FAQ
- Who are you?
- What’s this all about?
- Why 1000 miles?
- Exactly 1000 miles?
- Why are you doing this?
- Romantic gesture?
- Worthy cause?
- How long will it take?
- When will you start?
- How can I help?
- How do I donate?
- Are there any t-shirts or anything?
- Can I get in touch?
Who are you?
My name’s Iain Purdie and I used to work in IT before jacking my job in to go traveling. More details on my random traipsings around several continents can be found on my Travel Blog.
What’s this all about?
This is a blog/diary detailing a charity walk. Planning, updates, news and - with luck - day-to-day updates of the walk itself. I’m going to walk 1000 miles from Monaco to St James’ Park, Newcastle in England.
Why 1000 miles?
It’s a nice, impressive, large number. Also, 500 miles is barely London to Newcastle and I’d rather include some of Europe in the hike. Part of the inspiration was the Proclaimers’ song I Would Walk 500 Miles. The guy in the song says: "I would walk five hundred miles, And I would walk five hundred more, To be the man who’d walk a thousand miles to fall down at your door."
Exactly 1000 miles?
Well, probably not. But as close as I can calculate. The route will be worked out using roadmaps and possibly some route-finding software. The 1000 mile total will be miles walked - I won’t include the distance traveled on the ferry, for instance. Also, I will only be counting scheduled miles walked. Say I do twenty miles from two measured points and then walk an extra half mile trying to find a hostel. That last half mile won’t count. I will probably schedule "rest" days, though this decision will be made once I’ve done some practise hikes to see if I’ll need them. I may use these days for sightseeing as it would be very hard to calculate miles walked while wandering around a town and it would be a shame to walk past towns I’ve always wanted to visit. Straying briefly off-track (toilet breaks, wandering around to find a restaurant, etc) will not count. As already stated, only the pre-calculated scheduled miles will count towards the total. Therefore, the accuracy of the 1000 miles claim will be down to the maps and software I use. I will try to make it as darn close as I can, though. If anything, by the time you add in sightseeing and the non-scheduled miles I’ll most likely be doing more than 1000 miles. Update 13th March 2007: For ease of planning, the criteria are now: "more than 1000 miles" and "as close as possible to that amount".
Why are you doing this?
A couple of reasons. One is as an overblown romantic gesture. One is to raise some money for a very worthwhile cause. One is to make my traveling around for 18 months actually worthwhile rather than an enjoyable whim. Overall, though - because I can.
Romantic gesture?
Yeah. I’m a sad case at heart. My girlfriend and I split up a few months ago for no real reason that’s worth discussing in public. We’re still very much good friends. But I’m still crazy about her, so it doesn’t hurt to do something silly to let her know how much I still care. So check out the words of the song above. I’ve already crossed oceans (I flew to Thailand and New Zealand to be with her), thrown myself out of an aeroplane and even eaten foreign food in the name of love. Now, I know she’s not going to want to get back with me. She’s told me enough times! But between the song and thoughts of her I came up with this idea and so she deserves some credit for it. As I said, we’re still friends. Of course, if I manage to raise a potload of money for a very worthy cause into the bargain then it’s all for the good.
Worthy cause?
Yes. Very. The Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation based in Vietnam. I found out about this charity from Mari, a friend in Australia who put me up for a few nights when I visited Melbourne. BDCF primarily look out for street kids in Hanoi and elsewhere in Vietnam. These children come from many backgrounds: some happy families, some broken homes, some are orphans. All, however, are amazing in their own right. Amongst other jobs, Blue Dragon do the following:
- Fund education for the children
- Give them at least one nutritious meal each day
- Re-unite runaways with their parents
- Help families financially so that kids can go to school instead of working
- Rescue kids from the child labour industry into which many have been sold
- Provide psychological aid and counselling
- Through links within the community they have helped repair damaged school buildings
Check out their web page for more. All their funds are from charitable donations. Many organisations kindly sponsor them, some with cash and others with gifts and supplies. But otherwise they rely on the kindness and generosity of the public. I was lucky enough to work with the organisation while I was in Hanoi. Primarily, I rebuilt their web site and then taught some of the kids and staff how to maintain it. While there I got to see first hand the efforts put in by the staff and the results they achieved. Now, I’m a lucky person. Very lucky. I’m an only child and come from a loving family where I’ve never wanted for anything. I’ve always had a roof over my head, good food in my belly, toys to play with, an education, health care… everything that so many of us take for granted. Some of these kids come from families where parents have been put in jail, died or simply just up and left. Others have been forced into working as their families simply cannot afford to have a spare pair of hands going idle when they could be shining shoes or selling gum to earn a few more Dhong. But you know what? Not one of these kids ever milks it. Not one plays you for a fool to get something out of you. They’re some of the most well-adjusted, determined kids I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. All of the ones being funded through school are there because they want to be - they can walk out if they want to. But none do. They know they’re lucky right now and they’re not going to let anyone down. So. Help me help them. $US80 will put one of these children through school for a whole year. That’s £40. So even a little will help. But by all means, give a lot!
How long will it take?
This is the fun one. Early ballpark estimates are between 4 and 6 weeks, depending on my trial average speed and whether I opt to include "rest" days or not. At a rough estimate, I can do 3 miles an hour at a steady walking pace. Realistically, I could walk for 8 hours and therefore 24 miles in a day. That’s a shade under 42 days (Douglas Adams would be proud), though there are a gazillion factors that could affect this. I have to divide the walk up into sections based on where it’s convenient to stop. So some days it may make sense to do 7 hours and stop in a town centre rather than a field, others to walk an extra hour or so for the same reason.
When will you start?
Mid/late July. Ish. I intend to go to the Graspop Festival in Belgium, then perhaps see a little more of Europe before travelling to the calculated start point and beginning the trek.
How can I help?
Give me some money. Sorry if that’s blunt, but that’s what we’re here for. To raise cash for the above-named good cause. Of course, there are many other ways to give me a little boost:
- Publicise the event - email everyone at work, put a link on your web page, telephone your local radio station… tell people! I have posters available for download and icons you can pop on your web pages.
- Walk with me - if I’m passing by where you live, come out and see me. I have a feeling it may get lonely otherwise! If it’s hot, a cold bottle of water would be appreciated as well.
- Feed or accommodate me - I’m either going to be hostelling or camping. I can afford this, but any money I can save is obviously a bonus. If you live somewhere I’m due to stop for the evening, a bed and a shower (and a foot massage, satellite TV, beer, sauna…) would be hugely appreciated.
- Provide internet access - similar to above, I’m sure I can find cybercafes in enough places, but if I can combine somewhere to sleep with somewhere to post an update, it’s pennies and time saved.
- Give me a free ferry ticket - you never know. If anyone out there works for the ferry company… Actually, I’m not ashamed to beg. If you run any business and you think you’ve got something that could help (40 pairs of comfy socks from a shoe shop for instance) then I’ll give you a huge plug in exchange.
- Loan me a decent MP3 player - yes, loan. Mine’s only 1Gb so it’s not going to hold 6 weeks’ worth of music and I am likely to be walking by myself a lot.
How do I donate?
If you see me walking, give me some cash. If you want, pop it in an envelope with your name and I’ll credit you. Hopefully some places which display the posters will collect money and send it as a lump sum. This is still to be arranged, but fingers crossed! I’ll be setting up a separate page soon for donations - please don’t use the PayPal links on my Travel Blog. I’d much prefer any UK taxpayers to use the new page as it will allow tax to be "refunded" and passed on to the charity via Gift Aid. Donations can be accepted from any country, though.
Are there any t-shirts or anything?
Possibly. I like t-shirts and if they’ll make some additional cash then I might consider this. Thing is, if I get them printed in Vietnam (dead cheap), they’ll cost a fortune to mail to people. I won’t have time to get them done in Europe, and I won’t be "living" anywhere for long enough to organise it. Plus I aim to travel light - hoiking three dozen unsold t-shirts around in my rucksack seems a little silly. So it means some nice person (or people in various countries) volunteering… If you’d definitely be interested in a t-shirt (we’ll say they’ll cost £5 more than they cost to make) or you’d be prepared to sort them out for me, please do drop me a mail. Another thought I had was to only get two shirts made. One for me to keep and one to auction off after the trek. Even better if I can get one/both signed by, say, the Newcastle United squad at the end. Or even just by everyone I stay with on the trip.
Can I get in touch?
By all means. If you already know my email address, use it. If you know my mobile, text me - but don’t expect a reply as Vodafone charge me 50p upwards to send them from Europe. Failing that, use the contact page to drop me a message. I will try my best to reply to each and every one, but please bear with me in case I get deluged.