The Pub2Pub Project – Sitrep

It’s now almost four weeks since the Pub2Pub expedition’s mighty Chimaera rolled across the finish line on Dartmoor, its 27,000 mile trip across the globe complete. And I can tell you, it’s a strange feeling, readjusting to the ‘real world’.

For the first time in eight months, home is a house, rather than an abstract memory from what feels like a previous life. The daily routine no longer involves driving long distances across unknown lands, researching road conditions, negotiating red tape and bureaucracy, and willing the car not to break down. To move from that life to the grounded existence of normality is a jarring change, even if it’s not an altogether unwelcome one, for eight months away makes even the simplest of home comforts a thing to savour.

But life hasn’t completely returned to normal. The existence I’ve returned to is a far cry from the one I left behind last July. In short, Pub2Pub has changed my world. Such is the level of publicity the expedition has achieved, that I seemingly can’t drive the TVR anywhere without it being recognised. Despite being the scruffiest TVR in the land, it’s received rounds of applause from passing vans on the M6, invites to car shows across the country and the attention of countless camera-phones. Even now, seldom a few days go by when the trip doesn’t feature in the media somewhere, adding to the 100+ articles which have already reached a global audience in the tens of millions, everywhere from Das Spiegel to the Hindustan Times. And this is all lending a slightly surreal tint to life at the moment. Effectively, my return to a daily routine is anything but routine…

In what way?

Well, Pub2Pub has opened doors to some incredible opportunities. Earlier this week, I signed the contract to produce the expedition book. Requests for written content for magazines and websites continue to pour in, while tomorrow will see the launch of ‘Pub2Pub Expedition IPA’ – a beer inspired by the journey. Public speaking engagements are beginning to appear, and a series of high profile appearances are falling into place. How high profile? Well as an example, you can’t really beat an invite to the Le Mans 24hr race, by TVR themselves. And finally, even though the expedition may be over, sponsorship continues to roll in for Kermit’s future adventures, from everyone from Classicline Insurance to TVR-Parts.

So what are these future adventures?

Well, there are plenty in the pipeline! As well as meeting all the above commitments, you may be aware that so many people have been inspired by our trip, that I’ve been working on the launch of ‘Pub2Pub Adventures’ – dedicated to bringing Pub2Pub-style adventuring to everyone.

We’re kicking this off in the autumn with the Eagle Rally; an event which has caused quite a stir among those who’ve been following Pub2Pub’s progress across the globe in recent months. And to get Pub2Pub Adventures off to a flying start, we’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign to make it easy for people to get involved.

Ultimately, this crowdfunder will enable us to run a range of events across the globe, which combine elegance and eccentricity in the glorious fashion we pioneered with the Pub2Pub Expedition. We’ll be backing these journeys up with a range of merchandise and other UK-based events which mean that Pub2Pub should be able to offer something back to everyone who’s followed the journey so far.

Because trust us, crossing the finish line 4 weeks ago wasn’t the end of the Pub2Pub story. It was just the beginning…

To read more about the Eagle Rally, click here

To visit our crowdfunding campaign, click here