We are The Adventurists - Creators of the Mongol Rally, Rickshaw Run, Icarus Trophy, Ice Run and world-famous Mongol Derby - Ask Us Anything

I completed the Mongol Rally this year and paid you guys £600 for the privilege.

Why did you guys never respond to rally questions on the private forum unless it involved a car potentially being left in Mongolia or Russia where you maybe held liable?

Also, why are you still recommending the Visa Machine for organizing peoples visa's when this year people using them has to replan their routes because of the wrong paperwork submitted by the Visa Machine?

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. We know that we share a common sense of adventure and we like to talk to our customers like they're our mates - after all, we hope that you are after the events you undertake. So here's to you. Chin chin.

We're a growing company and we try our best to be active in the community. We want a lot of people to know who we are, but we also are going to take comments here on board in how we handle stuff. You guys are just as important as new bums on seats.

If you don't get a suitable answer in the forums, I'd always recommend emailing us or checking the Facebook groups, where a lot of veterans can be wise old heads on FAQS. I am personally always on the end of a phone, so if you ring the office, I'll do my best to help. Depending on how my coffee shakes are at the time.

The entry fee covers the cost of setting up the launch, two events and finish line party along with the support we offer on the run up. If you want more support, I am happy to give it to whoever needs it. We hope you had fun getting lost besides this.

If you have any more questions, I'm in tomorrow. If you try me at the weekend I may be considerably drunker and less coherent.

How interested would you be in organising some form of rally/endurance event on traditionally slow-moving vehicles as opposed to the typical car/motorbike approach? Something along the lines of a canal boat or giant tortoise.

I don't know the ins-and-outs surrounding the legality of racing on a canal or strapping infants to giant tortoises, but you're the experts here.

Our mantra is 'The Festival of Slow' so that's not too far away, I imagine. Maybe we can start by strapping canal boats to tortoises or tortoises to canal boats? The tortoise who first successfully works out how to work canal locks is exempted from being ridden in future events

Strapping canal boats to tortoises? What is this, 'World's Strongest Tortoise'? Are you going to make them pick up empty beer barrels and bales of hay as well?

That's patented, you can't do that. That's mine.

Anything that occurs within the AMA is legally ours by the Statutes of Ghengis Khan. We've already started rounding up the turtles and we've hired a privateer to roam the Rochdale canal, commandeering barges.

Do you have any openings in your finance department? I'd love to adventure full time.

Our finance department actually may have an opening coming up, incidentally. Although they are probably the only people in the building who don't really go adventuring. It's not a very adventurous department by default.

We know, we know. We've failed everyone.

Haha, just being in the culture is enough to help. Naturally a desk job, but still. If you have a place I can send my resume, I'd love to get it over to you.

Why on earth not - [email protected] for any and all enquiries. We'll be back with your stock rejection letter within a year.

How many times have you been sued? Have you ever had any deaths during a rally?

Never. We warn everyone in advance that every one (every single one) of our adventures poses a risk. They undertake them at their very literal peril.

We had a death several years back involving a road collision in Iran - that's all we'll say on it out of respect for those brave adventurists we lost. It's something that regrettably can occur on any road here in the UK, but we want every explorer back home safe after their escapades.

I completed the Rally way back when in 2011. It was a fantastic adventure and one that I'd recommend to anybody. Two questions: do you feel that the increasing numbers of participants is diluting the 'uniqueness' of the experience? Secondly, I lost my unique-one-of-a-kind Adventurists Buff while camel trekking in Morocco. Do you have any spares you could send my way? You know, for sentimentality's sake.

Thanks for taking the time to do the AMA and organizing all of these little jaunts!

If you drop us an email at [email protected] we can see if we have one lying around. If not, maybe we can rustle up a t-shirt or something for you. Those buffs were a limited run back in 2011 so we may be all out, but we'll have a gander, because it's you. Whoever you are.

Also, thanks for recommending us. Customer testimonials mean a lot. The numbers have to increase as part of growing a business and becoming more popular - it's just the way our crazy galactic orb rotates. We personally think this simply diversifies the crowd, and we get so many weird, wacky and wonderful explorers year on year. It's certainly not as exclusive, but the feeling of meeting another rallier in the middle of Siberia is bloody marvellous. A fellow Englishman or Aussie or Yank or Scandy every hundred miles is a comforting thing when you're deep into the wild unknown.

Are there moments where you'd rather sit at home with a nice cup of tea instead of doing… all this?

Life is like a football pitch. There's two different halves, you have goals, and everyone around you always seems to be shouting.

The adventures put the tea-drinking into perspective, and vice versa. I'm currently sitting with a lovely cup of Earl Grey, wrapped up in a turtleneck sweater, but the reason why we enjoy that is because we've gone out there and felt the adrenaline coursing through our tired old legs. Tea is a wonderful thing but if you just sit at home and drink tea all the time, you've not spent your time on Earth very well.

We organise events that make for interesting stories and every team has to raise a minimum of £1000 cash for our partner charity, Cool Earth. There's definitely been times in the middle of the Mongolian desert where a cup of tea and a comfy armchair seem like a better option, but that's against the very spirit of adventure and perseverance.

How the hell did you start all of this?

Back in 2004, whilst living in the Czech Republic, our glorious leader Mr. Tom bought a shitty old banger and decided to drive to the stupidest place he could think of - Mongolia. The next year, after having a riotous time trying to cross borders with no Visas and suchlike, he advertised the adventure and six cars set off to do the same challenge from England.

More and more bored, glorious maniacs heard about the Mongol Rally and began signing up, culminating in 2015's Rally having 666 participants. We think it's a rather fitting number.

We started the company to bring adventure into a world where the corners of the maps are all filled in. Where getting lost is almost impossible. We are honing the art-form of getting lost. And in the process we're saving the rainforests for the next generation, so that they have somewhere equally glorious to get lost in.

Was it an old Skoda? I see them on the streets all the time in the Czech Republic (outside of Prague).

The Skoda factory in the Sudetenland was actually a munitions works, which was a factor in Hitler's coveting of the territory pre-WWII.

Short answer: no idea. He's currently in Oregon. Or should I say over Oregon. With an oversized office fan strapped to his back. I'll ask him when he lands.

Short answer: no idea. He's currently in Oregon. Or should I say over Oregon. With an oversized office fan strapped to his back. I'll ask him when he lands.

Yah, I just noticed he is participating. Does Mr. Tom do all the adventures?

He pioneers a lot of them in his role as master in chief of mayhem. Master Chief of mayhem. Master Chief.

But I'm not insinuating Tom is the protagonist of the Halo series.

If I were to do the Mongol Rally, what are the chances of encountering any local Eeuns and are they really as dangerous as I've heard?

Eeuns are prevalent in the 'Stans in particular but are generally docile until approached. Try not to provoke them. They are incredibly social creatures and have also displayed elements of 'the silent treatment' when examined, which is fascinating.

What is an Eeun?

It's a completely fictitious animal as far as I'm aware. I just sort of went with the flow.

Come up with a Wikipedia page if you have the inclination.

What's the best thing you've seen on the Rally?

Katy - Probably the car that was dressed up like a rhino. They made it all the way to Mongolia. A rider on the Derby then broke his collarbone and had to be evacuated to Ulaanbataar - he was driven all the way there in a car dressed up like a rhino.

Joolz - The jousting Mongol Ralliers were very cool - they had lances. One guy got tasered after trying to stop his son being arrested. And the local YouTube personality who put a motorbike engine into a mobility scooter and drove that for the entire rally.

Kev - Being on the Rally and watching the Perseids meteor shower in Charyn Canyon in Kazakhstan being surrounded by camel spiders.

I don't know what a camel spider is, nor do I want to thank you very much.

Don't ask, ye shall receive anyway

He did the rally on the mobility scooter??

We don't like to name-names on social media. He may have done. He may not.

He did.

Fuck camel spiders

We don't know how well-endowed you are, but we wouldn't recommend it above 'chode' level.

What type of safety measures do you provide for your teams? I understand that adventure carries risks and you're not trying to hold any hands, but do you have any backups in place in case a team finds themselves in a truly dangerous situation?

It depends on the adventure, really. The Rally started as a celebration of getting lost - we don't give you anything between England and Mongolia. If you break down in the desert you have to react as you would in any other situation. However, in other adventures - e.g. Adventure 9 - we have trained crews on hand to save you from drowning. Icarus has trained paramotorist referees and we obviously have a standby in case a paramotor comes down.

When the Mongol Derby started, there was a large furor over how we treated the horses (who run up to 40km each a la Genghis Khan's old postage system). In response, we keep highly trained equestrian vets and human medics at each staging post to ensure full safety for all living things involved.

Equestrian vets as in they are vets for horses...we didn't manage to train the horse to be a vet. He just wasn't fussed.

Hi chaps, I was on the 2008 rally (team Everybody Yurts). I'm sure we were told we'd find out the eventual fate of the cars that got given to charities /sold/scrapped.. but we didn't hear anything.

What happened to our Isabel the Renault 4??

Also, I lost my MR buff on my last trip, got any spares I could have?

Thanks!

The best thing to do for something specific like that (you just had to be specific, eh?) is drop us an email. We'll do our best to sort it out. I'm now sitting on my sofa drinking a cider, and, frankly, I'm not being paid to care about your problems until 0900.

We'd love to find out what happened to your beloved chariot though - do give us a call when you're free. The buffs are running low if not completely exhausted, but we can see what we have lying around. Are you interested in a piece of original MR artwork I do on my lunch break?

Which rallies or roadtrips not organised by you do you admire\get inspired by?

Follow up question, what's the shittiest border you've had to cross?

The Peking to Paris rally is very cool as it has classic cars, but it's more of a traditional road to civilisation rather than our expedition into the unknown. We take more inspiration from the classic adventurers of the 1800s and early 1900s, who went blindly into peril with nothing but an overstuffed pipe and a hipflask of whisky.

In terms of borders, Kazakhstan can be very tricky and nearly everything east of the Balkans requires some sort of bribe to get into. One team were temporarily thrown into a Kazakh jail for showing UK passports and failing to bribe anybody, where they spent a night before managing to barter their way out.

There is also the small matter that you can take any route into Mongolia - Iran is a very awkward place to get into but is full of absolutely wonderful locals. A rally team recounted that one such Iranian drew level with their car and began pouring them cups of tea from a teapot on the dashboard, whilst his wife smiled amiably and nodded.

Afghanistan is also a possible route although we don't recommend it. One ex-serviceman currently doing the Icarus Trophy described the removal of his legs as 'stepping on an oversized party popper'.

Are there any plans to add a forum to your website? Having an official place for people to talk about the adventures, organize teams etc would be cool.

We have a members' forum for people who have signed up. For anything else we organise a plethora of Facebook groups for finding teammates, discussing the Rallies/Runs by year, generally jibbering about nonsense. If you search on the old social network doodads, they should show up.

What ever happened to that Ferrari? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu6VbUWNcXg

According to Kev, the fella got as far as Georgia and gave up the ghost. He got a nice chunk of dirt in his lovely Italian air intake (the two don't usually go hand-in-hand) and it would have taken three weeks and an awful lot of money to fix - it ended up being shipped back to the UK. Considering it's a Ferrari, however - Georgia was a fair effort. Hats off to him.

Which adventure do you think is the hardest to achieve?

In terms of sheer endurance and skill - the Derby. It's held in massively high regard by horsey people the world over. Sorry, I believe the politically correct term is 'centaurs'.

The Icarus Trophy also requires a fair bit of training to handle the wings, especially the takeoffs.

How long does it generally take to complete the rally?

One team drove back from Mongolia in five days after the rally - but that would be boring on the way out. We usually recommend 3-6 weeks for the whole thing. Depending on how many wheels fall off.

(We loosen axles at random)

I've always wondered; what happens if my car is no longer serviceable, can I simply purchase another from the locals and keep going?

If you wanted to bear the expense. Or you could turn back. Or you could buy a scooter, or a camel, and keep going.

Try and break down at the top of a really big hill and just roll the rest of the way.

Start on the Rally, Finish on the Derby.

Got it.

Then swim to Japan and take part in a weird gameshow - the greatest adventure of them all.

Is there any plans for an adventure in Japan?

Do you have any hopes for what the next adventure will be?

No plans for any new ones as of yet - we're focused on perfecting the ones we've got. My hopes would be for an Australian adventure but nothing is in the pipeline. Spiders the size of houses and all that?

These all sound super awesome, but this is the first time I'm hearing of any of these. Have you been or will you be advertising and if so, how?

It is obvious that you guys and gals are organizing these primarily for fun, but do you / can you make a living off this? I have a friend who is trying to organize a very small, local pseudo-scavenger-hunt-type adventure (not nearly the same as yours but similar vein of activity), and she's finding it difficult to get the word out. How do you do it? Based on your other comments, it seems like you are more than happy to share this adventuring scene with others, but have you taken any steps to protect your brands? One thing my friend is worried about is someone else coming in and doing her exact same thing but making money off of it and squeezing her out. How do you prevent that scenario?

Thanks for doing this AMA, and up the awesome work. I hope I can join you guys & gals for one of your adventures someday soon!

That's why we're here - people don't know about the alternatives to a week in Tenerife or a weekend in Florida. Holidays are great, but you can relax in Uzbekistan just as much as if you were parked on a sun lounger sipping a warm margarita.

We advertise sporadically - we're still a small company. We have a strong social media presence but sticking six weeks of TV up is just not in our budget. Do you have any money? We only need about 200 grand. That's probably just sitting in your glove box.

My advice to your friend is: start small. Our founders all had proper jobs whilst they set The Adventurists up. The first rally took six cars out. Now we're at over 200. It's not an overnight jobby. Take two or three at least.

Have you heard all the yak, yurt and khan puns by now?

It's just yak-yak-yak, 24/7. It yurts my ears. But you khan give it a go, if you like.

I've looked very basically into doing the Mongol Rally. How much and how little has it cost participants?

We think that you can do it for as little as £500 pp after the entry fee - and that's still fairly comfortably. We charged three teams with doing it for as cheap as possible - but some things like fuel just can't be skimped on. Unless you just do the Calais Rally, which is not nearly as cool.

If you go to the 'Costs' tab on the site, under 'Tell me More', it will break everything down for you. Coz we're nice like that.

Hi Guys, Just dropped by to say how amazing and life changing the Rally was for me in 2012. It really gave me something to fall back on when I later lost my job and really felt lost. The fact that I had done this amazing adventure really helped me hold onto my self-worth during those difficult times. I recommend everyone, from the college student to the older adult wanting some quality bonding time with their son, attempt this. This rally also allows you to realize so many things that seem impossible in your life are because you won't get out of your way and just do it. Keep inspiring away boys!

My question: Do the liability problems ever keep you guys up at night? Will you never go through certain countries because of the shit sandwich that may arrive on your desk?

Glad you didn't hate it Ben. That's how low our standards are - what do you want, a medal? Okay, we'll see what we've got.

All of the adventures have an incredible sense of community which can give you momentum during shitty periods such as lost jobs and the end of the Sopranos. We're glad you enjoyed yourself and rediscovered how much you are worth - we're betting it's definitely more than a fiver.

To your qu: liability is something we're very keen to stress lies with the people who are putting their own bodies and legal entities on the line. We'd never recommend driving through Afghanistan and now Syria is probably off the table, but most people are sensible enough about this. With Adventure 9, there is the possibility that if you hit a certain current, you could end up missing Zanzibar and going towards Somalia. We don't particularly like Shit Sandwiches (brie and bacon for me, ta) but part of the job is that they occasionally turn up on our laps.

Sain Baina Uu! How's the weather and coal smoke in UB today? Have you tried the horse meat soup?

Question time, as a medical doctor I'm curious about injuries and illnesses your people encounter. Countries like Mongolia have horrendously bad trauma care and hospitals in general. Do you bring your own medics for these jaunts?

Weather and coal smoke? Aren't they the same thing?

We don't provide doctors - between the start and the finish you're on your own. This is except for the Derby, where we take great lengths to ensure proper care for horse and rider. It's an internationally renowned event, and we simply can't be as laissez-faire as we are with the other adventures. Our mums just kept nagging us.

We've not had a serious medical incident yet - stop tempting fate!

I'm preparing to do the rally in 2017 or 2018. What way would you recommend getting a car from all way back in the states?

I'd recommend not trying to drive it. Otherwise, I'd recommend going on one of the FB groups and trying to find a nice UK person to pick one up for you that you can keep in storage across the pond.

You're welcome to bring one over, but the shipping may cost more than you anticipate. Plus, we have quality German engineering over here. And French. And Scandinavian. We Brits and Yanks just aren't very good at cars.

Oh yea. My group is trying to find an old Mitsubishi Fuso bus to convert into a party bus for the journey.

The best of luck to you chaps - it sounds like an absolutely wonderful silliness to be exhibited on the world.

I love doing crazy shit like this. Nothing gives my life meaning like adventure. How can I get a job with you guys? I have plenty of relevant experience and I am a 35 year old good hearted mean spirited Norwegian viking.

The Vikings were absolutely exemplary adventurists - you lot managed to get to North America, Russia, Mesopotamia, the Med, and, of course, good ol' Blighty. As a blond Englishman, cheers for the genes.

If you email us at [email protected] with your job-thingy (CV? Resume?) then we can see what vacancies we've got available. I'm not promising anything, but we're always willing to form noble bonds with ancient savages.

We're all mean-spirited too but the spirit is primarily gin.

I'm a bit of a horsey person and have some questions about the Derby:

1. What happens to the horses before and after the Derby? Do you "borrow" from local herders, bulk buy or round them up off the land?

2. What lengths, if any, do you take to ensure the horses are sound and mentally/physically capable for such a gruelling race?

3. Finally what do you mean by "half-wild"? Can you clarify this?

Greetings, horse-lord. Theoden, King, stands alone and all that.

1. The best person to ask is Katy, who is currently asleep or dead or something. You can reach her at any one of our emails, but specifically the Derby one. They are primarily, to my recollection, from local herders - they each run 40km so they don't end up too far from their starting points, allowing us to keep the Mongolian hordes local to their horders.

2. The horses are all in excellent health, as checked over by our trained vet team. Their health is our utmost priority, after, of course, the sense of adventure, which our ut-utmost priority.

3. When I say 'half-wild', I mean that they aren't domesticated, stables-type horses. They're more steppe horses. That live in the wild. And are occasionally herded. They're fit to ride, just like the Mongol army did, but they're not concentrated in volume by humans.

As a Canadian, getting into the Mongol Rally always seemed like such a disaster in just trying to get the vehicle purchased, registered and such before the rally. How have you seen other over-seas teams handle this?

A lot of our crazy yet loveable Nor'mericans get someone in the MR Facebook group to buy them a car they identify in England - try Gumtree or something similar. The storage for a month or so is much cheaper than shipping something over.

The best bet is to join the group and ask for other Canadian stories - we've got tons of you glorious Commonwealth bastards - and they'll give you the best tips to get roadworthy in time.

The alternative is to buy it and drive to the Bering Strait, get a dodgy rowing boat, dodge the Russian sentries, and then try and make it across the pack ice to western Europe. We think this is the most logical idea.

The real question now (because I've already gathered a few Britbongs and Yankies to help me and my other Mooseling pal) is how hard is it to get a car that's meant to drive on the side of FREEDOM (the American side, steering on the left.)?

I'm sorry, I don't understand the question - please ask again after your country has a suitable amount of history to join the rest of the world.

Jokes on you; I was German all along!

Time for ze question Blitzkrieg!

Having a passing knowledge of Hindi, I feel, would give me a discreet advantage over other teams in the Rickshaw Run. Do you feel this is true, would I take the fun out of it by being able to adequately talk to people?

For the Icarus Trophy; how do I carry supplies with me? Do I even need to?

Is the Icarus Trophy an actual race?

Outside of the UK, where else is a good place in Europe to buy a car?

Full Mongol Rulebook, when?

Krafty Krauts - we've gotten over all that so we'll embrace you in the spirit of adventure. Wilkommen. Wie gehts?

Hindi is useful - in parts of India. Don't speak Hindi in Tamil Nadu because they won't give a flying fuck. The lingua franca of India is actually English due to the plethora of languages spoken. So whilst Hindi is helpful - it's not integral.

For Icarus, you can't fly after 6.30pm due to lighting and local laws. So take a few fruit rollups and make sure you land by a Denny's.

Icarus is a real race but the contestants are divided into 'race class' and 'adventure class' by their abilities. The pros race, and then the rookies do. For fairness and sportsmanship and whatnot.

Outside of the UK, there is nothing. The sun never sets, sir.

What did you learn from your first Mongol Rally? How do you think everybody can grow from participating?

The Rally teaches you how different all of the cultures of the world are, but how similar kindness can be. Lots of families will take you in purely to be good hosts and on their own conscience. It also makes you understand how doing things long, slow and laboriously is much better than fast. Take a six week sabbatical and see the world, get a new perspective. Not everything in life has to have a set purpose or goal. Just go and get lost. In the nicest possible sense.

What's your favorite SLURPEE® flavor?

WHAT in the HELL is a Slurpee? Every drink should be sipped, not slurped. Only polite

Isnt the last thing Ulaanbaatar needs is are old shitty cars on the road?

Absolutely - we don't want to dump old Western European tat in a country like Mongolia. That's why every team is responsible for shipping their banger back to the UK, which we organise a ship for (it's much easier than trying to do it yourself or carrying it in your hand luggage). Anyone caught dumping their motor is traced and fined to make sure we keep our end of the deal with the Mongolian authorities.

A group of mates and I had planned to run the Rally after graduating, but I accidentally joined the army instead (of graduating, that is). Now the plan is back on the table and we're wargaming the most entertaining possible scenarios. So, to help us on our way;

• What's the most interesting, entertaining or otherwise tell-the-grandkids reason you've seen a competitor fail to complete one of your events?

• What's the best loadout you've seen enter the Mongol?

• Favourite type of tea? Whiskey? (EDIT: That is to say, what are your favourite teas and whiskeys, as distinct from 'is your favourite type of tea whiskey', which, while a respectable answer, isn't quite what I was getting at).

Well, joining the army is a perfectly respectable alternative. We have been likened to an army in the sense that a lot of people point guns at us and a few unnamed countries are at war with us. We're also trying to invade the moon within the next five years so you could say we need all the military personnel we can get. But thanks for remembering us. It's sweet. You're sweet.

Questions:

There's a lot of different ways people have 'did-not-finished' but I think, in our new Adventure 9, the fact that one team woke up and their boat had washed out and proceeded to sink was pretty funny. In terms of how out of their control that was, a certain schadenfreude comes into play. But we'd never admit to that. Not in text, on a popular website.

See another answer - the rhino loadout was pretty great. The guy who went in a Ferrari, or the mobility scooter, are also great. My personal favourite is one of the first few teams, however, who just lashed an old London phone booth to the top of an old banger. Ten points for enthusiasm, zero for effort.

Favourite type of tea: Lady Grey. It's so orangey and bergamoty. Whiskey: My grandfather was a staunch Scot and drank Glenfiddich. I feel like he'd sink my boat off Tanzania if I said anything else.

Favourite Teawhiskey is Adventurist brand, as we invented it, obviously.

What have been your finer memories of dealing with local governments? Any particular advice in doing so?

We like to be irreverent and a little flippant in our day-to-day, but it's important to show that you know you're in their back yard. It's the big dog's house, as it were, and if you don't watch your P's and Q's you could end up fucking everything up in a matter of seconds.

My advice would be arrive completely naked smoking a pipe and speaking in Tongues, because everything is really only going to get better as discussions proceed.

Signing up in the next few days for the rally, which sites do you think are worth going out of our way to see?

Looking at going to Southern route so mainly ones along there!

Well, be sure to get to Czech-Out and our upcoming beach party announcement. My personal favourites would be:

• The Tranfeiuufovirgirsomething Highway. I can't remember what this is called but it's in Romania and it's the most dangerous road in Europe
• Istanbul. Simply amazing city. Steeped in history. Soaking in culture. Clouded with shisha.
• Georgia. Georgia in general. Such an incredible country. Great people. Tall mountains.

Join our Rally groups and share your plans - you'll find future ralliers also have great suggestions. They also have terrible ones. The moon is not a viable checkpoint.

What experience, etc. do you look for to take part in the Ice Run?

Step 1: Be able to survive at -25C. Step 2: Don't NOT be able to survive at -25C. Step 3: (Optional) Buy cardigan or something

Is there an adventure you want to --but wouldn't-- do?

I'd love to do the Icarus Trophy, but I (Dom) am personally terrified of heights.

I'd also love to do something on the West Coast of Africa, but we were warned by government authorities that westerners can end up carrying their heads back in their hand luggage in some regions.

Looking at the mongol rally, are the cars outfitted with any traditional rally equipement like skid plates, rollcages and 5 point harnesses?

It's a rally in a very loose context. There's no high speeds or sharp bends, but there's plenty of dirt tracks. It's hard to maintain a solid 60mph over 10,000km. It's a terrible strain on the driver's wrists.

What do you think of the attitude towards adventure in today's society? I feel like people are becoming more fearful and risk adverse. They don't mind watching crazy adventures on youtube but very few of those people will ever have an adventure of their own.

Keep up the good work and keep adventuring alive!

In our righteous opinion, everyone's gone very silly with the whole 'health and safety' thing. Kids learn from falling out of trees, just as adults learn from driving into quicksand. Which cartoons led me to believe would be a bigger problem in later life.

We're trying to convince people that the life of Hemingway is much more of a draw than the life of Hiddlestone. Fancy hotels and caviar are not nearly as exciting as tents in the desert surrounded by mountain goats. Mountain goats pack a mean...headbutt.

We salute your sense of adventure and encourage you to demonstrate the error of people's ways. By mean comments, if necessary.

Will there ever be another South American adventure?

We've not got one in the pipeline currently, but watch this space. We try to introduce something every year, at least. An adventure to find Escobar's escaped hippos?

Wow, this is a really cool AMA. Some friends and I have always dreamed about doing this. We have people who know Russian, maps, we just need the mechanic.

Anyways, I am curious.

Do you ever have teams that fail because they come unprepared for example not with someone who can fix a car, know Russian, understand a map, whatnot? Do you ever have the flip-side and have teams that for one reason or another you have severe concerns about once the rally starts but make it anyways?

Every event has a few people who are going to take it more or less seriously, but we genuinely love everyone who comes out with us. The weirdest quirks make for the greatest communities. And yes, we are just saying that. We hate you. Yes, you. You know who you are.

The number one reason for not finishing the Rally is not being able to fix routine things - but sometimes your motor just isn't cut out for the slog. Then they go to the great tundra in the sky, to be with their fallen brethren.

If you could travel back in time and orchestrate a race of any sort in any time period, what would you choose, and when?

In terms of raw danger and general size of testicles/ovaries, the passage to the New World would have been tremendous.

Hannibal crossing the Alps perhaps? Recreating the three day March from Stamford Bridge to Hastings? All worthy adventures for a true-hearted maniac

Hi Joolz, I have your bow tie from Czech out 2013, do you want it back?

He wore a cravat to the office today so he's doing just fine without it. I'll let him know about this and he'll send a pigeon if he needs it. Or shine the bat signal or something.

I really, really love what you guys are doing and have been following your exploits since the beginning! I know that part of what you do is raise money for the local areas your adventures pass through, and was hoping you could please share a bit more about some of the things you've been able to do to help those people.

Sending many good vibes! Hope to meet you all out there someday (soon?), cheers!

Glad to have your support, Shibby. What happened to the other 2,999 of you? Are they also on board?

We partnered with several charities to begin with, but now we partner solely with Cool Earth - they're some absolutely brilliant chaps. I'd recommend everyone goes to check them out, because what they do is bloody marvellous.

In a nutshell, of which there are many in the rainforests of South America, they help local villages throughout the Amazon and African rainforests with clean water, technology and infrastructure. They also save it from logging in a rather unique fashion - by reorganising villages into an 'X' shape, which, by international law, protects the most land with the fewest native people. You see, you can't log an area containing protected villages, and this format creates a barrier to the logging companies. They also work to protect these villages from some of the awful stuff that logging companies may or may not try to do to them.

How do you guys cope with being so unbelievably cool?

Do you find that most people get into the competitive spirit of things, or are they mostly laid back about it all? In the somewhat near vicinity of the same subject, do you think you've inspired those who are less competitive to forego the medium-sized monetary investment and just wander out on their own?

Does operating all of this shenanigans pay all the bills, or do you somehow fit in second/third jobs on top of managing the world's most interesting insanity attractor?

We drink an awful lot to try and quell the terrible egos it gives us, but we found to our horror that it merely exacerbated our bravado and caused us to tell even more people how unbelievably cool we were. NB: It doesn't get girls.

In terms of competition, very few events are actual 'races'. We don't value the winner, we value the most interesting loser. And at the end of the day, aren't we all losers? 99% of our adventurists are laid back, going for the shits and giggles of it all. The Derby is different, as it's a proper prize to win the thing.

We've had a few people who decided they didn't need to do the Rally entry fee and just kitted up and drove over with the rest of them. Then they panicked when they got there, and realised they were about to be charged a lot of money for dumping a car, and a lot of money for shipping it back solo. The fees for most things are integral infrastructural points that may go a little unnoticed by participants.

We pay the bills, definitely - we're a growing company and our staff are almost all full-time. It takes a lot to put on 6 adventures on all-but-one of the world's continents, so we basically temper it all out by drinking a lot of tea and sleeping in special hyperbolic chambers, where we train to beat Cell at the weekends.

If I wanted you to kindly arrange for a Rickshaw to be painted for me outside the specific dates (my work doesn't like giving time off) could this be arranged?

Give us a bell on [email protected] and we will see what we can do - I can do it myself if you've got a spare return to Kochi? I'll accept air miles.

What cars/motorbikes are you guys currently rocking?

We have a fleet of Ural motorcycles with sidecars ready to skate nervously across Lake Baikal in this year's Ice Run. In the warehouse, we have a lovely old [No Idea What Make, It's Crazy] car, which was donated by some ralliers after they decided it wasn't much use for touring around the streets of Bristol. It revs like a motherflipper and you're practically horizontal when you drive it.

It's like being molested by a combustion engine strapped to an old piece of scrap metal.

How did the 1880 election go?

We went back and checked - the Mummy ate the hobo and then proceeded to realise he was a figment of folklore and promptly vanished in a puff of logic.

Do you own a home?

Are you married?

How much money do you leech off your parents?

Thanks

Well the first two questions are hardly polite things to ask somebody. I'm not sure whether you understand that it's a company which pays people to organise global events, but we forgive your ignorance. One born every minute and all that.

Most people who go on our adventures sign up with their own hard-earned cash, as do we. Saving has been a common concept since the advent of currency in place of the barter system, and even then people would put a few bearskins to one side in case of needing a new cartwheel. Most, if not all, of our adventurists are financially solvent and choose to spend their money on something that will enrich their lives.

Thank you for answering my incredibly crude questions and best of luck to you and your business.

Thank you for asking them. We all grew as people today.