Flashback Friday II

August 2008, somewhere in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia

The best part of the Mongol Rally is not having to think about a response when asked, "what is the craziest thing you've ever done?"  In short: three years ago I bought a 17-year-old Nissan Micra in England on Ebay for $340 and drove it from London to Mongolia.  For charity.

My friend Paul and I took part in an event called the Mongol Rally, an event designed by the London-based League of Adventurists in order to make the world a less boring place.  The rules are simple:

1. Teams are on their own.  If the shit hits the fan, find a way out of it.
2. No GPS.
3. Car must be bought for less than $1,000.
4. Car must have less than a liter of engine power.
5. All teams must raise $2,000 for two of five designated Mongolian charities

Paul and I spent eight months fundraising, securing visas and plane tickets, scouring Ebay for a suitable car, and researching routes.  Once we got to England, we spent three weeks picking up the car and getting it checked out, buying supplies, researching insurance options, and getting mentally prepared for an intercontinental rally.  Once underway, we spent four weeks traversing Europe and Asia, negotiating border crossings, bribing Ukrainian and Russian cops, getting the car repaired, making friends with the locals, and landing triumphantly on the other side of the world in the capital of Mongolia.

I've had the chance to relive this mighty adventure a lot over the past few weeks.  When I recently found over an hour of raw footage from the trip in my dad's basement, I finally had the chance to make the highlights reel I always wanted to.  When I posted it to Facebook, a friend who writes for the local paper decided to run the story on the paper's website.

And without further ado, I present you with that very highlights reel.  But before you watch it, answer the question for yourself: what is the craziest thing you have ever done?