08 December,2014 07:20 AM IST | | Soma Das
Former PR professional Sachin Bhandary is seeking crowdfunding for The 12 Project, an initiative which will see him travelling across 12 countries in 2015, doing 12 things he never thought he would ever do
Scuba diving is one of the items on his itinerary
On his 32nd birthday (November 25), PR professional Sachin Bhandary finally decided to chuck his job that he was devoted to for eight years. Come January 15, 2015, he will embark on a year-long, crowdfunded trip, which will see him travel across 12 countries and do 12 unexpected things.
Scuba diving is one of the items on his itinerary. Representative pics
Bhandary admits that he was always passionate about travel books and odd travel projects. Even at 24, he reminisces, he had promised to himself that he would pursue such a trip some day.
Cycling from New Orleans to New York is the activity for December
"In 2010, I backpacked across Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia for 45 days. Last year, I suggested to my mother that we backpack through Europe and to my shock, she agreed! It was the best time of our lives; we discovered many things about each other and stayed with locals," he shares.
As part of the trip, Sachin will walk amidst the mountains in Peru
Travel matters
Bhandary, who calls himself as The Odd Traveller, on his website and social networking accounts, emphasises that his mission is to popularise the concept of âodd travels' and build a community around it: "Odd travels are nothing but interesting travel projects, which result in learning. Travel is, after all, the best teacher."
Sachin Bhandary
During his trip to Europe he came up with a concept called âThings That Will Disappear' which aimed to combine travelling the world and documenting people and languages that could disappear in a fast-paced world.
"But I realised that I did not have the resources and the time to research that project. That is when The 12 Project struck me," he observes, adding, "In the future, with the help of adventure brands, we could look at funding creative projects by other Odd Travellers."
Some of the items on the itinerary are about conquering phobias, while others are about discovering new places. Bhandary will be documenting his journeys via his blog and social networking sites. "To me, this is like storytelling while using yourself as the subject," he observes.
Through crowdfunding, Bhandary is hoping to raise '15 lakh; so far, he has collected '65,000. "Even if I fall short, I will start the project with my savings and depend on the kindness of people to see me through. That is exactly what I have done till now," he concludes.
Email: theoddtraveller@gmail.com
Log on to: www.theoddtraveller.in; @theoddtraveller on Twitter
To contribute, log on to igg.me/at/12for12
