Band of geek gypsies: Who I am traveling with

As the Drive Around the World Expedition cruises its way along the Pan-American Highway in coming weeks and months, the travel stories I tell here will often revolve around the personalities who make up our expedition team. Hence, I will introduce them below -- briefly detailing their official biography before revealing my behind-the-scenes take on who they really are.

Official bio: A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Nick is the executive director and expedition leader for Drive Around the World.

The real story: Some expedition leaders look to Mungo Park for inspiration; some follow the example of Lewis and Clark. Nick Baggarly, on the other hand, fancies himself firmly in the tradition of Captain Kirk from Star Trek. Indeed, Nick graduated to his position not through military or adventure sports channels, but from wired ranks of the Silicon Valley – and, as a result, his style as an expedition-leader bears the creative-obsessive-compulsive stamp of a software geek. For example, Nick managed to bring Land Rover onboard as a sponsor to the impressive tune of four expedition vehicles -- yet during the entire month I observed him during DATW preparation in Los Gatos, he failed to achieve the simple task of returning a DVD of “Glengarry Glenn Ross” to the local video store. Nick managed to select, organize, and manage a nine-person expedition team during that same time period – yet all constructive work in the expedition office could stop for hours if Nick suddenly decided to convert an old Mac Classic into an office fishbowl, or try for the high-score on a “Nuclear Fart Bear” game he found on the Internet. Perhaps the best example of Nick’s management style is to watch him eat corn on the cob: After 30 minutes of eating, Nick will have taken about eight bites from random places before having completely lost interest in the rest of the cob. Nick has to be the most improbable (and least orthodox) person to ever lead an officially sanctioned global Land Rover expedition -- and that’s exactly why I think the journey could be a lot of fun. I am fascinated to see things go under his leadership.

Official bio: A technical writer and web developer at a Silicon Valley software company, Chanda is in charge of country research and route logistics.

The real story: In addition to enduring the heroic task of being married to Nick, Chanda spends a lot of time on the phone and behind the computer screen, and (along with Justin) can be credited with the remarkable fact that the entire expedition hasn’t fallen into total disarray. A former gymnast and ballet dancer, Chanda can perform a perfect cartwheel anywhere, at any time – and she has a tendency to express herself in phrases that are both random and hilarious (example: “Whatever happened to those sunglasses that make me look like a hot-ass bitch?”).

Official bio: A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Nancy has competed in such expedition-length races as the 2002 Armed Forces Eco Challenge, the 2003 Eco Challenge North American Championships, and the 2003 Land Rover G4 Challenge, where she represented the U.S. against athletes from 15 other nations.

The real story: A Marine reservist with a background in adventure racing, Nancy is easily the most impressive member of the team. (She is also the first person to ever give me a tube of Department of Defense lip balm; oddly, it was pink in color, which makes me wonder if Marines ever feel self-conscious when they use it in combat.) Nancy’s defining point, however, is a Don Quixote streak a mile wide. When trying to win Red Bull sponsorship, for example, Nancy designed and engineered a “Red Bull Auto-Delivery System” (“R-BAD” for short) which allows DATW drivers to grab cans of the energy drink from a ceiling-mounted dispenser as they drive. R-BAD is an aluminum-and-glass device of ingenious design, and it took her countless hours to make it. There’s only one problem: Red Bull has chosen not to sponsor Drive Around the World. (Hence, those interested in buying their own “R-BAD” for $1000 each can inquire through this website.)

Official bio: A 7-year veteran of the software industry, Justin is also a pilot, a mountain biker, and a trained emergency responder. He will be serving as a medic and a navigator for the expedition.

The real story: Justin is the one person on the team who can be trusted to get things done and keep everyone on task -- and for this reason we have given him the nickname “Mother”. We also call him “Hollywood”, since he excels at public speaking, and he has a weakness for falling into “acting mode” and blabbing on and on whenever a video camera is pointed in his direction. He will be my driving partner, which means our Discovery II will quite possibly the be first-ever official Land Rover expedition-vehicle to be operated entirely by native Kansans.

Official bio: Bringing an eclectic background and a wide range of experiences to the team, Todd draws from 20 years as a teacher, an electrical engineer, and a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer.

The real story: A veteran of two previous Land Rover expeditions with Nick and Chanda Baggarly, Todd is an all-around utility player on the DATW team – and by this I mean that he knows how to play an accordion. Sadly, he will not be bringing the accordion on the expedition, though he will bring a guitar -- and legend has it that Todd can attract huge crowds of locals when he takes out his guitar, though most of these people flee when he actually starts playing. Todd’s office in the DATW office in Los Gatos was in the garage, where he would spend interminable amounts of time sprawled under the vehicles, only to emerge hours later, covered in grease. We’re still not sure what he was doing down there.

Official bio: A graduate of Stanford’s elite documentary film and video program, Adam has created social commentaries that have been shown at film festivals in California and New York.

The real story: Adam is part British, which means that he is a bit guarded and coy with his personality. Hence, we have yet to pin him with an embarrassing nickname or telling personality traits. He does lack a sense of smell, however (I’m not making that up), so he should be able to eat just about anything (or use toilet facilities anywhere) as we travel.

Official bio: Neil’s has lived the majority of the last seven years abroad, four of which were in Latin America, where he started and ran a surf tour company for three years.

The real story: In addition to being the only person on the team who is not in imminent danger of getting skin cancer, Neil is our resident surfer and Casanova (during our SEMA stint in Las Vegas, for example, he charmed a lovely young lass into coming home with him – though she fled in bewilderment when she realized that “Neil’s place” was the safari tent on top of his Land Rover). Neil also has the distinction of being able to sleep anywhere – even in the middle of eating a fish taco, or strumming a tune on his guitar.

Official bio: Colin has shot more than 20 short documentaries, including a film about livestock in New Zealand and a surfing film shot in Australia.

The real story: As a native New Yorker, Colin has a habit of saying out loud whatever is on his mind -- and one of the first things he said upon joining the 7 man, 2 woman DATW crew was, “Wow, this team is a real sausage-fest isn’t it?” At age 23, Colin is the youngest member of the team, and the only expedition member whose trip preparation included getting his dreadlocks cut off. He has stated an intense desire to interact with monkeys at some point on the trip -- and for reasons that aren’t entirely clear, we have decided to nickname him “Corndog”.

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.