This is going to be my biggest adventure yet! It’s never been done before, we have no idea the daily distances we can cover, where we will sleep each night or what to expect along the way….but what I do know is I am really, really excited!!

Kicking the States

So here it is……Kicking the States! Supported by the brilliant guys at VivoLife, Gil and I will be traveling the full length of the USA on adult kick scooters leaving May 2018. A human-powered journey covering more than 1,500 miles.

This is our rough route…

You’ve probably got a few questions?!

Ummm….kick scooter?

Yep! With got ourselves 2 awesome Yedoo adult kick-scooters. These really are the Ferrari’s of the scooter world. We tried out a few different options but Yedoo glide like a dream and are built well enough to last the distance.

I’m in love already!

Where did this idea come from?

I guess the idea for Kicking the States stemmed from my first ever adventure Scoot the Loop. Gil and I completed the 240km London Loop on adult kick scooters, wild camping along the way. It was a tough challenge but it’s impossible not to have fun on a kick scooter and since then we have been talking about doing another one.

I wanted to set myself a challenge to do something big in 2018. Just Gil and I (I’ve missed my husband after 3 months apart so it was time to do an adventure just us). We specifically wanted something long in length that has never been done before.

Why America?

Gil and I got married in 2015 and our plan was to do a huge American road trip for our honeymoon….except Gil’s big corporate job wouldn’t give him the time off. We settled on going to Burningman Festival instead but said we’d go back one day to see the places we hoped to visit….I never imagined it would be on a kick scooter!

How long will it take?

We’ve got a 3 month visa time frame…so it will take us 3 months! The daily distances will vary depending on sleeping options, weather and how many hills we have to tackle but we are aiming for an average of around 40km a day. We will also need to account for rest days so that our body can recover and will work this all out as we go.

Will you be scooting on roads?

Yes! These things are pretty nifty so we’ll be following the same rules as a bike would on the road.

How will you carry your stuff?

We are trying to work that one out….

One option is to attach a platform at the front or above the back wheel that we can then put a bag on top of. If we can really reduce the amount of stuff we take with us, we may be able to get away with just a handlebar bag and rucksack.

Where will you sleep each night?

Our tent will be coming with us so most nights we will be camping – in campsites, on the stealth or in gardens with permission. We also hope to use WarmShowers which connects cyclists (we count right?) with generous folk who are happy to host for a night. Some nights we will stay in hostels or motels so we can rest properly and have a shower!

And you’re raising money for charity?

We will be using this expedition to raise money for ACE, our favourite charity. We’ve visited the school, met the children and were heartbroken by the poverty we saw. It would mean the world to us if we can raise a significant amount that can help some of the children in Tanzania through their education.

While on our Kicking the States expedition, we will be giving free talks in exchange for charity donations. And we will also be relying on the kindness of peoples donations…..please do sponsor us here!!

How much is it going to cost?

It’s hard to tell exactly. The flights are a big cost….they will be about $900 each Then there will be food – we are going to try and budget $8 day. Accommodation is harder to work out as it depends what opportunities we have en route. We are working on $10 each for accommodation accounting for some camping and hosted nights for the most part with an occasional motel or hostel.

A lot of the gear we have already and what we didn’t have we have been given by companies who want to support our challenge and charity aims. So that has helped with costs a huge amount.

Then there are the miscellaneous costs – getting the scooters to the States, repairs, insurance, etc.

As a rough estimate, we are aiming to stay within a budget of $3000 each for the expedition. It might sound a lot but that’s for 3 months worth of adventuring and only works out at $1000 a month (roughly £700)

These are the costs for the expedition itself but we will actually spend a bit more than this as we also have a budget for PR – to get some professional photos, make a film, sharing on social media. The more we can shout about our expedition, the more we hope we can raise for our charity. We wouldn’t normally have a budget to cover these costs but this is going to be a sponsored expedition which is really exciting!

Why in partnership with VivoLife?

Kicking the States is being sponsored to do this journey by the brilliant guys at VivoLife.

If you are new to the concept of adventure sponsorship, this is effectively a company financially supporting your venture in exchange for promoting their brand (you’ll see us wearing their organic tees!). It’s a mutually beneficial partnership. It works similar to sports sponsorship – we get the funding we need to make the adventure happen and they get exposure for their brand while helping a great cause in the process.

My followers would have already heard me talk about VivoLife. Since moving to a predominantly vegan diet and becoming nomadic, I’ve been using their shakes to keep me healthy and I genuinely love their products and the environmental and ethical stance that they promote. So both Gil and I are super proud to be working with them in this way.

(If you are tempted to try VivoLife yourself, you can use the code ‘loveherwild’ which will give you 10% off your order. I can personally recommend the Thrive and Perform which I use daily)

How can I follow you?

I want to share as much of our journey as possible from the day to day routines to the mishaps along the way. I’ll be doing regular stories on Instagram and sharing updates on Facebook and Twitter so please do follow us!

Have any more questions about the expedition which I haven’t covered? Please do ask me in the comments box below!