*** UPDATE ***
Big <3 to everyone supporting this campaign. We reached the goal in a few hours. Then we reached $2000 after five days - I promised that if we reach that we will go to another beautiful country on the route. This country ties chess, Kim Kardashian, cognac and System of a Down. Yep, Armenia, here I come!
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FIRST OF ALL
First of all, crowdfunding is amazing. Even before the campaign was launched thanks to Ivana from Croatia and Ece from Turkey, I now have new friends and a place to sleep on the way. Crowdfunding is not just about money, it's about things like this. So <3 to all of you with crowdfunding spirit.
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SO WHY GEORGIA?
There are three reasons why would I want to go to Georgia: one, Georgia is gorgeous. Two, it is a birthplace of Stalin, one of the worst people who ever lived. Three, it is a birthplace of wine, one of the best inventions of humankind. Finally, the journey is more important than the destination: I'm sure that I will find encounter amazing things on the way worth sharing with you.
WHAT WILL YOU GET?
I really want to take you on this trip - traveling alone can get boring. In my past travels I would make thousands of photos, hear hundreds of interesting stories, and see events and things worth sharing. But that would all evaporate as soon as I got back. You know when you return home from this inspiring experience and people ask you: How was it? And then you answer simply: Great!
In reality, you should answer: “Sit down, this story is five hours long”. Since nowadays nobody has five hours to listen to even the most interesting stories, this time around I want to tell the story as it is happening. You will get my impressions of the post-coup Turkey, of Anatolian wilderness, of Black Sea coast, of unique Georgian alphabet, of regional conflicts, of history, of culture, of wine. Because people inhabiting Georgia have been drinking wine for the last 10,000 years. I guess they learnt how to make it by now.
WHAT I NEED?
The round trip from the Balkans to Georgia is around 10,000km long in total. It will be mostly self-funded, but to get there as a minimum I need to make some repairs on the motorbike which is now six years old. For example, I need to change tyres, I need to change the chain, I need to fix the brakes, I need to change the blinker.
- $300 tyres
- $100 chain
- $200 small repairs= $600 TOTAL
If I manage to collect more funds, they will go toward buying additional fuel and to get some better accommodation than a hammock occasionally so I can be more productive. I will add another destination to this trip if the campaign reaches $2000.
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PERKS:
You can find everything on the right hand side. The most important part is that everyone will receive updates from the trip which will make a great summer reading, I promise.
FIXED FUNDING:
I am crazy for doing this campaign for three reasons:
- Nobody should begin crowdfunding in August
- Nobody should take so little time to prepare a campaign
- Nobody should run a campaign alone and travel in the same time
Yet, since the decision was spontaneous I had a choice of cancelling the project or trying to crowdfund against the odds. I have confidence that enough people will feel this project is interesting and support it.
I wanted to make this a fixed funding campaign, but I can't because then PayPal would be the only payment option - and not everyone has PayPal. That sucks, because if I don't reach $600, I don't have money to pay both for the fuel & for the repairs.
SAFETY FIRST:
I have been riding the motorbike and never had a serious accident. That doesn't make me invincible, but you should know that I take safety very seriously. I'm not a squid (a stupidly aggressive rider) and I'm not a rookie.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP:
Invite friends to join the campaign, share it on social media after you have contributed. This increases a chance of campaign being successful!
Thank you all