car – The Girl Who Whispered

A few friends will remember that I had planned a trip around America and Canada for a charity. I was going to go to Canada first, find some work, save up, and then travel around, maybe even visiting other countries. All doing this to raise awareness and funds for a charity.

I was deadly serious about it too, I had bought my Working Holiday Visa to Canada, got police certificates for it, set up a page, I even got a few people invested, including a few celebrities – at least they shared my posts.

But, due to personal reasons, I had to cancel it all. And I felt defeated that I failed and let people down.

I was also met with a lot of negative criticism from friends and family. “Why don’t you do something smaller?” “Do you even have a plan?” I had lots of people think that I was just after money from them when I asked for support, but in reality I just wanted them to help share the word, to show that they were rooting for me and wanted me to succeed.

I lost friends over it. And I felt like I had proved them right; I failed.

I never stopped thinking about it, what I missed out on, the friends I lost, it still eats away at me. But I also never stopped believing that one day, I would do it! I’ve always been one with big ideas, and yes, a lot of times they don’t work out, but I also believe that people can do big and amazing things if they work and persist. And I want to be one of those that didn’t give up, and made a different!

So, I am planning it all again!

This time I plan to go to America on a food, bike and car tour, raising awareness and funds for charities that support world hunger, mental health and/or child abuse.

Most people know I love my cars, having tinkered with most of the cars I have owned, from basic maintenence such as services or timing belt changes, to going mad and stripping it for track. I also love my bikes, having wanted to get my bike licence for years but keep putting it off due to the costs. I love the naked, deep sounding Harley-Davidsons and Triumphs (the Triumph Bobber Black is on my Christmas list!)…and of course, who doesn’t like food?

As for the charities, mental health is extremely important to me, as I have had, and to some small extent, still suffer with mental health issues myself. I had selective mutism when I was a child (to read more about this, I wrote a post about it here), which caused no end of probelms growing up, even to this day it causes a few issues. I then developed depression and anxiety because of it.

And of course, stopping world hunger and child abuse are both important to me too.

For this trip, I plan to set up a YouTube channel to document it, setting little challenges for myself along the way, so that people can watch my progress. I plan to visit sites of interest, places like the Harley-Davidson Museum, the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, watch a Monster Truck show, try out an electric motorbike, eat at the best food joints, whether that’s street food, restaurants, maybe even try wild hunting, I plan to find the best roads to travel down – yes, Route 66 may very well be on the list, maybe even meet a few interesting people – I have a few in mind, if I can pull it off.

It’s going to be big, requiring a lot of planning and it’s going to cost a lot, I know that. It might not work out the way I plan, but either way, I plan on going one way or another. I have to.

I also may not be going alone. As I have been discussing the idea with a friend of mine who is also very interested in going. He’s a massive foodie and car nut himself, and loves America!

Planning might take a while, as there is a lot to sort, and I have just signed a 12 month contract with work (that’s a story for another day!), so I have plenty of time to plan, make contacts and save. I also have yet to get my bike licence! I also plan on getting a few sponsors, such as travel companies, bike/car companies, even clothing companies, if I can.

Either way, I am extremely excited to start off this new adventure, to visit more of America, experience new things, meet new people, and most importantly… make a difference!

I signed myself up for a virtual walking challenge today with Race at your Pace. It’s only a walking challenge, to get myself into the swing of things. Build up my fitness, as my fitness went hugely downhill after a health scare last year. I need something to push me to get back out again, as there isn’t much to do around here other than go to a cafe… especially in the cold… and when you haven’t got a car!

I also am slightly curious to know how this will turn out… I’ve never done a virtual challenge before, and I only heard about it on a Facebook ad. I don’t tend to pay any attention to Facebook ads, they’re usually just full of *cough*crap*cough*. But I was curious to know what this Race at your Pace was.

I did a bit of research into other companies first, as there are a few. Some appear to raise money for charity, others are specifically for running challenges that you have to do in one lump (which I cannot do just yet), others hand out pretty cool medals, from unicorns to marvel medals! In the end I decided to stick with Race at your Pace.

Home

Race at your Pace is a virtual challenge where you sign up to a challenge, select your target and you basically go out and walk/run/cycle/swim over that month to hit your selected target. You can split that running time up over the month. For example, if you signed up to a 50 mile running challenge, you can run one day, take a break, run the next day, and as long as you run 50 miles in that month, you met your target.

You submit your evidence by either taking a photo of your fitbit, your app on your phone, or the screen on your electric bike. Once you have completed your challenge, you get your medal (and a compression top if you go for that option too!)

It’s £10 for just the one challenge, £14 if you want the compression top as well.

And if you manage to complete your challenge, you get a medal posted to you!

This is what the February medals look like:

(photo taken from the Race at your Pace website)

I figured, my walk to University is a mile each way. That’s at least 2 miles in a day already. If I add that up to the month, that’s between 40-50 miles already.

Doesn’t sounds like a huge accomplishment, but I don’t go to university every day! This month along, I only have two modules, which run from the 21st until the end of the month. That’s only 20 miles.

So, if I sign myself up to a challenge, say I do a 50 mile challenge, that MAKES me walk at least 2 miles each day (not including weekends). Once I get myself into the habit of walking each day, I can up my limit. Say if I do a 50 mile challenge next month, in March I can up to it the 75 mile challenge, April up to the 100 mile, and I could even move onto the running challenges, swimming and cycling (although I’ll need to get myself a bike first!)

I’ll also get a cool collection of medals to show my achievements!

I’ll keep you guys updated on how I do. As January is nearly over, I only signed myself up to the 25 mile walking challenge this month, and I’ve only managed to record about 8 miles on my fitbit so far (its new, haven’t that long ago got it).

But I hope this challenge will encourage me to walk more!

Tag: car

I signed myself up to a Virtual Challenge!