Yakin' AroundFinding a team mate for this adventure is no simple task. Ignoring the fact that the vast majority of the population wouldn’t even dare to leave their comfortable lives and luxurious vacations in Hawaii to be cramped in a tiny car for almost two months, camping in some family’s backyard in exchange for a football jersey and risking being kidnapped by jihadists in Afghanistan, it’s hard to get the resources to do something like this. Who these days can afford being away from everything for two full months?
Since I first decided to participate, I talked with so many friends, family (and strangers) trying to convince them this was the adventure of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the answer was always somewhere around “Why the hell would you do something like that?”. To be fair, I still think there’s something wrong with me. There’s no logical sense on doing this rally, but I can’t stop thinking about it. For me, it just doesn’t make sense going to the same beach resort, year after year, without seeing anything new.
Luckily, by random chance, I decided to mention the rally idea to Igor during his short visit to the Bay Area last year, and as you know, the rest is history. Since we haven’t really introduced ourselves properly, here are a few words from Igor.
I live in Nova Petrópolis, a small German town in south Brazil. I’m the founder of Nordweg, a brand of genuine leather backpacks. I love traveling, languages and technology.
I joined the rally because I was looking for an adventure in 2015 to run away from the always planned, secure and comfortable life. I love the unexpected and believe that those are the times that most of the unforgettable experiences and learnings in life happen. That’s when I feel the most alive, and the Mongol Rally sounds like the perfect adventure.”
And myself.
My natural habitat is behind a large computer monitor, solving the most ridiculously complex performance problems for a little company called Netflix, or building an amazing product at my new startup, HandsOn.TV. I’m the last person you would expect to see drinking yak’s milk in the Mongolian steppe, but I bloody love to travel and I’m always the first to say yes to a stupidly ridiculous adventure like this.
I currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area, my 6th city and 4th country in the past 15 years. I traveled to over 100 places in 20 different countries and still feel this is just a blip on all there is to see in this world.
I suffer from Acute Boredom Syndrome. It causes extreme boredom from staying in the same place for too long. This adventure is the perfect cure and the amount of places, cultures and people we meet on our way will change everything. And who knows, I might just move indefinitely to a Ger in Inner Mongolia after all this is done!
Don’t be shy, reach out to us at hello@yakinaround.com and let’s have a chat!