Jul 24
Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Jul 21
“Micro-famous!”
Hello from England! As we embark on a new day of challenges, I wanted to take a moment and share an article that the good folks at MSW published about my participation in the rally. What followed, was organized chaos in e-mail! The most common subject line was, “your famous!” Ha. Well, I cannot express how exciting this was. To those at Microsoft, thank you so much for expressing your support for this cause! You really blew me away. Thanks to Colin for allowing us to stay out in Reading and Jennifer for the write-up.
For those that asked, yes we can absolutely use your help. Everything is secure and all donations will go towards charity. Here is some good news, we’ve become the #1 fundraiser for Mercy Corps once again within the rally. Consider helping us stay there!
Okay, off to get my hands dirty.
Destination Mongolia for Road Trippers Baatar Hero
Employee Thomas Chacko and five of his closest friends are about to become the road rally team Baatar Hero. The six Seattle residents will climb into two tiny hatchbacks and embark on the experience of a lifetime—a 10,000-mile trip through Europe and Asia for charity.
By MSW and Jennifer Warnick
July 16, 2010
Thomas Chacko, who works for Windows Application Compatibility/Device Compatibility Team, and five friends will climb into two tiny cars and embark on a 10,000-mile trip through Europe and Asia. Destination: Mongolia.
Employee Thomas Chacko has never been one for traditional, lie-on-the-beach vacations—even before he signed on to spend six weeks crisscrossing two continents in a tiny Fiat hatchback.
Chacko and five friends are getting ready to depart for London, where they will participate in the Mongol Rally, a 10,000-mile road rally across Europe and into Asia.
The annual rally (tagline: “Fighting to make the world less boring”) isn’t just about high adventure in “ridiculous cars;” it’s about giving back. Chacko and his team are raising money for Mercy Corps, an organization working to fight poverty and improve lives in Mongolia.
“Ultimately, this trip is about a few key things,” said Chacko, who works for Microsoft’s Windows Application Compatibility/Device Compatibility Team (yes, they are AC/DC). “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to drive over a third of the way around the globe on roads less traveled, immerse myself in many different cultures, and experience the beauty of Mongolia while positively impacting families of the people we will meet there.”
The name of Chacko’s two-car caravan to Mongolia is “Baatar Hero”—a derivative of their final destination of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Group members have a goal of raising $5,000 for Mercy Corps and will donate their cars and equipment to charities in Mongolia when they arrive.
Jul 13
Camp Baatar Hero
Our Tent Village!
The team packed our backpacks and set up our tents in eager preparation and practice for the rally. Here are some pics of Camp Baatar Hero! We all fit snug as a bug in a rug, errr. . . I mean in our tents. Thank you to Mike Warner and Mr. Starr for your generous donation of tents for us to use on the rally. And a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to us so far! You helped us purchase our third tent, sleeping pads, chairs and stove and we can’t wait to put them to great use on the steppes of central Asia. But mostly we look forward to donating them to Mercy Corps at the end of the rally!
The inside of our newest tent, compelete with sleeping pads!
Space Planning: 6 weeks, camping supplies for 3 people, 70 gallons of cargo space in one punto. It fits!
Jul 12
Passport In Hand
All of our passports came back from the visa agency finally! Just in time for Tom and I to leave on Saturday. Picked up my IDP last week too. Beautiful aren’t they?
Totally ready for some multi-continental motoring adventure!
Jul 10
Muugi Wins Plane Tickets!
We are posting live from our final departure party before we all leave Seattle in the coming weeks. F5 Networks very generously provided two free round trip plane tickets from the US to Europe and we just held a drawing for the winner of the tickets. With hundreds of entrants over the past few weeks and dozens of last minute entries, we had the manager of The Spectator draw the winner for us, and Muugi’s name was drawn! Muugi has been extremely helpful to the team, offering the insider advice of a Mongolian mechanic and donating tools to us as well. It was fitting then that his name was drawn. Congrats Muugi.
Thanks to F5 for providing these tickets!
Jul 09
Random Acts Of Kindness
We are at a happy hour right now with fellow rally team Just A Steppe Away celebrating before we all leave and this super nice patron of the bar, Joan, just took an interest in our rally talk and made a donation on the spot!
Thanks Joan!
–
Brian Shrader
rally.roamgreen.org
Jul 06
Two New Sponsors
We’re excited to add SatellitePhoneStore.com and Keen Footwear to our growing list of sponsors!
When we are in the middle of nowhere we will be using a BGAN satellite terminal from SatellitePhoneStore.com to update our blog with exciting content. This means you can follow our misadventures no matter how far off the beaten track we go.
Keen Footwear are kindly providing us with foot protection for the offroads and noroads of Central Asia. We love that they encourage everyone to create, play, and care…as a way of life, they call it HybridLife. Keen focuses on the environment, community and growth. Special emphasis is placed on sustainable product development, strategic sourcing options, impactful community outreach, and a progressive work environment. Oh yeah, they also make awesome shoes. Our car won’t have 4-wheel drive, but our feet will!
Jun 18
Ed Roberts bikes ~300 miles for Mercy Corps/Baatar Hero!
Our friend, colleague and Liverpool football fan, Ed Roberts, will be participating in TWO insane bike rides this summer for charity: The Tour de Blast and the STP. For both rides, he will be raising money for Mercy Corps, towards the Baatar Hero goal. Thanks, Nedler!!!
Wish him luck tomorrow as he rides 82 miles and climbs 6240 feet of Washington elevation on the Tour de Blast. Wow!
And if you weren’t already impressed, he’s planning on riding the 200 or so miles from Seattle to Portland (hence, STP) in just one day. :O
If you want to support Ed, just wish him luck, give him a hi-five, buy him a congratulatory beer and/or check out his Firstgiving page and donate to the cause. Go Ed!
« Newer Posts | Older Posts »
519 days since...
The Mongol Rally 2010!
-
Where Are We Now?
-
Search
Recent Articles
Sponsors
Facebook
Baatar Hero
Photo Stream
