April 6 is a big day for Charlie and Sherry. Our two Travel Bloggers/adventurers extraordinaire are embarking on a crazy 4,000km pan-Indian adventure for charity in a 7 horsepower glorified lawnmower: The Adventurists Rickshaw Run. The quest itself will begin in the town of Cochin, in the southwest of India, and shall finish in Shillong, in the far northeast corner of the country. For those who have been XShot friends and fans for a long time, you may remember that we love the TukTuk race and already sponsored a team in 2010, the Raiders of the Lost Tuk.

 We’d like you to meet Team Drive Sleep Rupeet, leaving Sunday in their customized Indian Rickshaw, competing to raise funds for 2 charities, Cool Earth and Charity: Water, a respected non-profit organization that will use the money to provide hundreds of people in developing countries with clean, safe water. We can’t wait to see your amazing XShot Pro pictures along the road.  Have fun and stay safe ladies!!!

Tell us a little bit about your great adventure and why you chose to do it?

We are Sherry and Charlie of team Drive Sleep Rupeet. Don’t let the name Charlie fool you – we are two adventurous women who make a living out of traveling the world and finding adventures and cultural stories to write about. Ok – we don’t always do ridiculous adventures like the Rickshaw Run, half of the time we are actually doing really grown up stuff around the globe, but then Charlie puts the ‘Adventure’ word out there and entices me to get our of our predictable lives and live a little.

We have a pretty glamorous resume of experiences like walking across Spain, driving across Mongolia, being in a bus hijacking in Africa, being leached, climbing mountains, jumping out of planes, eating disgusting food, drinking moonshine, and between the two of us we have been to over 120 countries.

We hail from New York City, but are nomadic travel writers and photographers in search of a good cup of coffee, a beautiful sunset, nail biting adventures, and an occasional coconut ball. According to the legal papers we had to sign to be in the Rickshaw Run it is apparently a reason to get life insurance and maybe adult diapers!

Photo: Sherry Ott “Practicing using our XShot in front of our Rickshaw.”

2. How did you prepare for the Rickshaw Run?The Rickshaw Run, put on by the Adventurists, is a 2000-mile mayhem filled drive through India in an inappropriate vehicle (a motorized 3 wheel, 7HP rickshaw).  There is also a charity component to the race – we are raising money for charity: water in order to bring more clean water solutions to villages in need. Our goal is to raise $15,000 and after some great generous donations we are very, close – but we still have $2000 to go!

We have a map…and the good news is that it’s a map of India.  Based on our experiences in the Mongol Rally, planning is futile in an event like this.  We are learning how to drive the rickshaw the 2 days before the start of the race.  We have a bevy of electronic devices that will hopefully work and provide us our GPS location, helping us get from point A to point B every day.  But that’s as far as the planning has progressed.  We will wake up each morning and drive – that’s the main plan.

3. How did you hear about the XShot?

I’ve seen the XShot in traveler’s hands around the world!  As a solo traveler I’ve always wanted to try one out as my own arm is only so long.

4. What do you carry in your camera/travel bag?

Between the two of us we normally as little as possible! However you can normally find GoPro mounts, lens cloths, lens cleaner, SD cards, duct tape, extra batteries, a notepad, and a LensCoat RainCoat for unexpected weather, and our XShot Pro.

5. What will be the biggest challenge in the run?

Normally one of the hardest parts about stressful, unpredictable adventure travel like this is people dynamics.  However  – there are many others that may trip us up too – such as simply fitting into the driving in India, which is like a functioning anarchy and nothing like what we are used to.  And finally, our lack of mechanical knowledge will probably cause a few hiccups!

YouTube Presentation of the Rickshaw Run by The Adventurists

Meet the Team:

Sherry Ott is a refugee from corporate IT who is now a long term traveler, blogger and photographer. Sherry has been blogging about her travels on Ottsworld: Travel and Life Experiences of a Corporate America Runaway since 2006. She’s a co-founder of Meet, Plan, Go!, a website and national event offering career break or sabbatical travel inspiration and advice to mid career professionals.  She continues to seek out adventurous unique opportunities to challenge herself and inspire people to overcome their fears and reap the benefits of travel.

Charlie Grosso has the heart of a 19th century adventurer, head of a 21st century entrepreneur, hands of an artist. Charlie Grosso’s life is as much as expression of her art as her photographs are. Charlie captures the world with irony and sensitivity, wonder and rich understanding. Through her work, we feel deeply and think differently about people and places both familiar and alien.  She has traveled across five continents, through nearly 60 countries, via local bus, train, caravan and clunker. She has raced the Mongol rally, survived a hold-up by Ugandan rebels, and fallen in love with sublime moments through the lens of a Hasselblad. Her journey is like no other, so her vision takes us to places we never expect. Find her on SpyTravelogue

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