This summer I met a very inspiring entrepreneur Rob. Rob is British, who now lives in the South of France and runs his business from there. Rob’s story fascinated me, not only because he has changed his life completely 2 years ago, but also how he realised his dreams with his venture, enjoying a new lifestyle and creating experiences for himself and others.
Only 2 years ago Rob was based in the UK and worked for an events company.
His schedule meant that he had very little time to see his daughter, in fact very little time to do anything at all in the non-working hours and no time to pursue his entrepreneurial ideas – if you ever lived in the fast-paced UK you understand the rat race.
One day, he simply decided it’s enough, bought a camper van, packed his family and headed off. This in itself takes a lot of courage and passion for adventure.
He and his family travelled around Europe enjoying new experiences and freedom until eventually ending up in beautiful Croatia. Having stayed there for a while, Rob took up sailing and did his skipper licence.
Some more travelling and adventures came after that until eventually the came across a small village in the South of France in the Languedoc region. They fell in love with the place immediately and decided to stay there.
Enriched by their travelling experiences, Rob decided to turn his ideas into reality, putting his events management expertise in place – he set up his company Wacky Rally.
Wacky Rally is a beautiful example of investing in experiences – investing in fun, adventure and freedom. A few times a year a number of teams come together and go on a fun rally across Europe.
Teams are tasked with a purchase of an old banger of a car, customising it in an imaginative and amusing way – anything from the Bat Mobile, animals of various denominations, and pirate ships to hippy cars, tanks, and crazy paint jobs.
Of course, the true adventure begins on the road, spread across 4 days and many European countries. Wacky rally is “The shared challenge, the camaraderie and the memorable stories are what make the wacky rally, Europe's favourite car rally, a trip you'll remember for the rest of your life”.
The freedom and “devil may attitude” that goes for the rally combined with the stunning scenery you will experience in European beauty spots in France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain to name just a few makes it into a true adventure.
Rob designs every route himself, crafting some obstacles and challenges, which require team members to work together, creating a special bond in a matter of days. Participants are of all ages and all walks of life – it truly is for everyone who wants pure joy, fun, freedom and adventure.
Wacky rallies in 2018 already offer two extremely fun routes: Barmy to Barcelona and Rockin to Rimini - having looked at all the photos and hearing the fun stories I am very tempted to sign up myself, if only I can convince my parents to look after my little one.
All you need to participate is a team and 4 days blocked off in your schedule. The boats are provided along with the skipper – so no boating experience necessary – only the flair for adventure and passion for fun on water.
Watch this short video of the rally 2016 – this looks like pure joy.
Moreover, if you are a sailing fan – you have an opportunity to stay for an extra 2 days and get a skipper license! Once again – I wish I did not have my business trips already planned, otherwise I will so be joining the teams, as there is still definitely time to plan the trip.
I love the experiences and the adventure Rob offers.
At Boataffair this is exactly what we believe in and what made us start the business.
So, I am now going through my schedule to see when I can go on a Wacky Rally.
In the meantime, we are jealously looking for Wacky Rally updates on Facebook, Instagram and their website.
