Travelling Book update - and giveaway!

So, as long-time readers may be aware, back in August 2014 I sent out a pile of "travelling books" - these were blank journals that would go from person to person, with each person writing a little bit about themselves, and when the journal is filled it's to come back to me, and I'll scan it so that everyone can see where it's been. (Check out the website if you'd like to know more)

Anyhow, in each book I put a Twitter hashtag, in the hope that people would tweet about them.  And I got a hit this week - one of the books, which I last saw last summer when I hastily dropped it on a desk in Hull College's library, is on its way to Portland, Oregon - I think that this makes at least four of the books that is going to have visited the US, which is awesome.  The whole idea behind the books was that I wanted to travel, and do all kinds of amazing things, and meet new people blah blah blah - but realistically I can't do that, I have a job, bills, a family, and I wouldn't want to give any of that up (well... maybe the bills I could skip) so the blank journals were a way that I could experience travelling without having to leave my home or do anything too drastic.

I'm toying with the idea of sending a few more books out - I have about four or five journals left over from the original exercise.  If you'd like one, drop me a comment why (awesome responses have a better chance!), and let me know how to get in touch with you... and you might give one!

Um... should I have rules for this giveaway?

Okay.

THE RULES

To have a chance of getting a free travelling book sent to you for you to write in and then send on, you may abide by the following:

• Leave a comment on this blog post saying why you want a travelling book, where you live, and anything else that you think might convince me to pick you. Do this by 11:59pm on Friday 20th March 2015, GMT.
• You agree to have your location (I'm talking about a rough location like New York, US, not your home address or anything silly) mentioned on the Travelling Book Project website
• My decision is final and may be based on anything including, but not limited to, your name, your comment, your location, my feelings, the time of day, whether I'm tired or not, and hunger. I haven't decided whether its good if you live a long way away of me, because then your book will be all exotic and exciting, or whether its better if you live in the UK because the postage will be cheaper.
• Multiple comments aren't likely to help you, and probably will make it less likely that I pick you because they annoy me.
• You don't need to like, share, +1 this post, or anything like that, and doing so won't count as an entry.  But I'm not telling you not to, either.

I look forward to reading your exciting comments!  If you want to find out more about the Travelling Book Project, go to http://www.travellingbook.eu/

IT LIVES...

I have, as of about ten minutes ago, launched my very first crowdfunding campaign.

The Travelling Book Project, which I wrote about last time, appears to be quite popular.  As a summary, Travelling Books go from person to person, with each person writing in the book a little bit about themselves and their lives.  It's a brilliant way (I think!) of connecting with other people globally, being creative, and taking part in a bit of an adventure (and who doesn't secretly want to take part in an adventure!)

Originally I had planned to make five books, and just send them out to people that was interested, but very quick it became clear that more than five people would like a book, and as much as I'd like to, I can't make all of the books that people want for free.  Plus if we're going to have a good number of books (which I hope!) ideally I need to spend time, and quite possibly money, on tracking the books, perhaps by a website set up for the project.

So, I decided to set up a crowdfunding campaign, with people able to fund the project, and in return get their own book (or go for some other perks listed).

I would hugely appreciate you taking a look at the campaign page, and sharing it with your networks.  I've got three weeks to raise as much funds as possible to make the project as big and as successful as possible.

Do expect regular updates here, and on the campaign page.  I hope we will be raising a glass in a few weeks to a fully funded project!

Thanks :)

The launch of the travelling book!

UPDATE: DESPITE THIS POST ONLY BEING THREE DAYS OLD, A LOT OF IT IS OUT OF DATE. THINGS ARE CHANGING RAPIDLY. EXPECT A NEW POST LATER TODAY!

Today I launch a new project.

Have you ever wanted a little bit more excitement?  To perhaps do something a little unusual?  Preferably in a way that gives you something interesting to talk about, but without too much effort, time spent, or outlay of money!

I love books like Yes Man, and Are You Dave Gorman, where people go off and do something slightly unusual and odd, for no real reason.  If you're not familiar with what I mean, Are You Dave Gorman talks about a drunken wager that forces a guy called Dave Gorman to track down and find fifty four other Dave Gormans around the world.

But, the problem is of course that I don't really have the ability to up sticks and travel all over the place doing something random, as much as I'd like to - I do have a family (which I love very much), and a job that generally requires me to show up at a particular office at least a few times a week, and I'm sure that most of the people reading this are in exactly the same boat.

So, I've thought of a way that I, and you that wants to take part, can get involved in a slightly odd quest.

The Travelling Book needs you!

The Travelling Book.  Currently not travelling.  So  just a book really.

I've got a notebook, and put in the notebook a little bit of information about myself - where I live, what I do, a few photos, that sort of thing.  And the plan is for me to mail this book to someone else.  They write a page or two about themselves, where they live, anything cool, exciting, or interesting that they might like to say.

And then they mail the book on to someone that they know, for them to do the same (ideally asking the person beforehand if they want to get involved!)

And this goes on and on, until when the book is full, the last person will mail it back to me, and I will scan the book and put it up on the internet so we can see where it travelled.  This way, you can take part in a slightly unusual quest, and all you have to do is write a page or two about yourself, maybe stick a photo or two in, and mail it to someone else.

The book isn't too big so hopefully it won't cost too much to mail - it weighs in at about 350 grams, and I'm hoping that it won't take years and years for the book to be filled and to come back home.  I fully expect it to be at least a few months, maybe even a year or more, but hopefully I'll still be living here when it comes back!

As I say, I've already done the first entry, I've talked a little bit about where I live (Hull in the United Kingdom), I've sellotaped in a couple of photos - I've used really big sellotape so that the photos don't come loose, because hopefully this book is going to go far and wide and adventure for a while.

Now, this is how you can get involved.

I'm making five of these books, and I need people to send them to, people that are up for putting a bit of information in, and sending it on to someone that they know.

If you would like to get one of these books, email me at mike.raven@gmail.com with your name and whereabouts in the world you live.  On Saturday 19th I will randomly pick five people to send a book to, who I will email to ask for their mailing address. We're doing something else now.

Do please be aware that whatever goes in the book is going to be for public consumption, names, email addresses, twitter accounts, whatever, it's all going to be scanned and uploaded, so don't put anything in the book that you wouldn't be happy with people on the Internet seeing!  When the book comes home I will email / tweet at people that wrote in the book so that they know it made it back okay and can read the scanned copy of the book.

One other thing that I need you for, and something that you can get involved in even if you don't fancy having a book sent to you - why wouldn't you though?!? - I think that the books need names.  Now I could certainly name them myself, but I'd either just call them book number 1, book number 2, and so on, or I'd give them rubbish names like Gandalf or Colin or Simon or something.  Not that Colin isn't a brilliant name for a cat or a garden shed, but not for a book.

So please do also get in touch with your suggested book names, email, put them in the comments, tweet me at ravenswingthog - whatever you prefer.

So that's the plan, let's see what happens and if you are up for this then thanks for taking part! I'm also doing a video about this on my YouTube channel (as I type it's still being put together ready for uploading overnight)

I really hope to find five people that are up for receiving a book, where you send it on to is entirely up to you, it could be to your next door neighbour or it could be another country, it's all good!

UPDATE: Here's the video if you want to watch it...