Drifting home from Oz? It can’t be that Howard..
Irishman’s car quest after global hitchhike
AN Irishman who successfully hitchhiked all the way to Australia now plans on driving a drift car back to Ireland to again show “anything is possible”.
Andy Howard reckons the epic trek will take him about a year to complete and declared: “It’s already a logistical nightmare”.
The 29-year-old set off on his first globetrotting adventure at the start of last year in aid of suicide prevention charities.
He took with him only the clothes on his back and a rucksack.
Andy said he had to rely purely on the generosity of others and revealed he was blown away by people’s kindness and as a result, ended up arriving Down Under in just five months.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror yesterday about the journey to Oz, he said: “It was amazing, it wasn’t anything like I thought it was going to be. I had given myself about a year and a half to complete it and I had
envisioned I would be working in different places to pay people back for their generosity but everybody just wanted me to push forward with the project without delay.”
Andy said he had been warned about Kazakhstan but said the Asian country turned out to be a particular highlight.
He was put in touch with some locals through Instagram who ended up getting him a cake to celebrate his birthday.
Andy said: “My motto before the trip was not to worry about things until I had to. But Kazakhstan was always in the back of my mind.
“It was the best experience, I tried not to worry about it and it turned out to be one of the best countries I’ve ever been through.”
Andy said there were a number of
life lessons during his months on the road. He added: “I learned a lot about how strong you actually are and how strong everybody is when they need to be.
“I was in such a vulnerable position where I had to be witty and I just had to go along with my gut.
“But I also had to try and find comfort in uncomfortable situations which was a huge life lesson.”
Andy said there were only a handful of times he felt unsafe throughout his trip but said he relied on his instincts to get by and told how he felt
“perfectly fine” sleeping rough in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Once he arrived in
Australia, Andy said he got a working holiday visa and devised his Drift Across the World project.
He is now preparing for the trip and trying to get sponsorship to fund it. Andy said the Drift Across the World project will be in aid of the
Make A Wish foundation. Andy, who is originally from Wicklow, learned how to drift at Mondello Park before going on to be a tutor and hopes to take part in some events across the world while he travels home.
He hopes to set off on June 10 from Melbourne before heading to Brisbane and putting the car on a ferry to Asia.
Andy added: “Not many people have attempted to do what I’m going to do. So it’s going to be a constant learning curve.
“Not only will I need my own passport, I’m going to need a car passport. It’s already a logistical nightmare but I’m taking it one step at a
time. I reckon this will be harder than hitchhiking to Australia because there are so many more variables that could go wrong like the car breaking down. But I want to show that anything is possible if you take action.”
When asked what he would say to people who think he’s mad. Andy said: “I would much rather take action and pursue, rather than have the thoughts of ‘what if ’.
“It’s all about pushing boundaries, challenging the norm, and proving with passion and determination that anything is possible.”
Visit https://www.gofundme. com/f/ykxfqc-makeawish