I have always believed that anything is possible and that if you really want something, you'll find a way to make it happen.
It's this very belief that made me think it would be a good idea to attempt to get around the world in 14 days. So on February 10th, me and my two friends Sophie and Elliot are setting off to attempt just that. We launched a campaign site for the project back in December not knowing what kind of response we'd get, if any at all. It seemed that we had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
We have been blown away by the incredible response to date from people across the world who want to be part of the Around the world in 14 days story. We honestly cannot thank you enough for reaching out, it makes all our hard work worthwhile.
I suppose the other thing to mention is that all three of us are musicians. As a human race, we are better when we're connected and music has that power to bring us together. So alongside our mission to get around the world in 14 days, it's also our mission to bring music into your lives and put you at the heart of the music we make.
I've spent an awful amount of time recently telling people how awesome this project is going to be. But I'm just going to leave that to one side for a moment. In life we tend to broadcast the good stuff and the things that go well for us. It feels a little unnatural to do anything to the contrary. But I think it's important to let you know about how tough this actually is.
We've always known that the actual travel element of this project would be the difficult bit to sort out. To make matters even more complicated, one of the initial rules we gave ourselves was that we couldn't spend a penny of our own money on the trip. At the time it seemed as though this would give the story that extra bit of spice but clearly that makes things very difficult for us.
When everything is stacked against you, you're forced to look deep inside and find the energy to conjure something up and make something happen. The bottom line is that I know there's someone out there who can take this project off the ground. Maybe it's even you reading this now. It's important to remember that if you don't give things a go, you simply never find out.
Since launching the Around the world in 14 days campaign, we've been really fortunate to have had quite a good run of luck that has got us to where we are now. However, at the same time I'm also very aware that if we can't actually get to the people across the world who have reached out, it all counts for nothing. Quite a few times over the last few weeks it has seemed as though we were so close to making something happen but we haven't quite got there yet. I am a firm believer in that if you keep knocking on doors, one of them is sure to open. So we'll keep knocking. Whilst this might be the toughest endeavour I've ever taken on you can't lose sight of what you initially set out to do. And as such, we will find a way to make this happen.
On a final note, art quite simply makes the world a better place. We have always and will always need it because it's an innate part of who we are as human beings and that value has been evident ever since we launched this project. As musicians, we are infatuated by the power that music has to bring people together and we are driven by the extraordinary effect that it can have on real people's lives. It's that very power that makes me believe that anything is possible and I won't stop believing that anytime soon.
So here's to one last push.