Hey ho you crazy people
that are hitchhiking with us to Macedonia in two weeks! Here is our first Newsletter!
We are sorry for all the technical problems we have had, and the many delays. However, once we are in Würzburg the 15th this will be all-irrelevant
To keep you informed until then, here is the important info about…
1. Donations- we will collect money this year again for drinking projects through Viva con Agua
2. Joint Start- When, where and how?
3. Money and Hitchpackages
4. Press
5. Hitchmate – Exchange
And off we go!
1. Donations
This year again, these two weeks in August will not be only about hitchhiking. We will also try to draw attention to a problem that unfortunately affects too many in the world: access to drinking to water and sanitation. For the fifth consecutive time we will collect donations for Viva con Agua, so they can support together with the Welthungerhilfe a WASH-project (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) in India.
We will collect donations through Betterplace this year. They are trustworthy, the system is very user-friendly and all the collected money will flow without charges directly to Viva con Agua.
Just click on the Betterplace-donation-link and support your favorite team with your desired amount. Unfortunately, donations will not appear on the team profiles yet. But we are working on it, so donators should just type in the name of your team in the Message-Box on betterplace.org and we will put it in the team profile as soon as possible! Teams can be bought from €100 onwards, and “Team Owners” are linked to the teams with a picture on the team’s profile.
Let’s rock the donation counter!
Here’s the link: https://www.betterplace.org/de/fundraising-events/tramprennen
Who should I ask for a donation?
First things first: we don’t expect huge amounts of money (not that they are not welcome!), but we are happy about every donated Euro. In the past, donators have always been close friends, relatives or acquaintances of the team’s members. So take some time and ask them, call them or write them an Email! People are usually keen on hearing crazy hitchhiking stories! You can also bet with friends or think of a new innovating idea to get some people amazed by the concept of Tramprennen! Our motto remains: No Borders!
But don’t put yourselves under pressure! We will not oblige you to get donations or be mad if you do not find any sponsors! Everyone should just try his or her best!
Another tip that will increase your chances of getting sponsors: pimp up your team’s profile! Fill in the blanks, upload a nice picture, and be creative! Everyone loves a nice profile in times of Facebook J
And don’t forget to mention! Usually also a nice extra for Tramprennen supporters: the whole race can be followed live through our Liveticker on Tramprennen.org!
Further information about donations can be found on the homepage (FAQ Donations) and if you still have questions just e-mail us to gro.nennerpmartnull@ofni!
2. Joint Start
About this year’s big innovation: the joint start in Würzburg! We are all hoping it will be a very nice event, a meeting point for old friends as well as an opportunity to get to know new hitchhiking faces J On top of that, the different routes will be assigned to the teams, so suspense is guaranteed for!
We booked a camping site for everyone to spend the night there on Friday, so it will be easy to get all participants together and meet at night and the following morning. This is the website of the place, in case you want to check it out or look up for directions on how to get there:
https://www.kalte-quelle.de/
The owners of the place are really nice and the owner’s son will turn 18 on Friday night, so we won’t have to worry about being late and loud with our schedule J
The organizing team will arrive there on Thursday to finish some planning. Since Friday is a holiday in some parts of Bavaria, they will go shopping on Thursday, probably something to eat or snack and some drinks.
We would like all of you to arrive on Friday afternoon. Program will officially start at eight!
About the costs: We were able to save some money with the costs of the hitchpackages this year, so we decided to pay for the camping site in Würzburg from the money that was left. We hope you welcome our decision J
(if someone is from or is living in Würzburg or the surroundings, let us know! We could still use some help on the starting day)
And one last little detail: Würzburg is located in northern Bavaria, a place which is known to have very active policemen, especially in petrol stations J Therefore, take the necessary measures to keep your spirits high even if you are asked for your ID or even get searched by the police…
3. Hitchpackages and money..
All participants will get their hitchpackage in Würzburg. It contains a SIM-card with credit for the Liveticker, Eddings, the Participant Info Folder with all relevant phone numbers and meeting points, the TR-Shirt, Flyers and a little surprise!
For those who haven’t transferred the money yet, please do that until next Sunday. We will print the T-shirts on Sunday and we need to have an overview of the number of participants. Registrations are also open until Sunday!!
4. Press
We are all passionate hitchhikers and I think I speak for everyone when I say: there is no better way to travel! As Malte said in the NDR-documentary, “the world would be probably a better place if more people would hitchhike”. Unfortunately, reports about hitchhiking in the press are not always positive.
We think Tramprennen is a great opportunity to prove the opposite! That is why we ask you: if you have time and energy to do that, contact the local media in your surroundings! You can tell them about Tramprennen and ask them if they would like to report about it. Local newspapers are always keen on doing it, the same goes for many radio stations!
If you have questions about how to proceed, you can write to gro.nennerpmartnull@ocram
Information for the press itself can be found on https://tramprennen.org/de/5667-2/
5. Hitchmate X Change
Hitchhiking in groups of three also works?
There are still very nice people looking for a partner/team to take part of this year’s Tramprennen! At the same time, we have many registered teams of two. Our long time experience has shown that teams of three get as many lifts as teams of two! The three-hitchhikers-curse is indeed an urban legend!
So if you want to help others who couldn’t find a mate and/or your motto is “the more the merrier”, take a look at the Hitchmate-Xchange Board!
https://tramprennen.org/mate-x-change/
This is it from our side for now. The next Newsletter will arrive in your inbox next week! If you still have questions, do not hesitate to ask!
We are very excited to hit the road with all of you in two weeks! Let us rock the donation counter until then, and enable people access to drinking water, something that taken for granted for us, but is unfortunately still a problem in many parts of the world!
We wish you all loads of fun and sun!
your Tramprennen 2014-Crew
On the road
/in[English version below]
Whoop Whoop! Es ist quasi Halbzeit in der Tramprennen-Welt 2014
Seit Samstag sind wir nun auf der Straße unterwegs und es sind einfach zu viele Dinge überraschende, lustige, verrückte Dinge passiert um sie hier alle aufzuzählen. Aber: wir wollens wenigstens versuchen!
Als erstes vorne weg:
der Spendenstand ist mittlerweile bei unglaublichen 7505€ angekommen! Wahnsinn! Das gesamte Geld wird an ein Trinkwasser und WASH Projekt von Viva con Agua e.V. gespendet. Mehr Informationen über Projekt, VcA und die Welthungerhilfe gibts natürlich wie immer auf unserer Seite. Aber nicht genug: die Teams sind immer noch fleißig am Spenden sammeln auf ihrem Weg und wir hoffen ihr zu Hause auch.
Route Miracullix sammelt gerade intern, um sich dann für 100€ ein routeneigenes Team zu kaufen. Damit können sie entscheiden welches Outfit das Team tragen muss/darf. Kann das von Vorteil sein? Wir werden sehen… Andere Freunde zu Hause sind offensichtlich gelangweillt oder haben zu viel Geld! Oder sogar beides? Sie unterstützen nun eine ganze Route indem sie der Route jeden Renntag neue Aufgaben stellen. Das erste Team das diese Aufgabe bewältigt bekommt einen Teamsponsor. Heute auf dem Zettel: so schnell wie möglich ein Gruppenfoto mit mind. 10 völlig fremden Leuten und alle mit dem Daumen raus knipsen! Na dann viel Spaß…
Aber auch neben dem Spendenrummel ist einiges los:
Wir haben so viele neue Teilnehmer wie noch nie in der Geschichte des Rennens, und dieses neue Gefühl und den neuen Input spürt man auf dem Weg nach Mazedonien! Route Obelix musste den Finalen Treffpunkt von Etappe 2 kurzerhand verlegen, da alle Teams kurz vor dem Ziel in der ungarischen Einöde stecken blieben. Dafür wurden sie von Gabi & Robert gerettet, bei denen jetzt 30 Leute im Blumenbeet zelten. Arme Rosen! Und natürlich “mussten” sie so oder so im Dorf bleiben, da der Bürgermeister sie zum Dorffest mit selbstgemachten Gulasch einladen wollte…von ihm höchstpersönlich zubereitet!
Route Miraculix campierte in einem Outdoor-Pavillion am See in der Österreichischen Provinz. Doof nur, dass dieser Pavillion für ein Blasmusik-Orchester am nächsten Tag reserviert war… Aber mal ehrlich: kann man 30 Tramper einfach so in den Regen schicken? Natürlich nicht! Das Orchester spielte das komplette Konzert für die spärlich vorhandenen Zuschauer im Regen, damit die Tramper und all ihr Zeug schön trocken bleiben! Danke für die trockenen Unterbüchsen und die zünftige Musi sagt: Tramprennen!
Während die meisten Teams nun auch in den “Renn-Modus” kommen (ein Team schaffte es tatsächlich eine Yacht über den Bodensee zu trampen um schneller zu sein als die anderen) und der Kampf um die vorderen Plätze entbrannt ist, sind einige Teams immer noch entspannt unterwegs (und werden es wohl bis zum Ende bleiben). Ein Team fuhr bei Borussia Dortmund Fans im Auto mit und entschied, kurzfirstig einen Ausflug ins Stadion mit seinen neuen Freunden zu unternehmen. DFB-Pokal at it´s best… Andere warteten über eine Stunde bis ein Auto repariert wurde, nur für weitere 10km mit dem Fahrer! Aha?!
Heute steht Renntag 3 auf dem Programm und wir alle sind gespannt was noch so passieren wird an den Straßen der Welt und natürlich im Gesamtklassement. Für alle Arbeitenden, Freunde, Familie und Haustiere haben wir daher den Live-SMS-Ticker den wir fleißig füttern mit all dem Krempel der uns so an der Straße begegnet! Genießt es, so wie wir das tun…
The best things in life are
The people you love
The places you’ve seen and
The memories you’ve made along
The way
Einen ganzen Eimer voll Hippie Liebe an alle von euch…Wir halten euch auf dem Laufenden!
Euer Tramprennen 2014
Whoop whoop! It´s almost halftime in Tramprennen 2014-World!
Since Saturday we are on the road now and too many things happend, surprised us, made us happy, laugh and what not all… to tell you here! But, at least we try:
First thing to notice:
the donation counter is going crazy and we are rigth now at a total amount of 7505€, which is whoop whoop!!! All the money will be donated to a clean dinking water project of
Viva con Agua e.V. You can find more information about the project, Viva con Agua and the Welthungerhilfe. The teams are still collecting more money on their way and we hope you back home do too… Route Miraculix is right now raising money be a team-owner of one of their teams! So they can tell them what to wear during the race! Can this be an advantage? we will see… Other friends back home are obviously bored and have to much money? They are now supporting a whole route by giving tasks to the route and the first team to accomplish the task during a race day gets a new sponsor…what the funk! Todays task: the first team to take a group photo with at least ten strangers (all thumbs up) gets a sponsorship.
But besides the donation a lot of things happen too:
We have more new paritcipants than in every other year before! And you can feel this new input and spirit along the road down to macedonia… Route Obelix decided to change the final meeting point of route 2 to Budapest and rather enjoyed the hungarian nightlife…Meanwhile route Asterix didn´t make it to the final meeting point of the last stage in total! Stuck in the middle of the hungarian country side they got safed by Gabi&Robert and are camping right now in their flower bed. They also got invited by the major of the village to join the village party and taste his self-cooked “Gulasch”….mhmhmhm. Route Miraculix were camping in an outdoor pavillion in a park in Austria right at the lake. Sounds beautiful! Too bad, that this should have been the place for the austrian-folk-orchestra to play! But honestly, you can´t put 30 hitchhikers out in the rain with all their equipment? Of course you can´t! The band played the whole concert while standing in the rain. To keep the hitchhikers and all their stuff dry…
While most of the teams are getting into the “race-mode” (one team even hitched a yacht to race lake konstanz) and the battle for the top-ranking is hard, some other teams are still laid-back (and will be until the end). One team hitched with Borussia Dortmund Fans to the DFB-Cup Game and watched the whole game with them in the stadium in Stuttgart. Others waited for over one hour two get the car fixed, just to get another 10km with the ride. Aha?!
Today race day 3 starts and we are all excited what will happen the following days. For all the folks back home we have the live-sms-ticker from the road, where everyone keeps their working friends, familiy and pets posted about the crazy stuff happening!
The best things in life are
The people you love
The places you’ve seen and
The memories you’ve made along
The way
A whole lot of hippie love to all of you! We keep you posted…
Your Tramprennen 2014
NEWSLETTER*3
/in Events & Projects, News, Tramprennen 2014Whoop,whoop! That`s the final newsletter before the race starts on
Saturday. We can’t waiiiit!!!!!
While we are writing this newsletter to you, we are also washing
shirts and bags in the bathtub, drying them, doing silkscreen
printing, programming the website, distributing eddings, sim cards,
stickers, flyers and prepare a few other suprises. Long story short:
shitloads of work, but even more fun! Anticipation is huuuuuuuuuge. So
let`s get ready, here we go
Final topics
1. Passport
2. Start in Würzburg
3. Sim-Vards
4. DONATIONS
5. Schengen-Routes
1. Do not forget your passport!!!
——————————
Most routes will go through countries where an international passport
is probably required! So PLEASE BRING YOUR PASSPORT (ID card might
also work, but we can not make any promises).
2. Start in Würzburg
——————————
The meeting point on Friday is at the campsite “Kalte Quelle” in
Wuerzburg.
Here is a description on how to get there:
https://www.kalte-quelle.de/
We will be there on Thursday already und will try to get some snacks
for friday! Please remember that is a bank holiday in Bavaria on
Friday, so no shops will be open in the area!
We will send you the latest updates about how to get there and where
you will find us on Thursday.
The drawing of the routes will start on Friday at 8 p.m. (sharp!!) So
please be there in time, because time is limited on Friday.
You will all get your hitchpackages on Friday, at least the ones who
paid in time. But we are very keen and eager to find a solution for
everyone, do not worry! Futhermore you still need to sign the waivers,
so the earlier you get to Wuerzbug on Friday, the better!
3. Sim Cards
———————
Of course the legendary LIVETICKER will also be part of this years
race!!! And to make things easy and cheap for you, we (well actually
blau Mobilfunk) will provide with you with sim-cards, including credit! So
please feed the ticker!!
This year, we will even get some surfsticks, so you could even bring
your netbooks.
ATTENTION: Most of the Sim cards are normal (classic)SIM cards. Some
of same might not fit into your smartphone. So maybe you could bring a
phone that suits the classic sim card, or maybe you can even punch or
cut them in the size you need. We will find out….
4. DONATIONS
————————-
Believe it or not: Pille is sitting right next to us, trying to fix
the donation tool and we all hope that it will be ready before the
race actually starts.
Nevermind: We are about the raise the first 2000€, whooooop whoooop!
Well done guys, concidering all the trouble we have and had with the
donation tool.
But that was just the beginning, let us all go crazy, one week of
madness for Viva con Agua and clean drinking water and sanitation
projects in North India!!
You can even raise donations during and after the race!!! DON`T STOP
US NOW!!!!
Sky is the limit…
https://www.betterplace.org/
5. Schengen
———————–
To those of you who are not residents of an European Union country
(e.g. USA, Brasil…): If you are only allowed to travel through
Schengen countries because of your Visa status, please get in touch
with us. We will sort out a solution.
Just 3 days until Würzburg, good luck for all your preperations!
The Tramprennen 2014-Crew!
Ps: This year`s LIVETICKER NUMBER is: +49- (0)157 795 991 98
If you registered with your mobile number on our website, you can even
feed the newsticker from FRIDAY on with your own number, just send a
text message. The blau.de number is already attached to your team and
will appear automatically on the ticker.
WHERE ARE WE GOING 2014? #6 – Carpathian Mountains
/in News, Tramprennen 2014, Where are we going 2014?The Carpathian Mountains – Home of bears, wolves and a lot of really nice people. And this year aswell the home of a few hitchhikers heading to Macedonia. From Austria in the west to Romania in the east, From Slovakia in the north down to Serbia in the south – the Carpathians cross many amazing countries of eastern Europe. From the Hight Tatras´ Peaks with 2000m of altitude to the harsh rocks and smooth hills of the western mountains in Romania we will put our thumbs into the wind. And the experiance of former Tramprennens shows: It´s easier to meet the nice people than the bears and wolves. So we can look forward to selv-made schnaps and some rides on horse carts!
WHERE ARE WE GOING 2014? #5 – Transsilvania
/inOnce upon a time… Tramprennen 2012.
After an interesting and partly rough journey through the western Ukraine five hitchhikers ended up in the small village of Seini, Romania. Tired, dirty and not feeling like sleeping in the corn fields they searched for a small hostel, guest house, roof. Only possibility: a fancy four star hotel. Half an hour later the five hippies had a free room, breakfast and dinner for the night. Included a concierge called Draco. Welcome to (the border) of Transylvania!
Transylvania – deep forests, high mountains, medieval towns – and maybe the worst place for wild camping. There are a lot of reports about pale corpses, without any single drop of blood left and with two mysterious wounds at the neck… Romania, we are looking forward!
NEWSLETTER TR2014 #1
/in Events & Projects, Tramprennen 2014Hey ho you crazy people
that are hitchhiking with us to Macedonia in two weeks! Here is our first Newsletter!
We are sorry for all the technical problems we have had, and the many delays. However, once we are in Würzburg the 15th this will be all-irrelevant
To keep you informed until then, here is the important info about…
1. Donations- we will collect money this year again for drinking projects through Viva con Agua
2. Joint Start- When, where and how?
3. Money and Hitchpackages
4. Press
5. Hitchmate – Exchange
And off we go!
1. Donations
This year again, these two weeks in August will not be only about hitchhiking. We will also try to draw attention to a problem that unfortunately affects too many in the world: access to drinking to water and sanitation. For the fifth consecutive time we will collect donations for Viva con Agua, so they can support together with the Welthungerhilfe a WASH-project (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) in India.
We will collect donations through Betterplace this year. They are trustworthy, the system is very user-friendly and all the collected money will flow without charges directly to Viva con Agua.
Just click on the Betterplace-donation-link and support your favorite team with your desired amount. Unfortunately, donations will not appear on the team profiles yet. But we are working on it, so donators should just type in the name of your team in the Message-Box on betterplace.org and we will put it in the team profile as soon as possible! Teams can be bought from €100 onwards, and “Team Owners” are linked to the teams with a picture on the team’s profile.
Let’s rock the donation counter!
Here’s the link: https://www.betterplace.org/de/fundraising-events/tramprennen
Who should I ask for a donation?
First things first: we don’t expect huge amounts of money (not that they are not welcome!), but we are happy about every donated Euro. In the past, donators have always been close friends, relatives or acquaintances of the team’s members. So take some time and ask them, call them or write them an Email! People are usually keen on hearing crazy hitchhiking stories! You can also bet with friends or think of a new innovating idea to get some people amazed by the concept of Tramprennen! Our motto remains: No Borders!
But don’t put yourselves under pressure! We will not oblige you to get donations or be mad if you do not find any sponsors! Everyone should just try his or her best!
Another tip that will increase your chances of getting sponsors: pimp up your team’s profile! Fill in the blanks, upload a nice picture, and be creative! Everyone loves a nice profile in times of Facebook J
And don’t forget to mention! Usually also a nice extra for Tramprennen supporters: the whole race can be followed live through our Liveticker on Tramprennen.org!
Further information about donations can be found on the homepage (FAQ Donations) and if you still have questions just e-mail us to gro.nennerpmartnull@ofni!
2. Joint Start
About this year’s big innovation: the joint start in Würzburg! We are all hoping it will be a very nice event, a meeting point for old friends as well as an opportunity to get to know new hitchhiking faces J On top of that, the different routes will be assigned to the teams, so suspense is guaranteed for!
We booked a camping site for everyone to spend the night there on Friday, so it will be easy to get all participants together and meet at night and the following morning. This is the website of the place, in case you want to check it out or look up for directions on how to get there:
https://www.kalte-quelle.de/
The owners of the place are really nice and the owner’s son will turn 18 on Friday night, so we won’t have to worry about being late and loud with our schedule J
The organizing team will arrive there on Thursday to finish some planning. Since Friday is a holiday in some parts of Bavaria, they will go shopping on Thursday, probably something to eat or snack and some drinks.
We would like all of you to arrive on Friday afternoon. Program will officially start at eight!
About the costs: We were able to save some money with the costs of the hitchpackages this year, so we decided to pay for the camping site in Würzburg from the money that was left. We hope you welcome our decision J
(if someone is from or is living in Würzburg or the surroundings, let us know! We could still use some help on the starting day)
And one last little detail: Würzburg is located in northern Bavaria, a place which is known to have very active policemen, especially in petrol stations J Therefore, take the necessary measures to keep your spirits high even if you are asked for your ID or even get searched by the police…
3. Hitchpackages and money..
All participants will get their hitchpackage in Würzburg. It contains a SIM-card with credit for the Liveticker, Eddings, the Participant Info Folder with all relevant phone numbers and meeting points, the TR-Shirt, Flyers and a little surprise!
For those who haven’t transferred the money yet, please do that until next Sunday. We will print the T-shirts on Sunday and we need to have an overview of the number of participants. Registrations are also open until Sunday!!
4. Press
We are all passionate hitchhikers and I think I speak for everyone when I say: there is no better way to travel! As Malte said in the NDR-documentary, “the world would be probably a better place if more people would hitchhike”. Unfortunately, reports about hitchhiking in the press are not always positive.
We think Tramprennen is a great opportunity to prove the opposite! That is why we ask you: if you have time and energy to do that, contact the local media in your surroundings! You can tell them about Tramprennen and ask them if they would like to report about it. Local newspapers are always keen on doing it, the same goes for many radio stations!
If you have questions about how to proceed, you can write to gro.nennerpmartnull@ocram
Information for the press itself can be found on https://tramprennen.org/de/5667-2/
5. Hitchmate X Change
Hitchhiking in groups of three also works?
There are still very nice people looking for a partner/team to take part of this year’s Tramprennen! At the same time, we have many registered teams of two. Our long time experience has shown that teams of three get as many lifts as teams of two! The three-hitchhikers-curse is indeed an urban legend!
So if you want to help others who couldn’t find a mate and/or your motto is “the more the merrier”, take a look at the Hitchmate-Xchange Board!
https://tramprennen.org/mate-x-change/
This is it from our side for now. The next Newsletter will arrive in your inbox next week! If you still have questions, do not hesitate to ask!
We are very excited to hit the road with all of you in two weeks! Let us rock the donation counter until then, and enable people access to drinking water, something that taken for granted for us, but is unfortunately still a problem in many parts of the world!
We wish you all loads of fun and sun!
your Tramprennen 2014-Crew