Thailand 2020
Riding with Purpose
At the start of 2020, David was in the middle of preparing for a trip to southeast Asia. He’d been invited to judge at the Bangkok Motorbike Festival. Prior to the custom bike show, he hoped to ride around Thailand and meet friends in Malaysia and Phuket.
But when he learned his friend Steve from The Ivy Brand was working with Waves for Water, an organization committed to universal access to clean water, David shifted gears.
One in ten people worldwide don’t have access to clean water. Waves for Water believes that this crisis is solvable. The technology for filtering water is available; the issue is simply access. David wanted to help.
I don’t really want to be the face of a page unless there’s a purpose behind it. I’m really grateful for this experience and looking forward to seeing what I can do firsthand to make a difference in people’s lives.
David's first experience with fundraising had been the year prior.
Riders for Health provides reliable motorcycle transportation to health workers in Africa — a focus specifically developed to most benefit the region’s geography, infrastructure, and needs. Organizing with a parts company to benefit Riders for Health, CROIG built out a bike inspired by Mad Max, named her Furiousa, and raffled it off. CROIG raised over $12,000 for the social enterprise.
This style of philanthropy — providing services and funds that a community actually needs — resonated with David.
David started a campaign raising money for water filters through Waves for Water. By the time he left on his journey, he had raised over $2500 — enough for 50+ portable, effective water filters. Steve and David hand-delivered filters to villages in Northern Thailand before continuing on to the bike tour and festival.
Bangkok Motorbike Festival is a five-day custom bike competition. The build-outs David saw in Bangkok were creative, full of ingenuity and solid craftsmanship. The innovation was inspiring.
In the moments leading up to the festival, David felt like an imposter. Being a part of an international judging panel was intimidating. “I felt more American than I did Asian at times. I wasn’t sure if I’d be accepted.”
The panel of judges was multinational, half of them from different regions in Asia. Everyone had an interpreter; language barriers were common, but the festival community was so welcoming that he soon felt like he belonged. Even though such varied cultures were present, they were all united in purpose: for the love of bikes. Moto culture is universal.
Being able to judge the bikes and spending time with people who loved them as much as David does was an awesome experience. David can’t help but reflect on this trip with immense gratitude: for the people he met, the landscape he rode through, the good he was able to do.
Waves for Water’s philosophy continues to resonate for David: do what you love and help along the way. “Those are important words to live by,” David says. “This was one of the best trips of my life and I can’t wait to go back.”