Our Team

Dave Bousill and Deb Corbeil of ThePlanetD, Rick Griffin of Midlife Road Trip and Sherry Ott of Ottsworld and Briefcase to Backpack are a team of four well-known Internet travel personalities. Experts in their respective niches of Adventure, Making the Most of Midlife and Taking a Career Break, they have come together for this one time only trip of a lifetime.

Sherry Ott – Ottsworld

Sherry is a refugee from corporate IT who is now a long term traveler, blogger and photographer. Sherry has been blogging about her travels on Ottsworld: Travel and Life Experiences of a Corporate America Runaway for 4+ years. She also is a co-founder of the career break travel site, Briefcase to Backpack and the in-person travel networking events Meet, Plan, Go! – yes, she’s a busy person. She likes to travel to the off-the-beaten path places and challenge herself with things most people wouldn’t do such as learn how to ride a motorbike in Vietnam, volunteer and live in a buffalo barn in Nepal, travel with her father (the most challenging of all!), and participate in this Mongol Rally.  She was the ‘instigator’ of this crazy idea, and I’m sure at some point she will be blamed for the whole thing! She is a nomad without a home and is the only one of our team who has actually been to Mongolia before. Sherry Constantly Ranks in the top 50 Travel Influencers Online and the 100 Most Influential Travel Bloggers.

If you find yourself in a sticky situation in the what would you be willing to barter to get out of it?

Sherry – English lessons, trail mix, and tiger balm.
Dave - My plan is to load the car with cigarettes and booze.
Deb –  A stack of ones always does the trick. ones and a smile.
Rick – I’d be willing to offer Sherry or Deb.

What was the First Car you owned?

Sherry – A 1980 Honda Accord Hatchback.  It was rust colored, which conveniently hid the rust. I was 20 years old when I bought my first car!
Rick – A 1973 Buick Regal – burgandy with a black vinyl roof, bench seats and a 8-track tape player!
Dave – A  1978 Honda Civic Hatchback. It was red, we once fit 7 people into it.
Deb – A 1986 Plymouth Horizon Hatchback Sedan. My dad painted it two tone grey to look cooler.

Rick Griffin of Midlife Road Trip

Rick is a forty something year-old adolescent with ADD hitting the road as therapy for his midlife crises. As Founder/Creator and co-host of the Midlife Road Trip, Rick makes the most of midlife by pursuing his bucket list and encouraging others to do the same. After a brush with death in 2004, Rick re-evaluated his priorities, sold his business and began to pursue his creative passions in travel, writing and video production. In 2010, Rick was selected as a featured panelist for BlogWorld 2010 in Las Vegas, selected for Princes Cruises “Follow Me At Sea”Twitter cruise, and selected to attend the NASA shuttle launch and Tweetup. In 2009 Rick developed the creative concept used for Budweiser’s Designated Driver Campaign that premiered in the Tonight Show. Rick consistently ranks among the top 10 of the world’s Top 50 Travel Influencers Online.

How Many Tickets or Traffic Violations have you Received?

Rick-one stop sign violation, one red light violation, one parking violation and one or five speeding tickets…. but hey, I’ve been driving for over 33 years – so it’s not as bad as it seems.
Dave – Three – I fought them all and won.
Deb – One when I was 17. I was always scared to death of doing anything to my cars because my dad looked each car over with a fine tooth comb. That was my last traffic ticket.
Sherry – None.  I’m damn good at running from the law.

What’s the longest number of days you’ve gone wearing the same underwear/clothes?

Rick – I’m not sure, I’ve never really kept track, but I’m sure the Mongol Rally will provide me with the opportunity to set a new personal best. Should I start training now?
Dave –  6 days in African desert. Same  2 prs of cycling shorts in the Sudan Desert. No Shower and a tight water ration.
Deb – Oh God, do I have to answer that? Several days in the Sudan, 6 days in Ethiopia, 9 days without a shower on Everest Base Camp trek. I did change my underwear though.
Sherry – 8 days on Kilimanjaro with no shower, 7 days on the Annapurna circuit in the same clothes (underwear is the exception – thongs don’t take any room)

Dave and Deb of ThePlanetD

Dave and Deb enjoy crossing continents, the last being the Tour d’Afrique in 2008 where they cycled from Cairo to Cape Town where Deb was woman’s Champion and Dave became a part of the EFI Club (Cycling Every Fabulous Inch) For the past 10 years they have climbed, paddled, hiked and biked their way through 5 continents.  They have taken part the Rocky Mountain Adventure Drive with General Motors, were selected for the Princess Cruises “Follow Me At Sea” Twitter Cruise, Blogged from Paradise in St. Kitts with the Marriott and most recently joined Fiji’s Influencer tour as a part of their FijiMe Campaign.  They are currently traveling through China with Intrepid tours and leading a Photography tour in Rajasthan India. Dave and Deb consistently rank among the top 10 of the world’s Top 50 Travel Influencers Online and 100 Most Influential Travel Bloggers

Do you Know how to use a compass?

Dave and Deb – Yes, we took an orienteering course years ago because we had aspirations to be adventure racers.  When we were let loose to find our way back through the wilderness, Dave went one way, Deb went the other.
Sherry -  I quit the Girl Scouts after one year.  No compass skills at all…but I can sell a lot of Thin Mints.
Rick – I earned an Orienteering Merit Badge in Boy Scouts when I was like 12 years old, but I don’t even remember which side of the compass you’re supposed to look through to tell the temperature.

If you break down on the side of the road, how do you typically resolve the situation??
Dave – Call CAA
Deb – Call my dad and brother Jim in that order. They know cars being in the car business all their life.
Sherry – cry.
Rick – Since I am not mechanically inclined and I don’t pull off looking like a damsel in distress too well, so I pray, and call anybody who I think is close enough to help.