Frequently Asked Questions

I keep getting asked a lot of the same questions about my expedition with Raleigh International, and about my fundraising. I'll put together some of the more common ones.

Where are you going?
Costa Rica, with a short stint in Nicaragua.

When are you going?
January 2014.

How long are you going for?
Three months.

What will you be doing?
I'm going to be a Volunteer Manager, with the specific role of Communications Officer. I'll be there to document the organisation's activities in the country, from blogging to sorting out expedition t-shirts, from finding content for the expedition magazine to passing on messages from home.

At the heart of Raleigh International's activity in a country is field base. This is where I'll be most of the time, but I will have the opportunity to go out in the field. How can I document activities without seeing them for myself?

Raleigh International recruits volunteers, aged 17 to 24. These are the Venturers, and these are the people who work on the various projects. The Volunteer Managers are aged 25 to 74 are there to make sure the projects run smoothly.

There are three projects going on at any one time. The Venturers work on these projects for a few weeks, with a different group working on each project. At the end of the project, they return to be mixed up into different groups, and head off on another project.

Are you getting paid for it?
No. "Volunteering" means you don't get paid. I have to pay Raleigh International because they're a charity.

How much do you have to pay?
I have to give £1950 to Raleigh International. This will cover accommodation, food and any materials I need for the duration of the expedition.

Does that cover flights?
No, I've to pay for my flights on top of that. They are a charity. I also have to pay for my vaccinations, and make sure there's enough money in my account to cover the cost of my bills and stuff for the three months that I'm away.

Why are you doing this? What brought it on?
I think a lot of people were taken by surprise when I announced I was doing this. I have lots of reasons to do it.

• My current job. I'm a 30 year old admin assistant. It's not even a permanent contract. I'll just leave that one there.
• Adventure. I need adventure and excitement and something that's not just going into an office everyday doing stuff because you need to pay rent and bills, without any real sense of achievement.
• Travel. The nature of my current job makes it incredibly difficult to do any decent travelling. I went to Peru a couple of years ago and could only go for a week. I caught up with a great friend and saw Aerosmith, but Peru is still a long way to go for just a week. From that I saw that to get any worthwhile travel done, I'd need to quit my job and make a proper adventure of it.
• Employability. I want to be a Communications Officer, but it's pretty much impossible to have an application taken seriously if the first thing employers see is "Administrative Assistant". Even if I do tick all the boxes in the person specification. I needed to get "Communications Officer" onto my CV, and this was my opportunity to do so, and resolve the frustrations of my previous points at the same time, therefore killing several birds with one epic stone. I also felt that working as a Communications Officer on an adventure would help a job application stand out a bit more.
• The greater good. I want to contribute to helping people who need help, and who will appreciate the help long term, and feel like I was actually contributing something to the world besides sitting at a desk.

Is your girlfriend going with you?

No. Some people are shocked by this.

• The first thing Raleigh International do with couples is separate them, because couples will isolate themselves from the group, which completely defeats the purpose of going on an adventure with the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.
• She doesn't need to. She has a permanent job with a good salary and a mortgage and is generally well set up. Her work allows her to travel for decent periods of time.
• She'd have something to lose. I don't.
• It's only three months.

Will your employers keep your job for you?

This is a tricky one, and one which I haven't discussed with my employers. I'm sure I'll get to it.

Several people have suggested that I ask for leave of absence for the three months I'll be gone. I do see their point. It would be super-sensible and easy and lovely to have a job to come back to.

But, I can't help but think that defeats the purpose of signing up for this adventure (see my previous point about employability, in the bit about why I'm doing this)?

The more I think about it, the more I feel like it would detract from this being an experience for me to build on, and reduce it to being a holiday. I'd be as well off going to Torquay for a week (nothing against Torquay - I was there once and had a great time. Rosie's Fish and Chip Shop is immense!).

Somebody also suggested that it would detract from my expedition experience if I always had returning to my job in the back of my mind, and I do think they're probably right.

You'll be renting out your house while you're gone?

No. Again, some people are shocked by this.

• My landlords have said that for the sake of three months, it's not worth it. The house would have to be cleaned thoroughly before renting it out to tenants, then again when they leave. They also live abroad, so don't want to rent out a house to people they don't know when they're not on hand to deal with any issues. It would generally work out costing them. If I was going for a year, they probably would, but for three months, it's just not worth it.
• I'd like to spend the couple of weeks before I leave enjoying time with my friends, not moving stuff into storage for the sake of three months.

How much is a pint out there?

I don't know, it doesn't matter. You're not allowed to drink on expedition.

What? How will you survive?

Just fine. It's only three months and I'm not an alcoholic. It's not a big deal, it's part of the experience, and it won't do me any harm. And a nice pint of Guinness will taste all the better after it!

Are you letting your hair grow back?

I'm going to let it grow for the winter, because I'll be cold, but I'll shave it again before I go, because I'll have better things for doing over there than fussing over my locks.

Hopefully that answers a lot of the stuff people are wondering. Here's Lenny Kravitz, because with all this information, are you gonna go my way?

Halfway there.

Alas, there are no prizes for guessing what this post is about.

After hair loss, virtual birthday celebrations, interesting covers requests and 12 blog posts, I've reached the halfway mark of my fundraising. Look! 50%! This puts my fundraising exactly where I wanted it to be by the end of July. Phew!

I have been overwhelmed by my donors' generosity. Your support, both financially and in your words of encouragement and best wishes, is a wonderful reassurance to a major commitment, which I initially felt left people kind of surprised and confused. Not that I ever doubted that this commitment was crazy, but to have the backing of your friends and family really is a whole other thing.

I can only thank you, and yet that thanks doesn't seem enough, but being as every spare penny is going towards the cost of my flight, spending money, and my bills here in the UK while I'm away, I'm afraid it's all I've got for now.

Here's a tune from Soundgarden:

I recently watched a TED speech online, given by the musician, Amanda Palmer. I only watched it because the link description said something about an eight foot musician. Even when it was obvious that Amanda Palmer is not eight foot, I continued to watch her because she was enthusiastic and engaging. I didn't remember being that inspired by something that wasn't a record, well, ever! It really changed my approach and outlook in doing things, both in my fundraising for Raleigh International and my music. I won't say any more about it. Here it is for you to watch. Make of it what you will.



And thanks to my good friend, Iris, I'm going to see Amanda Palmer live tomorrow night. Excited!

Under cover of darkness.

I'm blogging about my fundraising much less frequently than when I originally started.

Am I losing interest? Nope, can't afford to do that! I guess when I first started blogging about my fundraising, it was mostly about planning, and there was a lot of ambition and excitement around it. Now, I'm just getting on with it, and trying to juggle it with my day job, band and course, and still find a little time for some gaming and a little time for my friends.

So, in my last blog, I outlined my next fundraising challenge, which was to cover ten songs, as requested by friends, in exchange for a £10 donation. Here's what I've been challenged to:

1. Rockin' in the Free World (originally performed by Neil Young, requested by Ma and Da Fitzgerald)
2. Enter Sandman (originally performed by Metallica, requested by Steven David)
3. Even Flow (originally performed by Pearl Jam, requested by Stacey Sheppard)
4. Friday (originally performed by Rebecca Black and AutoTune, requested by Chas Brickland)
5. Slow Ride (originally performed by Foghat, requested by Dee James)
6. Firestarter (originally performed by The Prodigy, requested by Jon Kelway)
7. Two Little Boys (originally performed by Rolf Harris, requested by LJ Davies)
8. Jerry Was a Race Car Driver (originally performed by Primus, requested by Phil Cooper)
9. Stay (I Missed You) (originally performed by Lisa Loeb, requested by Pamela Pinski)
10. I'm Not That Kind of Boy (originally performed by Anal Cunt, requested by Francisco Mac Dowell Innecco).

Here's a playlist of the tunes:



Now I just have to find time to record them! I'm going to put them on CD and offer them to people in exchange for a £5 donation to my fundraising.

I'm still not any closer to getting any gigs organised, which I've been banging on about since day one. My annual Royal Barbecue is also looking like it will be knocked on the head, again, because I couldn't find a suitable venue. I may just scale it right down and have it at my house, as usual. It'll be like the rent gig in Wayne's World where Cassandra's band had a gig at her apartment to pay the rent, except I look nothing like Tia Carrere and it'll be going towards Raleigh International. Being as the Royal Baby is due to drop in the next couple of weeks, I really should get on that! Maybe just get a load of food and beer and ask people to make donations?

I'd feel much worse about not carrying out those original planned events if I wasn't making up for the funds I would have made at them elsewhere. My raptor-naming competition is nearly over, and I've had a couple of generous personal donations made. I'm still totally confident of reaching my fundraising target, so that's all cool and the gang.