Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A little about us...

We are Alan, Nathan, and Nadav

a couple of twenty-somethings either in or not far out of college. Perhaps unsurprisingly to those who know us, we met in college through several program/student groups that Washington University in St. Louis offers (henceforth referred to as WashU.)

The Mechanic
Alan just graduated from the WashU (Class of '09) with a Master's degree in Vocal Performance and a specialty in Opera. He likes bikes; or at least we believe so after he picked up mountain biking two years ago and crashed more times than any other cyclist I know. He's a jolly good sport and an excellent reproducer of personalities, accents, and puppets. His favorite of which is the Swedish Chef.

The Culturist
Nadav is a junior at WashU and currently taking a semester off. He is home-based out of the DC area but often looks for new territory to explore, cultures to experience, and good people to meet. Most notably is his summer trip to Israel alone, after forgoing a potential "group tour" and then backpacking across the nation. Note to homeowners: please do not wake up trespassers on your lawn with a sprinkler system. Nadav is pursuing a degree in Urban Studies and is creating his own major along the way. He is also the only guy lucky enough to have a girlfriend.

The Planner
Nathan, aka myself, graduated from WashU (Class of '08) with a Bachelor's degree in Biology with a focus in sustainable development. Unlike the other guys I tend to dabble in sports and my level of fitness is certainly the lowest of the group leading me to train harder for this trip than the other two. I like to think about life as a process of acquiring stories and this tour will certainly be one of the big ones. That and I will get the chance to check out a new region of the country as I will be abandoning my lease and my job at Monsanto to do this. I am all in boys!



Individual Plans

Basically the plan is for the three of us, Alan, Nadav, and myself, to bicycle from Vancouver to San Diego (or Border-to-Border as I like to call it) following the Pacific Coast. Our start date is set at August 21, 2009 and we hope to be in San Diego, CA by October 4, 2009. At that point Nadav needs to catch a plane elsewhere for the remainder of his semester off and Alan will turn eastward to schlep back to St. Louis, MO. I will end my bike trip either to head for a new job or by joining Alan eastward for another season of cycling.