Ride the Future Tour

How do I make the world like and want electric vehicles faster? Finally, after a year and a half of planning, we are hitting the road on July 4th from Charleston, SC. The electric car, electric motorcycle, and electric scooter will travel for about 43 days on back roads across America.
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As I was standing in my office doing acupuncture one day with a patient, it occurred to me that to keep treating one human at a time made no sense when the whole Earth was acting sick! In that moment, I asked myself what was the greatest impact I could have on the health of the Earth as just one person. "Stop gas emissions" is what came to me. This became my new mission. At the time, this didn't seem too lofty of a goal. (You gotta love those blinders that come at the beginning of every project!)

So I left my full time practice and founded Xenon Motor Company to bring electric vehicles to the world. Lucky for me they were already invented and pretty well perfected, so I didn't have to take on that part. Once I realized that showing an American a cheaper and better way of getting around was not enough for them, I rerouted and founded Nashville Scooter Tours. Bingo! They loved it! Tourists need to see the sights. I have 100 percent electric scooters with attractive, fun guides. It's a match made in heaven. They fall in love with riding a scooter and without realizing it, they become a fan of electric. This becomes my new plan for how I -- as one person -- can slowly acclimate a culture to something completely new and different for them. So far so good.

But to really affect gas emissions, I would need to stamp out these scooter tours in every major city. Okay, that's doable. But that approach is going to take time. What else could I do? How do I make the world like and want electric vehicles faster?

Of course! Set the Guinness Record for the Longest Journey on Electric Vehicles and show the world how great they are. So, finally, after a year and a half of planning, we are hitting the road on July 4th from Charleston, SC. The electric car, electric motorcycle, and electric scooter will travel for about 43 days on back roads across America and end our trek at the Google HQ in Mountain View, Calif. I am hoping that Ewan McGregor will set the record on the motorcycle since I am such a fan of his two travel documentaries. It is only fitting that we end at Google, so that we can deliver them a thank you gift for their irreplaceable Google Maps. I also want to personally thank them for helping me on my nine-day motorcycle trek across Thailand over Christmas. We were never lost once. Very impressive, Google!

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I soon learned that one person planning a trip across the U.S. to gain as much exposure for electric vehicles as possible is not a formula for success. Meaning the one person part. Especially when you are not famous and not loaded. Fortunately, other people, who are much better at certain things than I am, loved the idea of the event and came on board. They are spreading the word and putting in place all the pieces of the puzzle necessary for a fun party going across the U.S.

As it turns out, everyone knows someone. Just one person has grown into a powerful little team. There are many celebrities who are very passionate about stopping the destruction we are doing to our world. We have been thrilled to discover that they are very open to joining us. We still have a long way to go with getting commitments, but it is exciting to see the event taking on a whole life of its own. I am discovering that others are also looking to take action. People are frustrated that all they can do is recycle and click on a button to send a petition. They want to do more. They are motivated for change.

I personally have nothing to lose. I intend to be at the start line on July 4th in Charleston, SC even if no one else shows up. After all, my original mission was, "What can one person do?"

But... how cool would it be if we had a bunch of passionate people on many different electric vehicles all traveling together "Forrest Gump-style" across the U.S.? How amazing would it be to make a breathtaking documentary of the beautiful sights along the back roads of America? How inspiring would it be to make history together on our electric vehicles while ushering in a new era and a new way of clean living on our Planet Earth.

So here we are. We have a little more than four months to go before we launch. The countdown to Independence Day begins. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see how it all unfolds.

This is even more exciting than waiting for prom night!

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