Please welcome Guest Blogger, Dan Murdoch! 

For our travels this year, a group of friends and I wanted to do something a little different from the average backpacker. We’d go by car, by the worst car in the world: the Trabant. We’d take our Trabbis to places they had never been- the Pamir Mountains, the Gobi Desert, the Asian jungle.
And instead of simply wandering the globe, we wanted to do something with a purpose. We’d do it for a cause- a charitable mission. From Germany, the home of the Trabant, to Cambodia, the home of our charity, via 21 countries and 15,000 miles.
From our base in Central Europe, full of enthusiasts and easy repairs, east into Turkey and the gateway to Asia, then through the Caucasus, where we were welcomed like heroes but strayed into a war zone. We ferried across the Caspian Sea and into the forgotten world of Central Asia, the police state of Turkmenistan, the beautiful Silk Road cities of Uzbekistan, the stunning mountain passes of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and the endless flat of the Kazakh steppe. We crossed Russia’s freezing Siberian winter and Mongolia’s icy plains, we travelled booming China before hitting the sun-speckled hills of Laos and the jungles of Cambodia.
And why not?
Well there were plenty of reasons why not. It was –20c in the Gobi when we crossed it, so cold we had to make a fire from camel droppings and sawn down fence posts to thaw out our water. But where else can you see flocks of fluffy golden camels picking out a moonlit trail across the snowy plains?
And the Red Crescent were right; The Pamir Mountains really shouldn’t be crossed in 600cc plastic cars with a top-speed of 50mph. But the view of Tajikistan from the top of the winding, crumbling Anzob Pass at daybreak is awe-inspiring.
There were mornings when I woke up and wondered what I was doing. After a freezing and restless night sleeping in the Siberian forest, I stirred to find a block of ice had formed inside my hat.
But there were times when I wanted to be nowhere else. Driving deep into the Karakoum Desert to find the fiery Darvaza gas crater, or lying on the hood of the car, soaking up the sunshine and watching Davir Gareja drift into the Azeri dusk.

When we decided we were going to do our trip for charity, we were looking for a way that people could donate quickly and easily.
And because we’re trying to raise money on the road, it was vital that we could provide people from across the globe with an accessible way to donate.
Firstgiving provides an easy portal for people to contribute from anywhere and the site’s reputation ensures people can be confident when donating.
Through the Firstgiving page we’ve managed to raise almost $20,000.
We couldn’t have done it without them.
www.trabanttrek.org