Fundraising!

Well, we're on the hunt for sponsors. So far, we have approached a couple of corporate sponsors and are working on our ideas for a raffle aiming to ship the winnings around Valentine's day. So far, this is the lineup with tentative contents:

1. Picnic basket for two: Contains a picnic bag, reusable bamboo plates and cutlery, two glasses made from recycled wine bottles (customizable with your desired initials, words, or designs), a copy of Alice Waters' Simple Food, organic nuts from Capay Farms in the Bay Area, an assortment of handcrafted cooking oils, and a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's gift card.

2. Ladies' home spa: Set of organic bath products from Pangea Organics, soaps from Olive and Oats, a set of women's nightclothes from Keep Me, some ultra-soft bamboo fiber socks and washcloth from PureBamboo, flowers in a vase made of recycled wine bottles, an assortment of handcrafted candies (truffles, caramels, chocolate-dipped dried fruits), and more!.

3. Mystery raffle! The prize in this raffle is a mystery treat from each country we visit (or, most of them, anyway)! You get to choose the theme. So, for instance, if you choose "food" we might get you an assortment of edibles, kitchen implements, and cookbooks from along the route. Or, if you choose "textiles" we could get you some Balkan embroidery, a turkmen carpet, an Uzbek hat. Or (if you're my dad) you might choose "rusty junk" or "found objects" in which case we'll pick up every cool rusty railroad tie or oil can we find along the way. Let your imagination run wild with this one! (though, keep in mind, unless you are donating several thousand dollars, we probably cannot afford to get you a nice rug from every country. sorry!)

When we have a means to sell tickets for this raffle, we will alert you. If you have other ideas for the raffle in the meantime, or relevant objects/services to donate, please let us know!

Episode 1: Wherein Anand and Sarah win a place on the Mongol Rally

After a few years of trying, it has finally happened. In September, just as Sarah headed off to Uzbekistan for a month, Anand got the good news that we were accepted to the Mongol Rally! For those not in-the-know, the Mongol Rally is a charity event that sets 250ish teams to drive 10,000 miles from London to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Teams' cars can have a maximum of a 1 liter engine and must be under 10 years old. You choose your own route and ours preliminarily looks like this.

We are starting a blog about this for a couple of reasons.

1. We thought our friends and family might be interested in our progress both preparing for the race and while we are in the field.
2. To raise money! On this blog you will find a link to our cafe press store where you can buy cool shirts and other items, the profits from which will go to paying for the car, charity, and other expenses. We will also have a paypal donation site and I'm thinking of selling off some other stuff (mainly photography related), so stay tuned for that!
   

Ok, that's pretty much the main two reasons. Please stay tuned for more developments as they arise! Also, please let us know if you have leads on any good, small cars located in the UK or have other fund-raising ideas!