DRIVE AROUND THE WORLD: Nick Baggarly has formed a nonprofit organization called Drive Around the World to further the study of geography and vocabulary in schools.
His hobby is acquiring vintage Land Rovers, but what began as a hobby has evolved into a new occupation—and a new journey. That journey will be a caravan of four cars, with three or four occupants each, that will cross 34 different countries in nine months—something of a crusade, actually.
The team will follow longitudinal lines and drive through four continents. The expedition will start off in October, with the cars driving through Central and South America to its farthest southern point. Then the cars will be shipped to Australia, where the team will head north.
Through Australia and Indonesia up to Thailand, Myanmar, China, Russia—50,000 kilometers in all. Each day of the expedition will be shared through a coordinated website. A Santa Cruz nonprofit, TravelingED, is developing the curriculum.
Steve Wozniak and David Homa, a senior economics teacher at Los Gatos High, are among the Drive Around the World supporters. A fundraising program to benefit Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale is also in place. Two members of the team have family members affected by Parkinson's disease.
The team is composed of 11 members, two of whom may change every two to three weeks via the Take Me With You! program sponsored by Land Rover. The system is designed so that as many as 60 guests can participate in the expedition.
Locals on the core team are: Jonathan and Kelly Knowles, Nick and Chanda Baggarly of Los Gatos, Doug Pape and Jeff Okubo, former Los Gatans; and Adam Burgess of Saratoga.
This is the third expedition thus far charted. In '99 the group traveled latitudinally—to China, Tibet and 14 other countries. On the first expedition, medical supplies were taken to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.
Three of the cars to be driven in the '03 venture are 40 years old; the fourth is a new Freelander, supplied by Land Rover.
Before the geography bug bit, Nick Baggarly was a software engineer with Symantec, McAfee and Ask Jeeves. He started Drive Around the World in 2000. The website is located at www.drivearoundtheworld.com and its headquarters are "The Castle" at 315 University.
When high school students think they need a passport to go to New Mexico, a program like this is long overdue.
JOB SEARCH HELP: After the Career Action Center closed down, one member of the staff continued to work—this time on a volunteer basis. She's Saratogan Mimi Bross, and she has counseling credits up the kazoo. Bross runs a support group for people looking for work who are middle-aged—past 40, say. And up.
The group meets weekly at St. Jude's in Cupertino. Since 63 percent of jobs are acquired through networking it's vital to keep one's toe in, to say nothing of keeping one's spirits up during that most cheerless of times. Silicon Valley is the most jobless place in the country at the moment, according to the latest statistics. Bross' email address is sbross1252@aol.com.
OENOPHILES TO NEW YORK: A clutch of Los Gatans attended the James Beard Award Dinner in New York last week, accompanying Justin Perez, chef of Buca Restaurant, and Rob and Diana Jensen, who own the Los Gatosbased Testarossa Winery.
The list of Los Gatans includes Victor and Gima Aboukhater; Jeff and Cathy Black; Jon and B.J. Anderson; Chuck and Missy Dimick; and J.B. and Paff Wood. Jeff is the president of the Santa Clara Wine Society; Victor A. is the past president of the society.
DEPLOYMENT: Nothing brings the threat of war closer to home than hearing about young men and women, Los Gatans alums, being deployed to the Middle East. One such is Bill Gossen, a U.S. Marine pilot who recently departed on a harrier, a ship that serves as a landing base for planes.
The planes are deployed to offer support to ground troops. Gossen is the son of Tish and Dick Gossen. During high school days he was a band member and played football for Los Gatos High School.
SUMMIT LEAGUE: Travel writer Karen Brown's talk drew more than 100 to the Summit League presentation recently. Brown's specialties are the inns and B&Bs of North America and Europe. Her guidebooks number 17 and are highly respected.
Now she and husband Rick Herbert have opened their own hideaway in Moss Beach called Seal Cove Inn, and it's on the Travelers Magazine Gold List.
FUZZY/FURRY: Apologies to Furry Friends, who take pets to visit the elderly and the ill. I called them Fuzzy Friends in a recent column.
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By Mary Ann Cook