Manama Monologues: expedition

Wednesday, 29 February 2012

In search of happiness... (News)

THREE adventurers embarking on a round-the-world trip in search of the secret of happiness are set to visit Bahrain.

From sampling street life in Madrid to relaxing in the Finnish saunas of Helsinki, American Tony Martin, 30, Belgian Kelly Ferris, 23, and Mexican Antonio Santiago, 24, are nearly a third of the way through their 206 country journey.

They began the 275,000-mile trip-of-a-lifetime, sponsored by Coca-Cola, in Madrid in January and have already toured South America, Canada and much of Europe.

The team also witnessed the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and will visit the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa later this year.

Appointed by the company as "happiness ambassadors", they will begin their tour of the Middle East by travelling to the UAE and Qatar before arriving in Bahrain on April 9.

A single-day visit to Manama will involve the country's suqs and the Bahrain National Museum.

After that, they will move to Saudi Arabia and Yemen before travelling to south-east Asia, Africa, Australasia and America.

Mr Martin is a Munich-based kindergarten teacher, while Ms Ferris and Mr Santiago are students.

They have been tasked with visiting every country where Coca-Cola is sold to find out what makes people happy.

The team received 206 specially decorated Coca-Cola bottles from company chairman and chief executive officer Muhtar Kent before setting off to give some of their hosts as part of the expedition.

"We are delighted to bring forth a project that embraces the Coca-Cola's positive outlook and evolution of our "Open Happiness" campaign, launched last year in the UAE," he said.

At the end of the trip, due to conclude in the US in December, the bottles will be displayed in a special collection at the World of Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, US.

More than five million people have been following the team's progress on Facebook, which is also charted on Twitter, YouTube and the blog website TypePad.

Real-time updates of the trip are available at www.expedition206.com where people can interact with the team and become "virtual travel agents" by suggesting new places for the team to visit.

'In search of happiness...', Gulf Daily News, March 27, 2010, Jennifer Gnana

Happiness in the 'Land of Golden Smiles' (News)

A GLOBE-TROTTING expedition to discover the secret of happiness led three adventurers to some of Bahrain's major landmarks.

From spreading smiles in the Netherlands to island hopping in Saint Lucia and Martinique, American Tony Martin, 30, Belgian Kelly Ferris, 23, and Mexican Antonio Santiago, 24, sampled the sights and sounds of Manama during a two-day visit.

Bahrain was the 99th country on their 440,000km tour, which has already covered Canada, Europe and the Middle East and will take in Asia, Africa, Australasia and America.

The trio are travelling the world as part of the Coca Cola-sponsored Expedition 206 visiting all the countries where the beverage is sold.

The GDN caught up with the team at Bahrain Fort, after they had flown in from Qatar.

"I had never heard of Bahrain before and we wondered what to expect," said Ms Ferris, a university student.

"The first thing that struck me about the place is the architecture which is very different from all others.

"The way buildings have incorporated elements of the kingdom's past has rendered it rather unique, making it Arab yet modern."

The adventurers also took in the Bahrain City Centre mall where they chatted to shoppers and visited Pearl Roundabout and Ahmed Al Fateh Islamic Centre (Grand Mosque), before heading off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Asked about what the trio had learned about what makes people happy, Mr Martin said the universal answer was family, friends and travelling.

"Bahrain is no different, here we heard that shopping malls make people happy," he said.

Although disappointed by the lack of public beaches in Bahrain, Ms Ferris spoke about what it had been like to be part of the once-in-a-lifetime expedition.

"The trip is all about exploring the global element of happiness and documenting our journey using social networking media," she said.

"Through user-generated content we're able to interact directly with the people of the countries we're visiting," Ms Ferris said.

"They act as virtual travel agents and suggest places to visit and share their personal happiness anecdotes."

Having travelled to 65 countries before reaching Bahrain and clocked up nearly 216,260km, the team enjoyed some quirky, fun and weird experiences.

"I think the happiest places we've been to so far has been the Caribbean," said Mr Martin.

"There's a lot of poverty there but happiness abounds everywhere.

"A Honduran told us: 'My house is by the beach, I have sunshine and water and everything that's beautiful. What more can make me happy?'"

Real-time updates of the trip are available at www.expedition206.com and the team's progress can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the blog site TypePad.

'Happiness in the 'Land of Golden Smiles'', Gulf Daily News, April 16, 2010, Jennifer Gnana