I Need a Sponsor

From the "People who are having more fun than me" department comes two links about regular average people who found a way to live the good life, for at least some window of time.

First, take a look at this video. While it's admittedly not an internet comedy classic, I defy you to watch the whole thing and not be smiling.

from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

I watched this a couple of times (try to see which extra dances funniest. It's impossible to judge.), and got to wondering how someone could afford to go all of these places in a mere 14 months. Then I noticed the last screen, thanking Stride Gum. Ahh, the magic of having a sponsor.

The same week, I saw a forward for this site. It's the web page for a kid who's currently in the Pacific ocean, trying to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, and the blog has become required reading for me every morning.

How does a 16-year-old get a boat, and equip it to sail around the world?

Well, it's clear that his family isn't poor by any means. But sponsors have to be in the mix too. One post says that he has something like 7 video cameras aboard. No one would actually buy that many (and I question why one would even carry that many, but perhaps they'll come in handy if he has to bribe a hijacker or something).

I wonder how I can get a sponsor that will allow me to just up and travel for a year or two. I need an angle that makes us unique. Odds are that we could be the first family of American parents with a Russian kid to circumnavigate. Who would sponsor that? How do we get the press on board? How do we turn press coverage into actual dollars?

If you're a publicist, please give me a call.