Application
Who can join?
Anyone who is at least 18 years old and speaks English.
Are you the perfect teammate?
If you do not believe in "impossible" or "I can't do it" - we will be glad to welcome you among us. Our perfect teammate should know what teamwork means. Your legs must be strong, but your head must be stronger. You have to be ready to cycle all day both in the rain and in the heat. You have to accept the fact that one cold shower a day is a luxury. When you fall, you must be ready to stand up, clean the wounds and ride on and it is not a quote from some motivational speech - it is real life which means that it might be painful. You must be aware that this journey is something for real adventurers who know that weeping on the side of the road do not bring them closer to their goals. You must be ready to solve real life problems, not to create them.
How do we choose teammates?
This process will have 3 phases. In the 1st phase out of all applications we will choose the most convincing ones. We must be sure that you can ride at least 50 km each day and you have some travel experience. We are able to verify this by watching your presentation and looking at your Instagram. If we find travel photos there and on some of them we will see you on a bicycle - you are entering the voting phase. In some cases, we might want to talk to you in English. In the 2nd phase everyone online can like your presentation. Five girls and five guys with the largest number of likes from a given country enter the 3rd phase. The 3rd phase is a draw. First we will divide countries into two groups - those from which we will draw girls and those from which we will draw guys. After that from each country we will draw our teammate. Each country can appear only once in this trip and each team will consist of 10 different nationalities.
Why my country is not there?
Every team has certain countries assigned to it and if you want to be a part of this adventure, you have to be a member of a certain team (you must live in a certain country) and you must be ready to come to Japan in certain dates. If your country is not on the list assigned to any of teams you still can apply. If there will be less than 5 male or 5 female contestants from the certain country, top contestants from unlisted countries will be included in the final draw and they will have a chance to join random teams.
You cannot change teams!
If, for example, you are from Argentina, it means that you only can be a member of Team-3 and you need to be in Japan from 27.08.2021 till 28.10.2021. We decided to make it that way to avoid situation in which most of you would like to see Kyōto or Tōkyō because you know it from tourist guide books. Those who really travel know that the road is more important than the destination. We can assure you that all parts of this journey are planned in a way that will show you breathtaking Japan at its best and many of places on our way, though less famous, are not less charming than Kyōto or Tōkyō! Besides we want this project to be as international as possible.
What if I win?
If you win you will have 2 weeks to complete visa formalities if required, buy a ticket to and from Japan in appropriate dates, buy your travel insurance covering the time between your arrival and departure and send us a copy of it as a confirmation of your participation in our adventure. If you will not be able to do this, the person with the highest number of likes from your draw will be invited to join us.
Do I have to pay something?
From the first till the last day of your team's ride your accommodation, food, drinks, tickets for tourist attractions, ferries and trains will cost you nothing as long as you ride with your team. We will live together, we will eat and drink together and we will do sightseeing together and you do not have to worry about expenses in this field. Laundry services and public baths are also included in team's budget. We will provide spare parts for your bicycle but you will have to fix it with the help of your team. All other expenses must be covered by you. If you expect to have two months of all inclusive holidays in Japan, you will be disappointed very fast. We will eat well, we will sleep well but also our daily routine for most of you will be a real challenge. Are you ready for this?
Do I have to bring my bicycle?
No. Our partners provide all equipment necessary to move and camp around Japan. You are the one to carry it with you. Detailed list of things which you should and should not bring with you will be sent to all teammates after the draw phase. Some parts of provided equipment will be gifts which you will bring back with you to your country. Regarding bicycle, you may consider taking your own saddle if you ride so intensively that you are used to it.
What will I do on the way?
You will cycle a lot for sure. Each team will participate in meetings with local communities during which you will talk about your impressions of Japan and about the country you come from. You need to be ready to talk about your country's culture, geography, history and the most famous places to visit. There will be two types of meetings - morning ones, with Japanese school students and evening ones, with everyone who wants to meet us along the way. The entire trip will be broadcast on social media, there will be photos and videos with you in which you talk about Japan, also in your language. Japanese media will accompany us from time to time. We will do sightseeing and eat in their company and you will have a chance to be on Japanese television. When the journey is over, based on the collected material, we will create a documentary about our adventures in Japan and we will make it available for everyone on the Internet for free. The entire trip will be described in the form of a free guide book for everyone who would like to travel our route. By participating in this project, you agree to use your image in all related materials for free. The Japanese government, which sponsors our journey, will be allowed to use all the collected materials without any time limits to promote Japan both within the country and abroad through its diplomatic missions and the media. Our partners will have the right to use our journey to promote their brands till 31st of December 2021 and they all will be mentioned in the documentary and the guide book which will be created after the journey. You will be able to use all collected materials for your own promotion as long as you want.
Teams
Do you want to explore Japan with us in a way that is beyond the reach of typical tourists? We may tell you that it will not be easy, but the harder the road, the better the views.
We will cross Japan in 3 teams. Each team will consist of people from 10 different countries and will include 5 girls and 5 guys. Each team will spend 60 days in Japan. Check which team may become your travel family during that time.
Team-1
Are you from Australia, Chile, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, United Arab Emirates or United Kingdom? This is your team!
Your adventure begins in Sapporo on 01.05.2021 and ends in Tōkyō on 29.06.2021. You will make 2250 km by cycling only, which means that an average daily distance which you have to make cannot be less than 50 km. Three times you will have to cycle more than 70 km between stops for the night and one time you will have to make 90 km and it is the longest daily distance during that whole ride. Your team will have 28 hostel/hotel stops on its way and it will camp 31 times. You must be ready to climb Mount Yōtei and Mount Tarumae on Hokkaidō. You will participate in 11 "Globetrotter School" and 11 "World of Friends" meetings with Japanese during which you will talk about your impressions from Japan and about your country. Are you ready for this?
This part of the trip starts in 5-14°C and ends in 21-26°C but till the second week of June it should be sunny and relatively dry. You will see less tourstic but truly stunning part of Japan!
Team-2
Are you from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan or Vietnam? This is your team!
Your adventure begins in Tōkyō on 29.06.2021 and ends in Hiroshima on 27.08.2021. You will make 1440 km by cycling only, which means that an average daily distance which you have to make cannot be less than 50 km. Three times you will have to cycle more than 70 km between stops for the night and one time you will have to make 100 km and it is the longest daily distance during that ride. Your team will have 47 hostel/hotel stops on its way and will camp 12 times. You must be ready to climb the symbol of Japan - Mount Fuji. You will participate in 14 "Globetrotter School" and 14 "World of Friends" meetings with Japanese during which you will talk about your impressions from Japan and about your country. Are you ready for this?
This part of the trip covers the most touristic side of Japan. Your team will have less kilometers to cycle and much more hoste/hotel stops than other teams but also it will have much more rain - all July and the first week of August will be wet. This part of the trip starts in 22-26°C and ends in 24-30°C and you must know that summer in Japan is really hot.
Team-3
Are you from Argentina, China, France, Netherlands, Nigeria, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Turkey or United States? This is your team!
Your adventure begins in Hiroshima on 27.08.2021, goes through Kagoshima, Amami Ōshima and Okinoerabujima to Okinawa but ends in Tōkyō on 28.10.2021. You will make 1990 km by cycling only, which means that an average daily distance which you have to make cannot be less than 50 km. Four times you will have to cycle more than 70 km between stops for the night and one time you will have to make 90 km and it is the longest daily distance during that ride. Your team will have 30 hostel/hotel stops on its way and it will camp 28 times. You will participate in 12 "Globetrotter School" and 12 "World of Friends" meetings with Japanese during which you will talk about your impressions from Japan and about your country. Are you ready for this?
During this ride you will see 2 most amazing bicycle routes in Japan and 3 incredible islands. You will also ride through the largest active volcano in Japan - Mount Aso. You must be ready to ride in the strong wind - typhoons go through Japan in September and October quite often and they bring rain. This part of the trip starts in 24-28°C and ends in 23-27°C.
How can I apply?
You need to be sure that you can do what is described above which means that you must be absolutely sure of your health condition and your travel insurance must be able to cover all the risks associated with it. If you have any allergies, you must be prepared to relieve them. We will cycle through Japan in this time of the year when bees are very active and there are many of them. This part of the world has also Asian giant hornets and you can see them in Japan quite often. Are you okay with it?
If you are, record a 60-90 seconds long (not less, not more) video presentation in which you will: (1) introduce yourself and tell everyone who you are, where do you come from and what is your hobby, (2) tell how many countires in your life have you visited and which are your favourite ones, (3) tell if you have been to Japan before, (4) tell what was the longest (in kilometers) bicycle trip you have ever had, (5) tell what was your biggest adventure so far and (6) what would you like to see the most in Japan. Finally (7) tell everyone what bicycle you usually ride and why they should vote for you.
The video should be recorder in full HD (1080p) and in 60 fps (frames per second). Compress it into a ZIP file. Open WeTransfer, add your file and send it to apply@advanturers.world (do not send it directly to this e-mail - it will not go through). In the message field write your name, your age, your country and your Instagram username (not Instagram name, your Instagram account must be public). If what we see will convince us, on the 1st of December 2020 you will find your presentation here and it will be the time in which you should start collecting your likes. You will have 51 days for it.
The worst weather you should be prepared for looks like that and riding in it can be really hard.
