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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Jaehak Yu who runs the travel blog – The Bard & The Bears. Jaehak along with his two friends, will participate in the 2013 Mongol Rally. For more information about The Bard & The Bears, be sure to check out their contact and charity information at the end of this post. All photos provided by The Bard & The Bears.
Picture this. You and two of your closest pals are cramped into a tiny car, traversing the great Mongolian steppes. The car is rocking violently. It’s been doing that for miles as you rough over long stretches of the bumpy terrain. You haven’t had a decent place to stay or a nice warm shower in days. So why do you keep going?
Well, it’s because this is the Mongol Rally. And you’ve driven nearly 10,000 miles. You sure as hell aren’t going to stop now.
This is the exact situation my friends and I hope to find ourselves in the coming year. Our team, the Bard & the Bears, plan on taking on the Mongol Rally in the summer of 2013. My name’s Jaehak and I’m a UC Berkeley undergraduate, as is my teammate Vincent. Our odd man out, John, attends Bard College.
To get into more detail, the Mongol Rally is a great 10,000-mile journey from empire to empire. We start at London, birthplace of the world’s once largest empire, and end at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia — capital to a people who once conquered 16 percent of the earth.
It’s the adventure of a lifetime, from the people you meet to the places you go.
But why are we going on this journey? Allow me to share a story.
Born in Japanese colonial Korea, my grandma experienced dynamic changes in her life. The war and poverty stricken Korea of her time is not the prosperous, free Korea of today. With my late grandfather she raised 6 kids in a small farming town.
From then, she’s created a family of explorers. My family has since expanded our roots, with members living across 3 continents and 5 countries.
As the matriarch, my grandmother saw us grow and explore the world. My extended family has done everything from backpacking through South America to playing with the penguins in Antarctica.
In fact, even my grandma’s gone on some adventures. Recently, she made her second voyage to America at the age of 82.
This is my inspiration and as the youngest in my family to have (legally) become an adult, it’s my turn to join the ranks of family explorers. Moreover, my teammates share much of my story. We’re sons of immigrants and immigrants ourselves. Our identities revolve around uprooting ourselves, exploring, and building new bridges.
But there’s more to this than just adventure. Participating in the Rally means using publicity from the journey to support charities.
When we decided we wanted to take on the Rally, we stuck to one theme: “Think local, go global.”
By itself, it means nothing. But for us, with context, it’s our entire mission.
Our charity is the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC); a local nonprofit dedicated to providing premier healthcare to thousands of children every year.
As for the global part, this is where the rally comes in. When we cruise into Ulaanbaatar next year, our vehicle and much of our equipment will be donated to Mongolian charities.
Frankly, this part excites me the most. Our parents all grew up in poor countries. We’ve all received help to get to where we are. The way we see it, it’s paying our debt forward — one generation to another.
Having said this, I hope you’ll join us for this amazing adventure. For those wanting to help or donate, please see our Charity page to help CHOC or our Sponsor Us page to help us purchase necessary equipment. But most of all show your support and give us a like on Facebook.
*All photos courtesy of The Bard and The Bears.
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*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website, Nariko’ s Nest Weddings & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you do want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!
Thanks for your help. We hope you’ll join us for the ride.
1 comment
You go, gents! As an expat living in Korea, I’m always so happy when I see people from the country who are out exploring what the world has to offer, rather than conforming to the never-ending high pressure cycle of school, private academies and working until you die. Then again, I feel that way about anyone doing the same thing from any country. Wishing these gents the best of luck on their adventure!
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