The Rickshaw Run: 14 Days and 3000 km Across India

Last Updated on March 22, 2019

I’ve been on some amazing adventures, but this next one might just be the most audacious one yet. How else would you describe a 14-day, 3000 km adventure across India in a 7-horsepower rickshaw? To be clear, this is not some chauffeured scenic tour across the country, my race partner, Keith Lancaster, and I will be doing ALL the planning, routing, and driving.

So on January 1st, 2016, following 2 days of test driving and pimping out our very own 3-wheeled rickshaw, we’ll high-five a few other teams, kickstart the engine in Cochin and tuk-tuk our way towards Jaisalmer in the North.

UNSCRIPTED ADVENTURE

As unusual as that might sound in today’s curated and comfort-centric world, we are looking for an off-the-cuff experience that can’t be packaged or guaranteed – where things can go horribly wrong or incredibly right all in the same day. We want to see all the places in between the places that most people visit; we want to meet people who don’t regularly interact with foreigners; and we want to NOT know ahead of times what going to happen. With the RICKSHAW RUN, there will be a lot of new questions: Will we run out of gas in the middle of nowhere? Will we hit a cow? Will a cow somehow hit us? Chances are we won’t know where we’ll be sleeping each night or even where we will end up, but we’ll try to keep our wits about us and film the entire journey. When we use the hashtag #neverstopexploring, we want to be sure we’re living up to it.

FILMING THE MADNESS

Both Keith and I are filmmakers by trade and we can’t think of a better chance to combine our love for storytelling with an adventure of this magnitude. Our experiences in documentary filmmaking will be tested as we turn the cameras on ourselves – and each other – to capture the story from a raw and unadulterated angle.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

We are using the great exposure opportunity this adventure provides to raise awareness and money for two amazing charities:

CoolEarth is a unique charity that focuses on deforestation around the world, using 90% of their funds on local projects in communities that are directly affected by deforestation.

Why We Care? We’ve been privileged enough to explore some of the most pristine and remote rainforests in the world. These rainforests create 20% of the world’s oxygen and are responsible for 20% of the world’s fresh water distribution. Saving the rainforests now is as much of something we owe to humanity as it is a gift to future generations.

The Malala Fund is an organization started by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, with the goal of enabling girls in developing countries to complete 12 years of safe, quality education so they can live to their potential and be positive change-makers in their families and communities.

Why We Care? In our travels, we’ve seen first-hand some of the inequalities and obstacles women and girls face in their daily lives. As two males living in a first world country, we can’t truly understand how they feel, but it doesn’t mean we can’t do something to help.

NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL OR TOO BIG

Donate $1, $5 or $1379. Anything will be appreciated. We are starting with a goal of $1500 for each charity and your money will go directly to the charity that you choose. Follow the links below to help make a difference.

Donate to CoolEarth (We’ve reached our goals)

Donate to The Malala Fund (We’ve reached our goals)

We are also looking for brand sponsorship, so if you know of anyone or a company that would be interested in supporting our adventure and promoting their brand, please contact us.

We look forward to sharing more updates about this immense project with you as the next steps unfold.

– Kien and Keith

MORE FUN READING

About The Team
Planning (Coming Soon)
The Route (Coming Soon)
Our Gear (Coming Soon)
Live Updates (Coming Soon)