Seniors to embark on adventure of a lifetime

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Grant Willie and Andrew Schmidt are seasoned travelers, to say the least. These Lawrence seniors’ combined log — including a 1,700-mile motorcycle trip to Durango, Colo., a 500-mile pilgrimage on foot across Spain and a summer spent couch-surfing in Russia — attests to their immense love of adventure.

“It’s not a vacation unless something really fucking happens,” Schmidt said, proclaiming as a kind of self-guiding motto.

Schmidt and Willie’s fervent desire for adventure, curiosity for new cultural experiences and determination to one-up themselves has led them to their next challenge — the Mongol Rally.

The Mongol Rally is a road trip starting in Madrid on July 18, lasting three to five weeks and stretching across up to 25 countries. Schmidt and Willie will be among the rally’s participants. If they make it to the finish line, they will have crossed a third of the globe.

“This is the kind of thing we do,” Willie said. “We’re adventurers, or misadventurers.”

Along the way they’ll drive through multiple mountain ranges, the Gobi desert and Georgia, a region of recent military conflict, en route to their final destination, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Grant Slater, a journalist from Norman, Okla., will join Schmidt and Willie for the rally. Schmidt befriended Slater while couch-surfing across Russia last summer. Together they form Team Flat Landers.

Schmidt said Slater was an excellent linguist and was familiar with a variety of customs.

“He’ll have a better idea of those sorts of things once we get further east,” Schmidt said.

As a rule, each team is responsible for mapping its own route. Because support vehicles are not allowed, no team is guaranteed to finish — let alone survive — the arduous journey. But Schmidt and Willie seem determined.

“Let’s put it this way,” Schmidt said. “If I have to ride a bicycle all the way to the Ulaanbaatar, I’m going to do it.”

In order to qualify for the rally, participants’ cars must have an engine displacement no greater than 1.2 liters.

“When we’re in Eastern Europe, we need a car we’ll be able to find parts for,” Willie said. “We’re thinking about getting a Lada Niva, an off-road Russian vehicle. It’s supposed to be as comfortable as sitting on cinder blocks.”

Schmidt and Willie recognize the high probability of their car breaking down. Having rebuilt a totaled ‘93 Honda Accord in high school, Schmidt feels prepared to tackle any engine problems the Flat Landers might encounter.

“I’ve got a good background being an amateur mechanic,” Schmidt said.

Teams must donate 1,000 euros, or $1,275, to one of Mongol Rally’s affiliated charities as a required fee. If the Flat Landers are among the teams lucky enough to cross the finish line, their car will be donated to a charity in Mongolia as well.

Schmidt and Willie are currently looking for donations and sponsorships to help cover the various costs associated with the rally. They have recently designed a team Web site to help their fundraising efforts.

“We’ve set our cash goal at $20,000 through sponsorships to help pay for expenses and $20,000 for charity,” Willie said.

The money they collect, aside from charity donations, will be spent on various expenses, such as supplies, visas, plane tickets, a car and even bribes for local police.

“They’ll sit out in local towns and flag you over. They’ll shake you down if they want,” Willie said.

“Or you give them five bucks and they’ll let you go,” Schmidt added.

Although no participants have died in the rally’s 4-year history, participants have been robbed, hospitalized, incarcerated and put in many other detrimental if not life-threatening situations, Grant and Willie said.

Guns are not allowed in the rally. Luckily for the Flat Landers, Willie, a muscular 22-year-old, is an active member of the Haskell University Boxing Club. They hope Willie’s size will intimidate whomever may attempt to impede their journey.

“As long as we don’t get shot, or kidnapped, or thrown in jail we should be fine,” Willie said.

For Schmidt and Willie, the Mongol Rally is the pinnacle of all adventures. It is, in a sense, the ultimate challenge for these two battle-tested adventurers — one that will push their physical endurance, mental wits and all-around courage to the limit.

“I did a lot of couch-surfing in Russia and found it to be not as hard as I had imagined,” Schmidt said. “The Mongol rally is the next step. I need to find something that could plausibly defeat me.”

And defeat them it may. One engine malfunction, slight misjudgment or unforeseen misfortune may jeopardize and ultimately thwart Schmidt and Willie’s hopes of crossing the finish line.

Though Schmidt and Willie are confident and determined, they admitted that finishing the race wasn’t the only measurement of a successful trip.

“The point of this race is not the finish line,” Willie said. “It’s the experiences you have in between.”

Regardless of how prepared they are come July 18, Schmidt and Willie are willing to accept and anticipate a certain degree of error. In fact, unexpected challenges are a part of the Mongol Rally they’re most looking forward to.

“The goal is to be unprepared to a certain extent,” Schmidt said. “We’ll be as prepared as we need to be to plausibly make it to the finish line.”

If Schmidt and Willie successfully arrive in Ulaanbaatar, what’s next? Unlike competitive racing rallies, there is no such thing as winning the Mongol Rally. A grand prize or trophy is simply not the point, and Schmidt and Willie couldn’t agree more.

“It’s about understanding the world that I’m interconnected with better,” Willie said. “These are countries I’ll hear about for the rest of my life. It’ll be nice to have actually been there.”

“Let’s put it this way,” Schmidt said. “I’m fulfilling a bucket list before I even should be.”

— — Edited by Mary Sorrick

Comments

sjschlag (anonymous) says...

This sounds awesome! I've always wanted to do something like this!

November 12, 2008 at 1:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

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