Charitable donations

I have decided to do my trip in aid of these two charities:

WaterAid

Who work in 26 countries worldwide, transforming millions of lives every year with safe water, sanitation and hygiene projects.

and

Seeing Hands Nepal

Which is a UK Registered Charity, set up to provide training and employment opportunities in massage therapy for young blind people in Nepal.

All the money that raised will be split evenly between these two charities. It is my hope to raise in excess of £4,000. If you would like to donate please call or text me on 07587091391.

Thank you

Financial breakdown, Sponsorship and Crowd-sourcing

So I have manically started pulling out my beard hair, as I have been looking at some of the unavoidable costs of my trip. The aim is to do the trip using massage as an international currency; using it to get from A to B, find a place to stay and even, where possible, get some food in my stomach. There are, however, things that I will either need to gain via sponsorship deals or trade agreements or if absolutely necessary will have to BUY!!!

Here is a list of products/services that I will be trying at all costs try to stop turning into costs:

Potential sponsorship deals

• Cameras, Lenses and other photographic/filming equipment. (Cannon go pro)

• Bike (for conversion into the couchcycle), panniers, helmet and bike tools. (Evans cycles, cycle surgery)

Potential trade agreements

• Voyages: 

1. England to France (£20)
2. Italy to Greece  (E40)
3. Greece to Turkey
4. Turkey to Egypt
5. Iraq to India
6. India to Thailand
7. Cambodia to Hong Kong
8. Hong Kong to South Korea
9. South Korea to Japan
10. Japan to Hawaii

• Place to stay in descending order:

1. Couch-surfing
2. Local people
3. Camping
4. Hostels/ Hotels

It may be necessary on occasion to re-fuel and re-supply along the way, charge cameras batteries and clean properly. On occasion if there are not many couch-surfing prospects or safe havens along the way I will need to take a break from camping

• Food and Sundries Where possible I will aim to trade massage for food or massage for money which I can then buy food with along the way; this however may not always be possible. This also goes for any other purchase for example; parts for the bicycle, repairs on equipment, and replacement clothing... 

I feel that £50 a week should be more than adequate to supplement/support the trip for all other unforeseen and unbarterable expenses for both extra accommodation and food/equipment, however I will be doing my utmost to spend none of this money.

 £50 x 52 weeks=£2,600

The necessities 

The Kit List

1. 2x Poweradd Apollo Pro 23000 mAh Solar Panel Portable Battery + relevant wires £40
2. Light Weight Tent £70-100
3. Bike + equipment (aerodynamic trailer) [solar panel helmet] [fingers crossed sponsorship] Panniers 
4. Cameras + equipment [finger crossed sponsorship]
5. Emergency ration packs £30-£50
6. Clothing including: 2x cycling shorts, 2x shorts, 1x trousers warm, 1x waterproofs, 1x Thermal blanket Quick dry long trousers you can change into shorts, 2x Touch Trail T-shirts. £200
7. First Aid kit £25
8. Sleeping bag £70
9. Pillows for couchcycle and sleep £50
10. Mosquito net £20
11. Wash bag £20
12. Sun cream £10
13. Plastic or metal mug £5
14. Waterproof watch £25
15. Swiss knife £40
16. Freezer bags £5
17. Silica gel £8
18. Flask £15
19. Whined-up Torch £10
20. sovedis-aquatabs (??)

Current total for equipment: £693

Suggestions would be much, much, much appreciated...

Health

All relevant injections/immunizations for countries passed through. Arrange doctor appointment to go through the trip to get a list and prices.

Communication and Travel

1. Around the world coverage for phone (Internet)
2. Visa's for:

• Turkey £10
• Egypt £12
• Iraq (I am investigating)
• India £92.00
• Nepal 30 day visa £35
• China Chinese visa service centre 30 day visa £70
• Cambodia £15
• Thailand (tourist up to 30 days)
• Korea South (tourist up to 90 days)
• USA £15

Current Visa Total: £249 + (Iraq)

Insurance

Insure and go silver backpackers insurance 1 year with 10 million pounds health insurance: £404.00

• If you believe this project has potential
• If you have any advice or experience with crowd-sourcing
• If you know anyone or you yourself live in one of the countries listed and shown in my post 'The Trail First Draft' and would like to put me up for a night in exchange for a massage.
• If you are an experienced traveler
• If have connections to a cruse-line company who are always short staffed on their voyages from Kuwait to Mumbai (worth a shot)
• If you would like to support this project in anyway including financially

If you fit into any or all the above categories please send me a message or give me a call @

matthew@mlhmassage.co.uk

m.c.g.lacoste@gmail.com

07587091391

Couchsurfers

Calling all couch owners... Just made a couch surfer account! going to be insane trying to workout places to stay along a route not to mention trying to stick to a day I will arrive at a certain place! One thing is for sure though, that  it is so brilliant that this resource is available and will I'm sure create some security on my journey with the occasional warm bed and hot shower... thank you in advance couchsurfers!!!

www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=5HTNC29VF

The Goal

Touch Trail is a project to show the healing power and potential of massage in modern society the goal is to travel across the planet using massage as an international currency and show its prevalence in ancient medicine and its growing status as a modern remedy. This I hope will help to quash any thoughts that massage is merely a luxury for the rich to enjoy and to increase the awareness in the wider community of the social benefits it yields for example human interaction, Improved motor function and body awareness, release of stress, improved circulation. All of these benefits can be found in both the giving as well as the receiving of massage.

The couchcycle

The main mode of transportation on the trip is hopefully going to be kind hearted sore backed individuals who owns a motorized something... However, the other travelling element will be the couchcycle. Part bicycle part massage table the couchcycle is being designed by my brother Henri Lacoste an achitecture student at Edinburgh University with an eye for design.

The Plan

1. The back wheel is removed and replaced with a  supporting structure a small board attached to the bike via two metal struts on either side.
2. The pedals will create a foot rest. 
3. A comfortable, supportive structure for the chest will attach between the handlebars and the seat. 

I want it to be versatile peace of kit which is:

1. Good for short distance travel.
2. Useable for back and neck massage where a private massage on a floor is not feasible.
3. Is compact enough to fit in a reasonably small space.

...So I have given him quite a challenge!

Good luck Hen 

Designs & Pictures to come...

The trail first draft

Delving deeper in to this topic, the history of massage, I have begun to realize the endlessness of my undertaking there appears to be a form of massage from almost every corner of the planet I have created this list as a starting point, it is by no means all encompassing but does include countries which saw great developments in the art of massage:

Sweden - France - Rome - Greece - Turkey - Egypt - Mesopotamia (Iraq) - India - Nepal  China - Mongolia - Thailand - Cambodia - Korea - Japan - Hawaii - Canada - North America (native American massage) - Peru and Brazil