Here's to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do...
Drive Across Europe
Well now. Wasn't this an adventure and a half!
It was late 2008 that I had a sudden, inexplicable urge to do something great for charity. I have always been more than happy to donate to different charitable causes, and to support my friends and family when they did something epic in the name of charity, but for some reason, I had never myself gone that one step further to raise money for a cause close to my heart. I decided that I wanted to do some different - something wild and crazy, something out of the ordinary. Then I remembered that it had always been a lifelong ambition of mine to go on some epic roadtrip - perhaps across America I had always thought - but why not across Europe for starters!?
It was a small step from that thought process to realising that I would like to raise money for a charity that helped those in the Mid-East region, and so why not attempt to drive from London to Israel!? I knew that it was possible as a few years back I remembered that another group had done it... so I set about researching the wheres, hows and whens, and set a date for the trip!
The planning of the trip took a long time. There was waaay more to sort out that I first envisaged - the really boring stuff that you don't really think about like car insurance and EU driving requirements. And it took just over a year to get everything sorted for the trip. Luckily, I had lots of support from family and friends, as well as my great friend and co-pilot for the trip, Colin. We were also very fortunate in that I managed to find a lovely man who donated us a car for the trip - an old, battered Honda Civic which we came to absolutely adore and cherish (We miss you, Pingu!) - without this incredible gesture, the planning would have been much more stressful not to mention expensive.
We left our homes on Sunday 14th March 2010 and ended up in Tel Aviv on Wednesday 24th March 2010, having driven through countless European villages and towns (and 10 countries: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Lichtenstein, Austria, Italy, Monaco and Greece) and having raised over £2500 for charity. The roadtrip was unlike anything I could have ever expected. The sensation of continually pushing to move forward, the constant orienteering of ourselves in completely unfamiliar territory, getting used to driving on the other side of the road, and getting used to spending hours upon hours in the same confined space - were all challenges that I didn't fully appreciate before setting off. The amazing views, the kindness of countless strangers, the sensation of driving on the open road underneath an epic sunset, the joy of reaching a hard-won camping site in the evening - were all benefits that I did not fully appreciate at first either.
There were so many highs and lows, both literal and metaphorical. In the literal sense, the landscape upon which we were driving was continually changing, ranging from the flatlands of Belgium to the dizzying peaks of the Alpine passes. Metaphorically speaking, there were times when I felt giddy with excitement and times that I wished I could just magically transform into a bird and just fly to our destination!
After having many adventures on, and off, the road, and having driven almost 3000 miles, when we finally reached our end destination of Tel Aviv, Israel, I couldn't quite believe what we had achieved. I still can't quite believe that I did all that!! I was also incredibly ecstatic that I had managed to reach my fundraising target of £2500 for the charity that I was raising for, Children of Peace.
The trip was absolutely everything that I could have wished for, and more. It really was the Ultimate Roadtrip, and it was the icing on the cake that my adventure could end up raising so much money for such a fantastic cause. Thank you once more to everybody who donated and who supported me in other ways too!
