TravelBio

We picked the hotel in Kozhikode based on the Whatsapp group; several other teams were staying there as well. It was cheap and clean, but took us an hour to check in. Remember how independent hotels in India have so much trouble with online bookings? Well they certainly weren’t ready for all of us. After finally checking in we showered, got dinner, and crashed early, exhausted after our first bumpy, anxious day of driving. Sunset on day 1, just outside Kozhikode We woke up before dawn on the morning of the 3 rd , ready for an early start. Pat and Tim’s original plan was to reach Goa by that evening, but we quickly realized 2 days in a rickshaw from Kochi to Goa, nearly 800 kms, was impossible. Still we wanted a solid day of driving to make up for our slow start on day 1. Pat and Tim would occasionally get WiFi at restaurants along the route, so they knew we would be in Kozhikode, and the Deere also stopped there for the night. Using the power of the Internet we reconnected ...

I last left you on New Year’s Eve. That afternoon we bought supplies for the rickshaw—a gas canister, funnel, and oil. We also stopped by the liquor store for pre-drink supplies and then headed back to the apartment to get ready. In an attempt to curb rising alcoholism, many Indian states are making it harder to get hold of the hard stuff In most other states Kingfisher Strong is 8% ABV, but still, at 6% a 650-ml beer is nearly 3 cans of lighter stuff On the way from the liquor store tragedy struck. Pat was holding the bottle of whiskey, encased in a box (yes, we’re classy). The flimsy box opened at the bottom, and the bottle fell out, shattering in a thousand pieces on the ground outside our apartment. So between the five of us we only had one bottle of rum—oh, the humanity! Actually it worked out well, since we didn’t have much time to pregame anyway, and the 650-ml Kingfisher Stong beers for sale at the party were 6% ABV. A ferry, in the exclusive service o...

On the afternoon of December 30 th we checked in at the Rickshaw Run HQ (headquarters), which was about an acre of land in the Fort Kochi area where our “glorified lawnmowers” were waiting. We first had to sign a waiver—basically saying we were idiots for undertaking such a foolish endeavor and that we were one bad turn from serious injury. We also changed our name to the Cleveland Steamers (more on that later) and got the essentials: an old gas can and a basic tool bag. Once we got the formalities out of the way it was time to pick our rick. This warning, which was on the waiver, was also emailed to us on the 22nd of December, subject line This really is very dangerous : " Driving across long distances on difficult terrain in a  rickshaw  is an extremely dangerous thing to do, which can result in severe injury and even death. " The rickshaws, 80 in total, were lined up along the wall. My first thought was: wow, most of these look cool…what’s up with the shitty...

So, now we get to the fun part: driving a rickshaw across 3,000 kilometers of the Indian subcontinent. Along the way I crashed the rick, spent a night hugging our hotel toilet, partied it up in Goa, befriended the mayor of a small Gujurati town, met tons of friendly locals, and drank far too much Kingfisher. Before I get ahead of myself, let me set the stage here. The Adventurists—the blokes who organize this shindig—describe the event as “just you and your mates in a wholly unsuitable vehicle, traversing the subcontinent enduring whatever shit the road throws at you.” There is a starting point and a finish line, and not much else. The only near certainties during the trip are that you will get lost and you will break down. So what’s the point of all this? Check out the charity's website here Ostensibly the Run is a fundraising event for a charity called Cool Earth, whose goal is to preserve the Amazon rain forest. Each team should raise a minimum of 1000 Pounds...

At a Christmas dinner party with NBG, a basketball group organized by Chavi, a friend from Spain Ah, I’m almost to the fun part updating my blog, when I took a 2 month holiday to, among other things, drive a rickshaw around India. But we’re not there yet. First I need to fill you in on the end of my semester and trip preparations. Fyi, Ohio State is in Columbus; I wonder how many of our grade 12 kids could actually point out Ohio on the map! Typically my job is light on the work (or maybe I’m just so efficient that it seems easy…haha nope, that’s not it!). December was an anomaly though. Many of our senior students still had yet to make up their minds regarding their top school choices, so they wanted to spread the net far and wide and apply to many schools. I can’t blame them for being unsure about which college to choose—what 17 year old is—but they often knew little about the schools to which they applied, which makes it difficult to answer why you want to spend the ne...

So, long story short, as you may know, I decided to come back for spring semester—well most of it—here in Hangzhou. Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in on what happened while I was away from China in January and February. Those are the fun bits after all. But before I do so, here’s a recap of my plans for the year and my decision to come back. Back in the spring of 2016, when I signed my fall contract, I already was planning for my Indian adventure, which started at the end of December. Our school semester in Hangzhou runs until the Chinese New Year, typically in late January. So instead of signing on for the duration of the semester I only committed to work until the end of 2016. My initial plan for the spring was no plan at all; I’d wait and see how things went in Hangzhou, while searching for spring positions in the meantime. In terms of spring options, one was South America—ever since my study abroad trip to Ecuador, in 2009, I’ve made it a long term goal to further exp...