The Concept
The Global Convoy was born on the Mongol Rally journey in Moscow of all places. This is where myself and Max discussed the idea of an epic trip considering both our teams had completed the Mongol Rally and where now one our way home in two working vehicles. This was the start out of the Convoy, which then grew as we began doing some planning. The idea we settled on was to get some crazy cheap cars, invite people to come along and see what happened. While this sounds all easy and good, it was a bit of logistical nightmare in some cases. Timings and route planning was critical up to Vladivostok due to visa restrictions mainly. After that it was a case of flying by the seat of our pants!
The Route
The route was simple in the beginning, get to Siberia and then figure it out, if our vehicles made it that far!
That's where things got a little tricky having to plan and budget a adventure, on the fly in the face of ever changing political situations on a small budget is really an interesting situation made forever more difficult having vehicles. Some countries the owners of the vehicles weren't allowed to leave the country without the vehicle. Arriving in Vancouver our route south was very easy follow all the other Amiercan's on the Pan American Highway. No problem loads of people do it every year, Costa Rica had other ideas about this. If you are interested in the route, have a look these GPS points. These are exactly where I personally ended up during the Convoy, there are a few missing, the colours missing make this somewhat less clean especially around Europe. Hopefully I shall get around to sorting it all out, it's certainly not a small task! |
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The Vehicles
The two primary vehicles that completed the whole journey is the Skoda and the Micra. You might have seen the Micra out about on the road's of the UK and Ireland although it might look a little different from it's time on the Convoy, give us a wave if you see it around. The Micra was £150 from Cardiff, ah yes a Welsh Micra. The Skoda was a bit of a barn find in Devon and was just £75. They both needed work before they left, mainly a new gearbox or two for the Micra and some glow plugs and major service for the Skoda.
Throughout the trip they both suffered with issues, from a heater matrix failure, to smashed sumps and broken suspension to name a few. Surprisingly we didn't go through that many tires, the Micra having 3 punctures along the whole trip, apart from the whole Siberia incident, the was a whole other ball game.
They managed to complete quite a feat, scaling up to 4,837m in Peru, crossing a desert Kazakhstan with some of the worst roads anyone had seen yet they still kept on going. Driving on up snowy mountains in Kyrgyzstan and of course carrying everything that we had with us!
While the Micra is still going as well as it can I don't know the fate of the Skoda. The Micra is in need a major overhaul, rust is beginning to take hold along with multiple parts need replacing. I am thinking of starting a crowd funder to help rebuild the Micra for more adventures mainly Africa.
What do people think about this idea? Get in contact via social media or email.
Whilst these were the main two and I am incredibly biased with Micra naturally, there we several other vehicles that joined in, some of longer than others. The Death Bus, a homebuilt LPG converted, 7 seater or minivan, that thing was terrifying. The brakes where somewhat shot the battery started leaking fluid one day and it was overhaul just not in good shape. Others included a Ford Fiesta, Subaru Forrester, and Nissan Stanza to name some more. The Stanza and the Forrester joined in the longest, after the Micra and Skoda, both of which had many of there own issues.
Throughout the trip they both suffered with issues, from a heater matrix failure, to smashed sumps and broken suspension to name a few. Surprisingly we didn't go through that many tires, the Micra having 3 punctures along the whole trip, apart from the whole Siberia incident, the was a whole other ball game.
They managed to complete quite a feat, scaling up to 4,837m in Peru, crossing a desert Kazakhstan with some of the worst roads anyone had seen yet they still kept on going. Driving on up snowy mountains in Kyrgyzstan and of course carrying everything that we had with us!
While the Micra is still going as well as it can I don't know the fate of the Skoda. The Micra is in need a major overhaul, rust is beginning to take hold along with multiple parts need replacing. I am thinking of starting a crowd funder to help rebuild the Micra for more adventures mainly Africa.
What do people think about this idea? Get in contact via social media or email.
Whilst these were the main two and I am incredibly biased with Micra naturally, there we several other vehicles that joined in, some of longer than others. The Death Bus, a homebuilt LPG converted, 7 seater or minivan, that thing was terrifying. The brakes where somewhat shot the battery started leaking fluid one day and it was overhaul just not in good shape. Others included a Ford Fiesta, Subaru Forrester, and Nissan Stanza to name some more. The Stanza and the Forrester joined in the longest, after the Micra and Skoda, both of which had many of there own issues.
The People
The Global Convoy Circumnavigation was originally designed, if you can call it that, by myself and Max to involve as many people as physically possible. I believe that was successfully achieved, creating a community 100+ strong, from all walks of life and different cultures.
Out of the 100 people involved they all spent different amounts of time with us, some for a couple of hours who hitch-hiked and others for months, someone even joined us for 9 months! Cultural exchange along the trip was incredible, my most memorable situation of this kind was driving the Micra as a British person being joined by an Australian, Russian and Israeli. This was just one example of people who joined along with us.
Out of the 100 people involved they all spent different amounts of time with us, some for a couple of hours who hitch-hiked and others for months, someone even joined us for 9 months! Cultural exchange along the trip was incredible, my most memorable situation of this kind was driving the Micra as a British person being joined by an Australian, Russian and Israeli. This was just one example of people who joined along with us.
MY INVOLVEMENT
If you have been around the Global Convoy since it completed the circumnavigation you may of heard of me, if you have discovered the Global Convoy since then you might not of. Why? In March 2018 I left the group. I have been asked a lot why I left, there is no simple answer, years later I have an understanding why and it's incredibly complicated but ultimately resolves around physical and mental health. This is something I've battled with for most of my life and lets it's getting easier.
Up to the point of leaving in 2018, I was one of the original co-founders of the trip and part of the team specializing in route planning, logistics, mechanics and contacts. This might sound big headed, but, without the contacts and knowledge that I had gained before the Global Convoy, there is a possibility that the Global Convoy you know today might not exist. It's a possibility certainly not a guarantee. You can ask any of the now directors of the Global Convoy.
The original documentary, I was obviously involved with the editing, production process and filming, however, although version on Amazon is somewhat different to the version I helped edit. This in all fairness was partly due to my lack of communication on many subjects. I have no involvement with updated version apart from the footage involved.
Good luck to the Global Convoy I wish them a successful future.
Up to the point of leaving in 2018, I was one of the original co-founders of the trip and part of the team specializing in route planning, logistics, mechanics and contacts. This might sound big headed, but, without the contacts and knowledge that I had gained before the Global Convoy, there is a possibility that the Global Convoy you know today might not exist. It's a possibility certainly not a guarantee. You can ask any of the now directors of the Global Convoy.
The original documentary, I was obviously involved with the editing, production process and filming, however, although version on Amazon is somewhat different to the version I helped edit. This in all fairness was partly due to my lack of communication on many subjects. I have no involvement with updated version apart from the footage involved.
Good luck to the Global Convoy I wish them a successful future.