The ChallengeFrom UN World Peace Day (Sep 21st) we circumnavigate the continent of Australia. See map. We begin with NOTHING: we will have no cash, no clothes, no possessions and no vehicle at the start of our journey. We remain penniless the whole journey, not spending a cent for anything.We do any job given to us and donate all our wages to Book Aid.
At the end, we give back, donate or auction all we have been given. Attempt to reach our goal of raising £10,000 ($22500) for Book AidWe place the outcome of our journey, our lives and our adventure into the hands of others.We work in exchange for goods and services such as food and fuel.
Each and Every Person Acknowledged
- We will not fail to publicly thank everyone who enables us to do this.
- Our a ‘Good on ya! Cheers mate’ list, will contain acknowledgements of all those who have helped us, and will be updated regularly.
- Nothing is irrelevant. A handshake and a kind word will be acknowledged.
- Our blogsite will be updated, added to, made fun, informative and the only official way to follow our intrepid adventures as they unfold
- Anne takes pictures
- Phil tells a joke
- Gareth grows a beard
- People contribute opinions, stories of their own, jokes, facts, anecdotes, and give us suggestions and invitations.
Buckley’s or breeze?We will be forced into a daily survival situation where we have to rely on ingenuity, audacity, exchange, dares, comedy gold and the generosity of strangers to obtain the most basic of things. We will make our way round in who knows what manner, or in what sort of state, but always with good humour and originality. We will have to be audacious and cheeky to carry this off. So, be it a simple case of picking berries for shelter, telling jokes for pies, dressing up as a chicken to get our socks washed or tightrope walking for toilet roll, we will do it in exchange for something we need to circumnavigate the continent without a penny passing into our hands for work. It will be hard, we have to keep on trying, not as hard as we 'can,' but until we 'can't'. We must continue pushing on to the finishing post back in Brisbane, no matter what difficulties we come across.
Along a planned route we will find as many activities as we can, visit tourist attractions and places of interest, try our hands at any and all jobs (especially those targeted to travellers who enter on working holiday visas) and we will document all our finds and experiences. Every small business or individual who helps us will have their company logo and or name printed on our weblog.
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19 comments:
Good luck guys!! Sounds like you have got yourselves a plan!
I cant wait to read about your adventures!! Am looking forward to your circumnavigation bringing you to Sydney!!
Oodles of love!
good luck y'all!
i take it you won't be home for christmas then gareth!!! no pigs in blankets up the nozzer for the owen's this year :o(
be safe! lots of love
nerys xxx
Good luck guys. I feel bad you'll have seen more of Australia than I have but at least it's for a good cause!
I hope you accomplish your goals and all challenges are challenged triumphantly and in the spirit of true comradeship - take care(of course) cariad mawr - edrych yn fyw - Ma and Pa xxxx
Good luck you guys, im sure it will be an amazing adventure. Gazza have you approached any sunblock companys for support? maybe you should,
Love and best wishes,
Amber
I wish you all the best guys & girl
This sounds a cracking adventure and i'm so envious
Can't wait to read about this unfolding adventure...
Good luck!!!
Anne,
I’ve just read the entirety of this blog, open-mouthed, agog at the brazen shamelessness of it all.
First, you say it’s “(your) goal to do something for a worthy cause”. An honourable statement indeed. But unfortunately, the only thing I can see you actually doing is asking for your friends to donate money to a charity. I’m sure you could think of a million other things to do if you were really interested in helping a “worthy cause”. But, fair enough, you’re raising money for charity, so how could that be criticised?
You then go on to tell us about your “challenge” – a pan-continental trip down under, writing articles, taking pictures, working in exchange for goods – I’d hardly call it a “challenge” (most people call it “travelling”) but how could that possibly be criticised?
Very easily actually. I’m shocked to the core at your sheer cheek; asking complete strangers to essentially fund your entire trip under the thinly-veiled guise of raising money for charity.
If you’re so truly interested in helping others in need and improving the lives of “impoverished children”, then why don’t you go and actually do something to help them? Perhaps use your services doing something that might directly benefit these kids you care about so much?
A crazy idea now, brace yourself. Instead of you “working in exchange for goods or services”, why don’t you actually work to help other people? It’s called being a volunteer – and there are hundreds of charities in the “poor countries” you’ve visited, crying out for them. Maybe that would actually make a difference to these kids’ lives, instead of some anonymous cheque dropping at a charity office, whilst you’re already back home, tanned and laughing, looking through your photos and remembering the time you conned everyone into funding your free holiday around Australia?
Your actions insult all those hard-working people who are actually making a difference.
Sincerely,
Disgusted.
Thank you for raising some issues which we realise we need to address. There is a lot of information we are working at putting up on the website to more fully explain what we are doing and why. We will put more details here as quickly as possible.
There are many ways to raise money for charity, we ourselves have raised money at various events including: walking on hot coals, London marathons, walks, running into the painfully cold North Sea on Boxing Day, sponsored fasts, dances, costume wearing, bake sales, book sales etc. We have always had a great deal of fun and gained as much for ourselves in terms of experience from each of the events as we have in monetary value for good causes. We believe raising money for charity can incorporate a fun element and we hope to have a lot of fun along the way!
In the past, volunteering time in Indonesian schools, in special needs departments, in reading to children, in conservation and environmental work, and in orphanages, amongst other projects, we have met some wonderful people and had a great amount of fun. We feel however that the money raised from this trip will directly benefit more people and reach the places we can’t volunteer in.
This Cheeky trip is the one we will consider to be the hardest of our events to raise money and also the most enjoyable too. Travelling is easy if you have money to buy all of life’s essentials and some luxuries but we will not be able to get these things. The challenge will be 15,000km without any purchasing ability. To see how difficult it is to start from nothing. To spend four months or more without this power to buy our way out of trouble will be hard because we are doing this in a world where it’s easy to get by if you have the money to spend. Our only currency will be ourselves.
We will survive with only our ability to work for favours, talk to people and smile. Our aim is to reach £10,000 for Book Aid, so for example, we are hoping that after we have worked on a farm in exchange for a basket of food, the rest of the money we could have earned (if we were able to take it) will instead go directly to Book Aid, in order to reach our target. Yes, we are asking people to be generous, but we really hope people know exactly what it is we are doing so no one feels they have been conned into helping us.
Book Aid International was listed as the number one way to help Make Poverty History on the channel 4 website. http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/M/makepovertyhistory/8ways/1.html
They are very happy that we are raising money and awareness for their cause, stating “it is definitely one of the most imaginative ways that money has been raised for us”. We believe that Book Aid International is doing great work indeed. Please visit their website soon to find out what they do, and to see how our adventure will support them. We hope people will think the cause is a worthy one
There are many very hard-working people making a huge difference, which we fully commend. We are in no way to be compared to these wonderful people out in the front line of world poverty needs but we are simply part of a huge army of people trying to raise awareness and money. We are sorry if you feel we can not make a difference to child literacy and world poverty but we believe that in doing this trip, we can.
We welcome any one who has concerns about this event to contact us further.
Heard about your adventure through the AJET grapevine. Sounds amazing, really, what you're doing. I wish you the best of luck and hope you meet all your goals. I'll be on the look out for the book.
Aloha,
chip
good luck with it guys! enjoy it elaine x
What absolute nonsense.
You'll expend more time effort and money whoring yourselves out as walking billboards to corporates and than actually raising money.
How about you guys do something constructive for those in need and start at home rather than relying on largess of the Australian public who should really know better.
The companies contributing are no less self serving but at least profit based businesses would be happy to admit its just an opportunity to buy some press.
how about we remove you all from the equation and just give?....or perhaps that would deprive you of a year long holiday assing about doing bugger all?
3 bright young things like yourself could earn way in excess of 10k in real jobs and in turn benefit a lot more people.
But then that would be too much like hard work right?
I suspect the plane tickets over here would have gone a long way to reaching the 10k mark on their own.
Pathetic.
All the best guys! I think what you're doing is absolutely fantastic and shows a great deal of courage and compassion. Wish I was already in Oz myself so I could help out!
I think the people who criticise and say you could do other things are blind to what you can achieve this way. For starters, I didn't know about the charity until I read about your story!! So I at least have had my eyes opened by it and it will bring a lot of good attention. After all, who donates to a charity they've never heard of?? And I think it will inspire a lot of people.
"What's so hard about it" they say? Well if it's so easy, why don't THEY strip off and rely on generosity themselves? I don't think I'd have the guts right now to wander around in a rubbish bag until someone was nice enough to give me clothes.
It raises a lot of issues within society that need to be addressed in a fun and harmless way.
I've travelled on a tight budget, and that was damn hard, I don't envy anyone travelling on generosity, but I look forward to hearing about it and hope my Aussie neighbours come through! (Especially since I'm hopping the ditch to join them!)
So good on you. Maybe they're just jealous?
Or maybe they've forgotten that generosity is becoming rare in this day and age and should be encouraged. Not to mention, all it takes is for a lot of people to give a little and make it a lot!
All the best! And ignore the sour grapes!
Michelle
Michelle,
All the publicity in the world doesn't do jack unless people contribute. Did you immediately go and donate via the provided link?
Its disingenuous at best to claim you're sacrificing yourselves for the good of others in a mother theresa like act when there is clearly more too it.
I applaud anyone who makes the effort to make the world a better place....but spending the equivalent of $2 to make $1 for charity is beyond stupid...and to take all that time to do it is ludicrous.
Too often people assume the mantle of charity and become so enamoured with the concept of giving that they miss the point entirely.
Work in a shelter, volunteer your time in tasks with a tangible outcome or get a job and donate 10% of your earnings to a charity that doesn't eat half of that in administration costs.
This is a lark with charity tacked on to create an illusion of respectability and social responsibility.
If it was pitched as such theyd have my support.
They didnt...so they dont.
Marinelli,
I think you have missed the point entirely.
Raising awareness of an important issue, being extraordinary in doing so, and having a bit of fun, while stretching yourself beyond limits is a pretty amazing thing to ask.
Anyone can volunteer...as they all have done if you were to read their response. You say to start at home...they already have. This is an extension of something they ALREADY do. This is a chance to step outside the box.
More power to you guys, you are doing a fantastic thing, and i surely do not begrudge you your adventure along the way.
I'd just like to give a big shout out to all three of you guys.
I must admit it's not your 'run of the mill' ideas surrounding raising money for charity, and quite honestly I applaud you for this, because lets face it, as much as we all want to help and do our part in 'giving', what a drag 'CHARITY' has attached to its name! and what's worse is it makes you feel guilty for trying to avoid most of them!
I think these days its not enough just handing over that part of your pay check or the spare change in the bucket at the supermarket, because at the end of the day you can give every penny away and still make very little difference if any to the overall problem.
I have long believed the real difference has to be a conscious change in people, and if this can be brought on in the exchange of smiles, handshakes, favours for favours and good old fashioned getting your hands dirty to work for your super, then im all for it, after all, currency is what created rich and poor in the first place, so living without currency on a favour to favour basis is definately a road i'd like to experience and learn more about, so i'll most certainly be following your trials and tribulations.
I think people need someone like yourselves to bring back the WANT to be generous, and sometimes a smile is all you need, I think everything surrounding this journey has a GOOD WILL attached to it.
To bring out the generosity in people, to bring back the fun in raising money for charity, to spread the word of your chosen charity that like me people may not have heard about, to maybe inspire others to do the same, when they realise you CAN have fun whilst raising money for charity.
I wish you the best in your journey, and may the generosity in mankind win over the scrooge in others. Bravo.
so totally impressed. Go for golf!!!!
marinelli,
You are a poor jealous soul. Imagine if you hadn't wasted the three dollars on self serving internet and instead gave it to the needing.
They are having a go... having fun and being creative and brave.
Snob off with your silly antics
Jealous monkey
"The United Nations’ International Day of Peace - marked every year on September 21 - is a global holiday when individuals, communities, nations and governments highlight efforts to end conflict and promote peace."
Please will the people with only the negativity - think on.
Thankyou and Go in Peace
Max
Anne, Gareth, Phil - thanks for teaching me about Book Aid International! I didn't know about it till your trip. Delighted to donate! :-) Anne you supported our Habitat for Humanity trip to the Philippines so now it's my turn to return the favour. I was surprised to read those negative comments, but hey, people in the dark only make you 3 conscientious, caring, fun lovelies shine out all the more. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY believe that raising funds for a good cause and spreading fun and joy in the process are not mutually exclusive. Is it not obvious? And the fun doesn't stop there... think of the years of absolute JOY you're bringing to kids who discover books!!! I hope my donation goes to a few good Roald Dahls ;-)
BIG love and hugs, Avril X
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