peaceful suburb of Rochester, New York, before heading to Buffalo for college. Like many American suburbanites, I knew exactly what was expected of me. First there was elementary school, then middle school and high school, then off to college. With such a regimented life growing up, it seemed the opportunities for true adventure were few and far between.

    Then, October 2005, the fall of my senior year in college. I woke up one morning to a quite official-looking email in my inbox: thanks to some ineligible transfer credits, I was seven credits shy of graduating, and pretty much there was nothing I could do to get everything done in time to walk at graduation with all my friends. I felt like it was the end of the world. What was I going to do?

    fusion_05_photo_gallery_1243970280_scuba2Everyone was talking about their jobs, grad schools, future plans, and I had no idea when I would even be done with my degree. Then, for some reason, I thought of a friend who had moved to Mexico to get into animacion, basically translated as “entertainment.” She was a dancer, living the life at a high-class hotel on the beautiful Caribbean. I began to entertain serious thoughts about following in her footsteps. I mean, why not? I definitely didn’t want to stay in Buffalo in the dismal state I found myself in.

    Once the idea planted itself in my head, I didn’t waste much time. I booked a one-way ticket and emptied my bank account, leaving the country with a grand total of $300. I had no plan, just a backpack, my friend’s phone number, and equal parts apprehension and excitement.

    In January, my one-way ticket took me to a different world. I began my voyage at a hostel in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, an hour south of the hustle and bustle of Cancun. It’s easy to find adventure in hostels, and I was running out of money pretty quickly when I found work at a beach resort, complete with free accommodations, food and booze and a couple hundred USD/week, not to mention like-minded, interesting co-workers from all over the world. I was being paid to run pool and beach activities and loving every minute of it. Somewhere between snorkeling and kayaking with guests, early morning scuba trips with my roommates, and fantastic local food and bars, sleep lost its importance and I spent about 20 hours/day enjoying life to the fullest.

    fusion_05_photo_gallery_1243880942_belize_sunsetAs you can imagine, I burnt out pretty quickly on a regimen of physical activity, sex, drugs and booze, so I went back to hostel life to find something new. There, I met six guys who were road tripping from Minnesota to Guatemala and back. I tagged along with them for two weeks, heading south through Belize and eventually into Southwestern Guatemala. The time with the boys was crazy – camping, spelunking, cliff-jumping, and even an encounter with a roadside ditch that left the van (and some of us) in pretty poor shape.

    Once in Guatemala, I decided it was time to stay put for awhile and found work for the next few months as a volunteer in two different hostels (with some intermittent backpacking in between). It was a great way to save cash – working the bar in exchange for room and board – and I met some truly unbelievable people, both backpackers and locals (my Spanish, virtually limited to “hello” and “thank you” when I arrived, was pretty impressive at that point). Guatemala proved to be quite the place for spur-of-the-moment adventure – case in point, the night that I ended up hiking on an active volcano, the soles literally melting off of my shoes.

    ImagineCoverOne of my greatest adventures, though, has been putting my story together as a book. I never thought it would be easy, but I’m not sure if I realized that the long and wild road to publication would be more exhausting than the trip itself. Still, it’s rewarding to hear that my story might inspire others to do something foreign, or scary, or unexpected. My philosophy is to enjoy every moment before I get wherever it is I’m going in this adventure of life, and I hope Imagine can make others feel the same.

    For more information on this exciting adventurer please visit Grant’s website www.vagabondstory.com

    For more information on his book Imagine – A Vagabond Story

    Please support CrazyJourneys.com by taking a moment to comment on this adventure story and also tweet or share it. Help Luke to spread the word. The buttons are below:

    Related posts:

    1. A travel blog with credibility. This traveller has a message to share
    2. Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
    3. This is the way to experience life ! 100 goals in 100 weeks
    4. Part 2 Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal gave me an amazing new start in life
    5. Do you fear travelling alone? Sometimes it leads to our best adventures!

    ]]> http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/has-your-life-changed-for-the-better-after-a-piece-of-bad-news/feed/ 3 This is the way to experience life ! 100 goals in 100 weeks http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/this-is-the-way-to-experience-life-100-goals-100-weeks/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/this-is-the-way-to-experience-life-100-goals-100-weeks/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:00:02 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=592
  • Do you know when to admit defeat? Do you have the character to try again?
  • Has your life changed for the better after a piece of bad news?
  • What is your definition of an Extreme Adventure?
  • Expedition Amazonas – 153 days on the Amazon
  • Experience is an expensive teacher but every step is an opportunity
    • ]]>     How many of us have written a list of goals, only to let it gather dust in a bottom drawer. Not Ian Usher. This modern experience explorer is living the dream. He sold his possesions on Ebay and set off to experience and reach 100 goals in 100 weeks. I love this man and his concept. So simple, so fun and what a blast he is having. Sitting in London I can’t help feeling a pang of envy, I may just spend the afternoon “pen and paper in hand” !!

    I hope you enjoy this adventure video – Please take a moment to comment afterwards and give your thoughts on his journey, have you helped him along the way, does it inspire you to write your own list of goals and go for it ?

    For more information on Ian Usher and to follow his amazing journey to reach his goals please visit the website www.100goals100weeks.com

    Credits for the images used in this movie about adventure travel and living in the moment belong to Ian Usher

    Please support CrazyJourneys.com by taking a moment to comment on this adventure film and also tweet or share it. Help Luke to spread the word. The buttons are below:

    Incoming search terms:

    Related posts:

    1. Do you know when to admit defeat? Do you have the character to try again?
    2. Has your life changed for the better after a piece of bad news?
    3. What is your definition of an Extreme Adventure?
    4. Expedition Amazonas – 153 days on the Amazon
    5. Experience is an expensive teacher but every step is an opportunity

    ]]>     http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/10/this-is-the-way-to-experience-life-100-goals-100-weeks/feed/ 5     Incredible Journey to the South Pole by Tractor http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/09/journey-to-the-south-pole-by-tractor/ http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/09/journey-to-the-south-pole-by-tractor/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:45:10 +0000 Luke Bream http://crazyjourneys.com/?p=272
  • Mountaineering – Army ski expedition hoists Indian flag at South Pole
  • Record breaking helicopter Flight Pole to pole..
  • trekking – Trekking Poles – To Pole or Not To Pole
  • An inspirational personal journey working with an assistance dog for the disabled
  • bouldering – Can anyone recommend any climbing walls or clubs in Central or South West London?
    • ]]>     Manon Ossevoort is a theatre maker and actor from the Netherlands who is travelling from the Netherlands to South Africa by tractor. Along the way, she is collecting the dreams of people she meets (on pieces of paper).

    manon3

    From South Africa, she will travel by boat to Antarctica, where she will continue on foot or by tractor to the South Pole. Here, she plans to build a snowman and place the pieces of paper containing people’s dreams in the belly of the snowman. She is also raising money for War Child.

    Southpole is a journey by tractor. A journey through Europe, through the Balkan, and through Africa. And from South-Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, by boat to the South pole. On the South pole by tractor or on foot to the Pole itself.

    Her book ‘On a tractor to the South Pole’ was published by De Geus publishers in 2007. More than 8.000 copies have been sold to date! Though only available in dutch she is still looking for an English publisher!

    You can read more about her adventures by visiting her website: www.tractortractor.org

    The following exerts from her blog give you a flavour of this extrodinary woman.

    Doing, many people talk about it, but few actualy do it. Fear holds people back, held-back people have regrets. Fear and regrets are damaging to peoples lives, are damaging to the world. Governed by fear and regrets theres no room for happiness. Southpole challenges those fears. It tries to encourage. Southpole is about the will to face the world with an open minded attitude. The will to face the worlds beauty. Southpole does not want to be afraid. Southpole asks what is it you fear? What is it that makes you happy? What gives you courage? As a child I mount a tractor and head for the southpole, as an adult I’ll make sure I make it home safely.

    As a theatre maker I came up with a plan for a journey. A journey of a girl on a tractor. A journey to the end of the world, and back. But what is the end of the world? If I was a child, I would say: the South pole! As an adult I said: the worst war-country I can imagine. Both voices, the one of the child and the one of the adult, said: We want to go! Then I thought: All right, we’ll just dó that.

    manon4

    End of October (2008) I arrived in Cape Town, South-Africa. After more than 3,4 years and travelling over 38.000km’s with the tractor and a dog. Searching for beautiful projects, initiatives and stories. Stories that give courage, that tell and prove that ‘sometimes you just have to do it!’

    Coming November (2009) I want to start the last leg of this epic journey to and through the ‘end of the world’: the South Pole expedition, with the tractor. To create a stage voor the beautiful stories of this world, and for ‘engagement’!

    Southpole, besides a journey and expedition, is also a document. Above all, Southpole wants to give attention to special projects of NGO’s. (Non Governmental Organisations like WarChild and The Hunger Project, but also small local projects..) Initiatives which deserve attention because they show faith, courage, endurance and love.

    A performance as a means of communication for the girl on the tractor, and a gift. With the performance I collect dreams of people (written down on little pieces of paper). These dreams travel with me on the back of my tractor, all the way to the South Pole… Where I hope to build a big snowman with the ‘dreams of the world’ in it’s belly.

    ‘DO’ is a poetic and slightly slapstick performance about the realization of dreams, concuerring fears, and about a developping friendship between a girl and a tractor…It tells the story of a dream literally coming out (of the ground) looking for the courage to realize itself. It’s a symbolique story about the process in your head, from the moment you are caught by an idea, untill you choose and decide: let’s do it! (or at least try;)

    Summer of 2002, by example of pre-study for her plans, Manon made a test drive on a tractor to Paris, to drink a cup of coffee under the Eiffel tower. What started as an experiment became a project enthusiastically followed by radio, television and the writing press. The journey to Paris raised money and attention for Unicef and War Child. On the tractor through the fields, driving round and around the Arc de Triomphe, eye-to-eye with the French gendarmerie, waltzing with a eighty-year old Frenchman and his chicken, smoking a cigarette with an Arabic sheik in his limousine on the camping in Bois du Boulogne, and bumping into a legion of about 400 children on 25 tractors..

    manon2

    Another thing. Three years of continuous travel have basically exhausted any remote chance of original thought. Not a single bit of personal history that needs to be dug up again, dealt with, buried again. I’m quite through with all of that. I would really, really like to get on with my life please. Like, the rest of my life? Unfortunately I still have a long way to go before I even begin contemplating THAT. I spot a piramid-shaped mountain, and I sincerely wish for some kind of milestone, like the piramids, lightening the load of this slow, wobbly trek. Instead of feeling better, my thoughts are heading for a steep drop. The last mile is the longest, as they say. Whoever ‘they’ may be, I’m starting to think they might be right.

    So I’ve learned some independance along the way (and to look for help in the right places). Friendship complicates some issues, business being interpreted as personal matters etc. Had to learn to seek out the people who actually admit it when they’re not sure of something.Which has been a rather valuable and simple lesson!

    The stranger I meet is very inspiring to me because he seems to have learned the ‘art of doing’. To have dreams and persecute them. To know that’s possible, even here…He has traveled several African nations and always found himself a job. Now he’s come to Rundu (a rapidly expanding little town) and set up its first internet cafe. In a simple nice space are two desks with a computer on them. One can work at the desks as if one was at home. When he makes more money, there’ll be more computers, that much is obvious. A very tight and good plan. A clear concept. And he just went and did it. Great. Great place!

    The training made me kinda nervous. I’d been joking for 3 years that, before taking on the polar expedition, I’d just ‘warm up a bit’ in Africa. Double true. By now, I’ve become more shivery than ever before. Even in South Africa I’m the first to climb into a sweater when others are still fine in their T-shirts at night. The transmission from +35C to -35C appears to be stupendously enormous. I have some doubts.

    Amazement, after having worked towards one goal for so long, about getting a peek of the last phase, standing in the snow. It gives so much energy. This dream is about to get real, finishing this project in a unique way.

    Around the corner there’s Cape Town. With the tractor it takes me 4 hours driving to get there, but that’s also because people tend to stop me at the side of the road. I’m a bit of a celebrity here. People who have worked on the Pole for the Sanae base (SA), politicians from the new political party, mothers who want to take pictures with their children and the tractor, UN counsellors, motor couriers, everything stops me to have a chat. And that is something wonderful. And quit handy as well, those contacts. I don’t get time to feel lonely ánd I find inspiration or help.

    But suddenly somebody put a phone in my hands. On the line: Mom, dad, and Grandma!!! Well, they thought the connection was bad because they couldn’t hear me speak. But it was just the enormous lump in the back of my throat that prevented me from speaking. I wanted to speak but then found myself sobbing to hard. ‘I am here. It is so beautiful.’ After the phone call I talked to the crowd from the hood of the tractor. And then I also saw rain falling on faces of the people around me. Tears of being touched, that was my arrival. And the sun shone brightly that day! As if a fairytale had come true.
    It was as magically perfect as the day I set of from the Island of Terschelling in Holland (June 2005)……As if a beautiful circle was made round. Well, almost. But this gives courage!

    Matty (her polar guide) is tired after 10 days of driving with the tractor. And that also had something to do with the people. People everywhere, every moment of the day, also when you think your just setting up camp or taking a break. People that interrupt you, stop you at the side of the road and ask questions. All the time questions. I eventually got quit used to it. I see it as a sport to make people laugh. But that took some training, to be able to always be open for contact, or at least say in a friendly manner that it’s not very convenient at the moment. But for Matty, somebody who’s used to the rough and deserted nature, who lives close to the North Pole circle with her sledge dogs and in a small community of Inuit a.o. that know one another since years, it was quit an ordeal!

    Incoming search terms:

    Related posts:

    1. Mountaineering – Army ski expedition hoists Indian flag at South Pole
    2. Record breaking helicopter Flight Pole to pole..
    3. trekking – Trekking Poles – To Pole or Not To Pole
    4. An inspirational personal journey working with an assistance dog for the disabled
    5. bouldering – Can anyone recommend any climbing walls or clubs in Central or South West London?

    ]]>     http://crazyjourneys.com/2009/09/journey-to-the-south-pole-by-tractor/feed/ 2