I received an email from a fellow that did a tour in these parts. I was
reminded of the 60th Birthday of the dear ol’ China in October of this
year. He has given me information where to cross into Tibet and since
Tibet is technically China – there are no Visa problems. There are points
to avoid, and because of the birthday, I may not make it across…but then
again…I may be able to. It’s worth a try.

Also, I must say – on a blog – I can not go into political debate about
China/Tibet. ***omitted*** I can not discuss the
happenings in Urumqi with the Uighurs and the Han. ***omitted***

People do question me heading into any of the ‘Stans as a single female.
So this has to be reconsidered.

Mongolia has fresh new paved roads.

I need an invite from Russia to get a Visa – but I found out the consulate
here will give me one fairly easily and cheap.

So, there we go, I feel a lot of progress has been made today (it’s
Monsoon season so the rain keeps me in).

I said 6 months – but if my finances and sponsorship allow – I will go
longer. Graduate school will always be there.

***omit*** but playing the “stupid American” card will not get me out of this one. All
the travelogues I read, people pass through China…not exit and re-enter.
I am blessed with a multiple entry, year long work VISA…presently,
Americans are lucky to get much more than a 60 day single entry.

And with this unfortunate realization – I will attempt to travel through
Mongolia – but once at the Russian border, there is a train that will take
me east to the Mongolian/Russian/China border. I know nothing of Russia
or the language…I know they like vodka.

This is disappointing, but I feel comfortable with this…China. I know
enough of the language, customs, and just what to expect of the general
population. And it helps having local friends here in Shanghai, that have
family in cities all over this country. Everyone I meet here, shows a lot
of encouragement and tell me “oh, you will have to visit my hometown.”

I’ll have the revised route in a couple of days.

Here is a Google Earth file, that will open showing points, and
ideal/alternative routes. There are issues of going into Tibet – I have
sent some emails to other cyclists that have made it through…so I am
awaiting some words of advice.

Now, I need to get the approximate mileage on this route. The Mongolia
trek may just not be possible within the time frame. I am also writing to
others about getting through Pakistan as a lone female. I have only
encountered travelogues of groups of women, and men solo making it through
that country. There is fair warnings to be weary of a single female
traveling through.

Just wanted to touch base with both of you. I am going to begin research
on bicycle sponsors within the next couple of weeks. Once I have a
bicycle, tent, and panniers – I am not worried about much more.

I have also been keeping a journal going about the planning – offline,
good ol’fashion pen and notebook. Please let me know if you don’t have
Google Earth access and I’ll plot some points on a 2d map and send it your
way.

(Please pardon the delay – I made a short trip to Nanjing this weekend)

I want to thank you both for the enthusiasm and all the offers of
assistance. When I wrote to you both, I had no expectations of
assistance. The response from you has been much more than I could of ever
expected. There is a part of me that would feel guilty if you were to
donate time and effort and there was not a good financial return. Yes,
the state of affairs right now in the world is a little worrisome when it
comes to raising money. But one of the reasons I chose GEI is because I
feel an organization this size would feel more benefit from, i.e. $5000
rather than someone like WWF or Heifer Int’l where that money is spent on
promotional material and mailings asking for $15.

Originally, I was just going to hop on a bike and ride around China and
just experience the country. But something about it just felt a little
selfish. Some of my friends back in the States couldn’t believe what I
want to do – along with local girls here. So I thought, maybe this is a
little noteworthy and why don’t I raise awareness for something. As a
female riding solo around China, in a country where girls are still
undervalued outside of cities – I thought promoting the education of girls
would be appropriate. If not raising thousands and thousands of dollars,
at least people can see what I woman is capable of.

Honestly, I don’t want you to invest more time and effort than you feel
comfortable with. Before emailing you both, I was trying to learn as much
as possible about fund raising and riding for causes. I am even prepared
to use the little money I have to fund this trip. As for having a blog on
the GEI website, that sounds great. My assumption, please correct me if I
am wrong, is if people donate directly to GEI they get tax credit? That
makes donating money much more inviting and may be more promising in
getting a bicycle, panniers, tent, and sleeping bag donated.

Besides trying to promote myself in the States, there are many outlets
here in Shanghai that I was going to contact. My photography has been
published in a handful of magazines here so I have some connections to get
additional promotion locally in China. People enjoy having their
names attached to new and noteworthy things, so a promise of a name
listing on the blog may be enticing enough – or even an additional page of
donor’s if they wish to be listed. Many do not have PayPal accounts, but
I can collect here or they can wire RMB to USD directly to you.

My additional maps for China should arrive sometime this week and will
have a rough idea of the route by the end of next week.

I will email you the route, a recent picture of me, and a brief bio.
Along with that, I can email you a Google Earth file with city points.

From there we can discuss where to go with a blog, whether you all would
like to host it or not. Again, I have no problem building and hosting a
site as well – please let me know what you both feel comfortable with.

In the meantime, I will continue to do research for donations and outlets
for promotion. I have also made my Chinese classes more often and intense
to make this trip a success.

As a side note, are you aware of the Foundation Center Library in NYC?

http://foundationcenter.org/

Thanks for the emails and enthusiasm, it reassures me that what I am doing
is worthwhile and will make a difference. There are moments that I doubt
myself but now I can’t turn back – right?

Okay, so the trip was decided about a month ago and I am still working out
the exact route. Since I am beginning in late winter (Feb 1 2010), I will
start heading South towards Vietnam, through Laos, along Tibet (don’t know
all the legal issues about getting through) up along China’s West – by the
major Pakistan/China border crossing, through Urumqi (free the Uyghur’s!),
up into Mudanjian/Heliojiang and return back by the way through Beijing.
The trip will end August 1st (depending on my acceptance to get my
Master’s in Global Journalism). I did want to make it through Mongolia
but there is only one entrance/exit that I know of along the China border
- so it would be a back and forth ride.

I am using Google Maps right now to get a general route, but have an
English Chinese road map on order to pinpoint the details. I hope to have
the route planned out by the end of August. There is a way to save my
route on Google Maps and send the file to you. I’ll send an updated map
in a week or so with the general cities of interest.

As for promoting myself…I do know web design and blogging. Since I have
so much on my plate for planning, I may find a friend to get it started
for me. I want something up by the end of July. I also have some
websites to promote it to, know people who own bicycle stores, etc.
Printing here is also very affordable so I am going to make up about
10,000 postcards with info. If you could send me a brief summary of your
organization I can can have it translated into Chinese to promote myself
locally here.

Sponsorship. I got into this planning on no “freebies” – but if it
happens, then that’s great. My basic needs are a bike, sleeping bag,
tent, and panniers. I have been talking to other expat’s here and they
reassure me that this trip is totally do-able and I could even find hotels
for about $10 USD a night. That’s not really what I am looking for, but
it’s good to know there are other options besides sleeping on the side of
roads. I do need extra cash in case of bicycle repairs, bus trips between
cities (shortage of water between cities is my biggest fear), and any
unseen doctor expenses. Also, I have made many Chinese friends here that
come from all over the country that know cities along the route. And, I
have been recently introduced to www.couchsurfing.org which will be of
great help.

I hope this email hasn’t been too erratic or confusing. Maybe I should of
taken more time to plan this correspondence but I feel the deadline
getting very close. Any contacts, recommendations, and advice either of
you have would be so greatly appreciated. Also a link to the blog of the
motorcycle trip? And a template would be excellent.

Please don’t hesitate to respond with any additional questions. And I
will touch base as soon as my new road map arrives and I spend some more
time on Google Maps. I will also submit an updated and more detailed plan
on how to fund raise and sponsorship.

Summary: the remainder of July will be website preparation, route details,
and research on potential donors/sponsors.

E

I believe I first heard of your organization through some climbing podcast
or website – and became interested in the cause.

My name is Eleanor Moseman and I am a photographer/artist currently
residing in Shanghai – and fell in love with climbing about 6 months ago.
Last month I decided to do a solo bike trip around China – with sidesteps
into Tibet, Laos, Vietnam, and hopefully Mongolia – for 6 months. I have
been crunching the numbers for my trip budget and it’s surprisingly
affordable – so I have decided to ride for a cause. I would like for
Girls Education International to be the foundation, one reason being that
it seems that an organization at this level will benefit greatly no matter
what financial contribution I submit. Also, we all know how much freedom
a woman obtains in life and the world with a solid foundation of
education.

I am using http://www.how2fundraise.org/ to learn in greater detail how to
go about this the most successfully. It is also my hope that I can find
corporate sponsorship for my minimal expenses (bike, gear, tent, etc) buy
stating my purpose of riding for a reason. Perhaps you can recommend some
contacts/route to get this across the best.

This email is to introduce myself briefly and see if it’s okay to state
that the proceeds of an event will benefit Girls Ed Int’l, and will not
imply or state that you are the host, sponsor or endorser. Perhaps we can
communicate in detail about this in the near future.

The trip begins Feb 1 and will end August 1 (depending on a acceptance to
Graduate School).

Thank you greatly in advance for your time and consideration.