Matt Whitby is a software developer for English Heritage and an avid music fan with a collection of about 2,500 CDs. He also writes for a music blog called Pop Underground. 
What is the Mongol Rally?
The Mongol Rally is a yearly event whereby teams have to get from England to Mongolia in a rubbish car. There is no chosen route and definitely no back up if things go wrong.
Each team has to raise at least £1,000 for charity and we're giving our money to the Christina Noble Children's Foundation. When the teams get to Mongolia they give the cars to charity and they're auctioned off. The teams then fly back home.
What are you driving?
One totally unsuited to driving over a third of the world's surface. The rules stipulated it can't be older than ten years old and with no greater engine than 1.2 litres. Our trusty steed is a dented Nissan Micra.
Is this considered a race?
No. Races are illegal and it's stressed that it's all about just finishing. Volgograd, Russia by day 6/7 is our rough plan then Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Krysgystan, back into Kazakhstan and back in Russia in another week and a bit and then 6 days to cross Mongolia. A flawless plan, surely.
How many times have you done this?
This will be the first ten-thousand mile drive I've made to Mongolia. To be honest I'll probably only do it once. Once is enough, right?
I've done a bunch of fun stuff, but this is the first rally. I had a child when I was twenty-five so I kinda missed out on the opportunity to travel as much as I'd like. He's now reached an age (twelve) where he doesn't mind too much if I head off to strange and exotic places for five weeks.
How many are on your team?
Just two in the car; which bearing in mind just how much stuff we'll be bringing is just as well. My rally mate is Kieran. We met when we both joined a fake cult back in 2003.
What are you bringing?
Jeez, what aren't we bringing? I suspect we're probably taking way too much stuff with us. You could probably break it down into: stuff to fix the car, stuff to fix us and gadgets. We'll be taking four spare wheels, oil, oil filters, air filters, fuses, tyre weld to fix the tyres, rad weld to fix holes in the radiator -- and of course -- duct tape for when it's not sticking and it should, and a big hammer for when it's sticking and shouldn't. Food wise: a whole box of
tinned soup, beans, and more noodles than any one man should ever consider eating.
The snazziest thing we're bring is a Spot Messenger which uses GPS to ping our position every ten minutes so people can see where we are on Google Maps. Alas, it doesn't tell us where we are ... that would be
cheating. A GPS receiver would very much be against the spirit of the rally ... it's all about getting lost and breaking down and finding yourself in the middle of the desert with four flat tyres and having to use your cunning to get through it.
What route do you plan to take?
In previous years teams have left from Hyde Park in London but this year we're leaving from Goodwood. In England, Goodwood is known as The Spiritual Home of British Motor Racing. They hold the 'Festival of
Speed' and in keeping with the rally they'll be holding a 'Festival of Slow' for us.
Because there's no route planned we can all get to Mongolia by any way we please. On night three, we all meet up at a castle in Klatovy, Czech Republic for a big party and from there we go our separate ways. After the party, we plan to head into Poland and then across Ukraine. From Ukraine we'll go through some of Russia and down in Kazakhstan. Out of Kazakhstan we enter Uzbekistan and then into Kyrgyzstan.
The last I heard the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan was closed due to a suicide bombing and non-border areas can be mined, so we'll be playing that one carefully. Once through Kyrgyzstan we head North back up the Eastern edge of Kazakhstan and on into a thin strip of Russia before we finally enter the Western entry point of Mongolia after which it's about six day drive to the capital - Ulan Bator.
So our route will be: England > France > Belgium > Germany > Czech Republic > Poland > Ukraine > Russia > Kazakhstan > Uzbekistan > Kyrgyzstan > Kazakhstan (Again) > Russia (Again) > Mongolia.
Once we start on July 18th we'll turn on the GPS transmitter and all being well you'll be able to see where we are.
