The Drive Behind the Rally

Imagine a house where every week 7 to 10 guys meet up to play Monopoly, tell war stories, and cultivate ideas while consuming unbelievable amounts of soda and candy. The house belongs to Bryan Miller who once took second in the NATIONAL MONOPOLY CHAMPIONSHIP. You can bet that a bunch of grown men congregating to play monopoly is a fairly good melting pot for mischief, albeit productive mischief.

This is where I also met Geoff Daering and Ken Prince.

I entered a world that frankly I had been going through my suburban life hoping to find... and not knowing it existed. A world where first person shooter video games, a card game called Magic, and tales of international car rally's are just par for the course.

My sense is that with completely different backgrounds, Bryan, Geoff, Ken and I - along with the other guys who came to those parties were on the hunt for something.

About six or nine months ago Bryan developed a list of 20 things he wanted to accomplish in his life. The Mongol Rally is one of the things on his list... and that is why Bryan gets full credit for being the DRIVE behind the rally... the rest of us would agree that he has been the guy leading the dream.

Read my blog from last September about getting the plan going for the Rally.

So like most visions, the idea started with 8 or 10 committed participants, and has quickly culled itself down to the 4 of us. It is exciting to begin to watch the vision take shape. We have already begun taking action to make the Mongol Rally happen, from buying the first incredible Rally Monster (1999 Chevy Tracker) to planning the route map, setting up sponsor packages and selecting the charities and causes we will rally for, we are on our way to a life adventure without parallel... and this will be our home as we execute the event.

My thanks to Bryan for being the drive behind the rally.