How did all that come? Two months ago I did not know about the Budapest-Bamako at all. I came across it by pure accident in November, when I was sitting in a hotel room somewhere in Eastern Europe (probably in Bucharest), and, tired of the slow connection to my company’s VPN, started browsing a used car page on the internet. There I found it, a Nissan Patrol “which made it to Bamako and back, and badly needed repair”.
Bamako? I have to admit I didn’t even know Bamako was the capital of Mali (at that time I would have bet it was Timbuktu), but thanks to Google I quickly found the Budapest-Bamako story (see e.g. http://www.thelifeofadventure.com/budapest-bamako-rally/#more-3807) and was irresistibly captivated.
I spent the night watching videos and reading stories of the previous races and can’t remember the business meeting the day after (I assume my customers don’t remember it either, it was definitely not my best performance).
After that night it was clear: I had to do it!
Back at home I started to develop a strategy how to convince my wife. It took several weeks and all the knowledge I had from various sales strategy and negotiation trainings to get her approval, but finally, just in time before the Christmas holidays, I have it!
The next step, finding a companion, was much easier. My colleague Michal was quickly identified as the preferred victim, and, surprisingly, didn’t even had to be persuaded.