As the rickshaw run draws closer and closer, Ryan and I have begun working on “pimping our rickshaw” with a stylish design and snazzy paint job. Thanks to one loyal supporter, Jessica Shultz — winner of the Name Our Rickshaw contest — we have an amazing team name: दौ रौमानचीक यार which is pronounced Do Yaar Romanchkari and translates as “Two Adventurous Friends.”
The Who What Where When And Why Of The Rickshaw Run
Hopefully by having a name in Hindi painted on the exterior of our rickshaw locals will be intrigued by and supportive of what we are doing, more so than if we had gone with our other favorite: “Taj Ma-Haulin’ Ass.” (Although we still love the suggestion Zak, we do worry that the locals might take offense to it.)
The Rickshaw Run 2015
More GoPros Than Wheels
Our plan from day one has been simple: we want need more GoPros than wheels. Yes, that’s right we are going to have four GoPros attached to our rickshaw: one on the windshield recording the interior of the vehicle, two recording the exterior right and left sides, and a final one facing forward to record the oncoming view.
We have decided to post short real-time video clips to YouTube, Vine and Instagram every day of the Rickshaw Run. In other words, I’d highly recommend following us to stay up-to-date — and keeping an eye on the #rickshawrun hashtag on Twitter.
| Derek Freal | @the_HoliDaze | theHoliDaze | theHoliDaze |
| Ryan Brown | @LostBoyMemoirs | JustChuckinIt | LostBoyMemoirs |
To achieve this ambitious fear we are going to be renting two additional GoPros with enough spare batteries and chargers to run all four for 12hrs a day, not to mention purchasing several external hard drives to store the 9 terabytes of video that they will generate — if not more.
With this footage we will be producing a whole series of Rickshaw Run videos once the adventure is over. These will include compilation videos such as our wildest adventures, funniest moments and any (near) accidents, among other things. We will also be producing and releasing professional Rickshaw Run promo videos designed to educate and inspire others.
To Do This We Need You Help
Yes, you reading this! We need a tiny bit of assistance in raising extra funds to be able to afford the gear we need to accomplish our goals, maybe even a bit extra to help alleviate some of the costs incurred during the race. The entry fee and rickshaw deposit was a total of $4,000 and according to previous participants we can expect to spend a minimum of $1,200 during the two week long run on food, petrol, lodging, medicine, spare parts and mechanic fees.
Add in plane tickets and visas and that puts us at over $6,500 in expenses and that still doesn’t even count the cost of the additional gear we need.
Without your help we won’t be able to properly document the Rickshaw Run and will have spent over $6k+ for nothing more than our own amusement. We don’t want to do that.
Ryan and I would much prefer being able to share the entire experience with not only you, our loyal readers, but also with anyone else curious about the Rickshaw Run. We are not doing this for ourselves — well, maybe a little 😉 — but we ARE putting our own readers and followers entertainment ahead of our personal pleasure.
Image courtesy of The Adventurists
We cannot do this without your help.
So we have devised a few different ways to help achieve our goal.
For starters, we are accepting donations online via our Rickshaw Run fundraiser. We have an assortment of gifts to reward contributors as well, including handwritten postcards and Polaroid photos taken during the race, custom t-shirts featuring a design Ryan and I have created, and even a professionally made coffee table photo book documenting our progress across India.
Much thanks to those who have already contributed!
Y’all are AMAZING!
We are also searching for sponsors in the form of t-shirts and exterior advertisements. As I’ve already mentioned every angle of the rickshaw will be recorded on video and turned into dozens of YouTube videos, both short 30-second clips and longer, more professional ones.
These videos will be watched by tens of thousands of people between now and the end of the year, if not more, and will still be getting views years from now — long after sponsored posts are being read. Obviously the driver’s t-shirt will be prominently visible, as will be the brands displayed on the exterior of our rickshaw. Now is your chance to gain exposure for your brand with a worldwide audience, not to mention be a part of something that is equal parts crazy and unique.
Contact us for more information
The Route
Finally we are looking for any hotels that would like to host us along the way. As there is no set route, only a starting city and ending city, all participants will be making up there own routes. Because of that I do not wish to publish our intended route online. However, as you can see from the map below, there are quite a few prominent cities in northern India that we may be passing through. If you are located in this area, or if you want to inquire in private as to our exact route, then please send me an email.
Additionally, if you live in northern India and would like to know if we will be passing through your city/state or happen to have any suggestions for us — over even just want to say hi — then please do not hesitate to drop us an email or give Ryan and I a shout on Twitter @the_HoliDaze // @LostBoyMemoirs.
In closing, thanks to one and all for your help in allowing us to make the most of this once in a lifetime adventure and helping us share it with the world. Without readers such as you this would never be possible. So for that, please accept our gratitude and most sincere appreciation.
Can’t wait to get this race started dude! Hell yeah! I need to make another post after we detail routes, IF we ever detail routes haha.
Yes, that’s a big ‘if’ lol. Love the clip in the video: “we are in uhhh India”