Wow! What a first week it has been for this book crowdfund. At the time of writing this update the crowdfund is on 81% of the target, based on 115 book pre-orders. We might just do this!

It has been exactly one week since the team and I launched the crowdfund. A few heavy pitchers came in quick – some that had been behind this journey from the very start, others that had not long gotten to know about it and wanted in immediately.

So many shares, so many thank yous

And then, as the week unfolded, and the shares across social media found their way into people’s lives, the pre-orders have been steadily rising. And I look at the list of orders and see so many names I don’t recognise. . .you have been sharing. Thank you, thank you, so many thank yous.

All manner of perks have been selected. Most have opted for the paperback (67), but the limited edition hardback has been pretty popular too (21 of 50). The ”meet the author” perk has had its takers, as has the cycling or walking for a day perk too. There’s not many of those ones left now. I can’t wait to meet with people and give them their books personally.

Curious facts of a crowdfund

Here is a curious fact that astonished me when I first realised it – the two biggest financial contributions have come from people that I haven’t seen in some 10 years. Not only that, but they all taught me things that turned out to be crucial for the cycling journey for happiness to Bhutan.

My “Big Sponsor” perk, for example, was Pyramid Cycle Design, a small business based in Coventry run by of an old friend Dr Mark Pharaoh. They design & manufacture chainrings & other bespoke cycle parts, supplying products to cyclists and triathletes at every level of the sport, from recreational participants to Olympic and Paralympic medallists and world champions. The say “We are proud to support the crowdfund campaign for A Journey for Happiness”.

I had been getting into triathlons as a way of overcoming a rather tragic alcohol problem and it was Mark that taught me how to ride. He also helped get me through a full Ironman race in 2010, and that was something that gave me huge confidence on a bicycle. Then there is Nikki, who selected the “Journey for Happiness friend” perk and gave a huge chunk extra on top of that. She showed me how to hitchhike back in 2012, and through that, helped me to have faith in strangers.

Beyond all expectations

I’d like to say, as the title of this update suggests, that the crowdfund has gone “beyond all expectations”, but it hasn’t. It really hasn’t. Because there were no expectations. There can’t be in a journey for happiness. It was up in the Andes of Peru, 80 days into my journey, when I got deep into experiencing just how crucial it was to let go of expectations on the journey. How important it was to let go of ever arriving in Bhutan, or even over the next 4,000 metre mountain pass. But you’ll read all about that in Chapter 5 of the book. . .

And so moving forward.

Well, first of all, you won’t hear much from me this weekend, because I’m getting clear of the internet and out on the bicycle to visit some friends, and maybe even getting some late season camping in. I’ll be fully loaded with my hashtag on the back, so maybe that might attract a few new folk over to our gang.

Next week, I’ve got an online talk to a small group of people about the journey. I’d love to do more of these, so get in touch if that is something you’d be interested in. A few guaranteed book pre-orders will surely get me along.

That aside, there’ll be some previously unreleased video footage from the journey and maybe even a chapter tease.

In the meantime, please keep telling your friends about this book. And thank you for all your support up to this point. It has blown my mind and filled my heart with an unbelievable amount of joy.

Here is that crowdfund link again for A Journey For Happiness by Dr Christopher Boyce. Take a look and pre-order today.