Formula 1 to Mongolia – Itinerary Update

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Reunited, and it feels so good…(come on, sing it with me!) My true love is back in my arms. The two months apart had been difficult for me, I longed, even ached for my beloved.

My passport finally arrived in crisp FedEx envelope; I promptly ripped it open and showered it with kisses. And I believe that it was just excited to see me too…it had a special glow, it beamed when I held it in my hands. It came back to me with 4 shiny new visas from countries I can’t pronounce. We sat back, shared a beer and started dreaming of our next trips we’d take together.

We will be a busy couple this summer. We are living it up in class, experiencing world sporting events, seeing friends, and then we are roughing it for 8 weeks across 1/3 of the globe. They say variety is the spice of life – so here’s what we have in store for you:

Valencia Spain | June 20th – June 27

I’ll be a guest of Tour Spain on a press/blogger trip to Valencia, Spain, to see the famous Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe. Um…hot men speaking in foreign tongues, in fast cars…yup…give me some of that. Top it off with wine and delicious Spanish food…okay, if I must. I was as surprised as anyone when I had an email showing up in my inbox inviting me to the F1 race in Valencia, I thought about it for a few seconds and promptly said yes trying to appear not too desperate. Considering this is my first trip to Spain, I’m really looking forward to experiencing the best it has to offer and sharing that back with you. Expect a few pictures of fast cars…zoom, zoom.

Barcelona, Spain | June 27th – July 11th

I’ll be hanging out as a local in Barcelona. My goal is to simply relax in the city for two weeks, eat well, drink well, and work on photography and writing. I’m staying in my very own apartment near the Sagrada Familia, thanks to Oh Barcelona. As you know, I prefer to experience cities and locations slowly and off the tourist track. Granted – while I’m in Barcelona, I will be doing some typical tourist things like exploring the city by motorbike, taking a cooking class, and taking in the architecture – but for me, it’s more about walking around the neighborhoods, meeting locals, and taking pictures. Most of all – I want to soak in the joy of having an apartment for 2 weeks since the rest of my summer will be camping and sleeping in a car for 7 weeks.

Brussels, Belgium | July 11 – July 15th

Next I head north for a little girlfriend time. I needed a place to crash for a few days and will go see my girlfriend Veronique in Brussels as well as my friends from Cheeseweb who I housesat for last year. Friends will be great – and friends with frites and waffles will be even better!

London, UK | July 15th – July 23rd

Game on…this is where the craziness begins. I, along with Dave and Deb, my Mongol Rally team partners, arrive in London on the 15th and will spend the next week frantically running around trying to ensure our car runs and getting last-minute supplies for the Mongol Rally. Luckily, we’ll have a nice apartment to stay in and be sleepless while doing final prep for the rally, thanks to Oh London.  For any of you reading this who are in/around London – please make yourself known so we can potentially meet you, share a pint with you, and shamelessly contact you for help when we desperately need it that week!

London to Mongolia | July 23 to who the hell knows???

The Mongol Rally officially kicks off on July 23rd. I have a feeling it may be slightly different than the Formula 1 race…but in my head out little blue rally car will be just as good, pretty, fast, and reliable. Positive thoughts help – right?! Each day will bring something different, exciting, painful – and most of all it will remind me that I am alive and I better f’ing enjoy this ride called life.

 

Something else very, very important…Real-time Blogging…

Normally, my writing and photography run about a month behind where I actually am at the moment, but this summer of ‘travel in overdrive’ will bring on a big change with my blog. Creating my blogging/writing/photography on my website takes a lot of time online…I mean a LOT of time. However, I will have very little online time when I do the rally this year. My blog will have to go real-time while I’m participating in the Rally, as well as the time leading up to it. This probably means the writing will suck, there will be very few photos once the rally begins, and you will be getting small, disjointed, real-time updates rather than lovely literary prose about culture and travel. So – get ready to get a little trailer trash blogging…down and dirty, gritty, basic, and a bit of a wreck at times.  So sit back and enjoy my blogging this summer with a Pabst Blue Ribbon and tater tots.

During the rally, I will get the help of the lovely women at SMAC (Social Media Atlantic Canada); Candice and Cailin are social media gurus and will be keeping you informed about our team’s whereabouts on the rally road. I’ll be communicating with them to tell them what happened on the road each day. Then, they will send out the tweets and Facebook status updates under my account and write a quick blog post for me. They will be my voice so that you can hear me while I’m racing down a dirt road in Uzbekistan.

After the rally, I will be sure to provide some proper recaps and the complete Mongol Rally story as I move out of the trailer trash blogging, back into the deluxe apartment in the travel blogging sky, and back to my regular style.

Please bear with me…don’t give up on me…and keep reading! I promise I’ll be back to my normal, verbose photographic posts in October.

So – buckle up….we are going from Formula 1 racing to Rally Racing…crossing 15 countries in 3 months. I just wonder how I, my beloved passport, and my little blog will come out the other side.

Start Your Engines!!