When I finished University in 2003, I hopped a plane to Scotland and got a job serving at a hotel in the town of Peebles. It was one of those unforgettable experiences (now if only I could remember…). Most of the staff was foreign and I became good friends with people from around the world.

One of those people was a South African named Andre. When I came back home to Canada in early 2004, we made the same doomed promise that most people in our situation make: to get together again.

It’s a nice gesture to say and there’s no doubt we meant it at the time. But as is often the case, life gets in the way – especially when the distance is so great (Canada to South Africa). I always held out hope that it wasn’t a well-meaning comment and we would see each other again.

And then, out of the blue last night, I got a facebook message from him. On September 10, he is actually coming to North America. He’ll be in New York City for about a week. Now, that’s no where near my neck of the woods but he’s actually coming up to the Northern Hemisphere and across a freaking ocean!

The only problem? I don’t have enough money to make the trip.

To raise enough money, I am offering to rent out my time in New York to you.

• For $1 I’ll high-five a New York stranger for you.
• For $3 I’ll tell your favourite joke to a New York stranger.
• For $5 I’ll mail you something from the streets of NYC.
• For $5 I’ll also give you one of my NYC memories, personalized for you.
• For $20 I’ll write a poem for you, about you and recite it in Times Square.
• For $100 I’ll cut my hair into a mullet and wear it around NYC for the entire weekend.

Everything will be videotaped and photographed so you’ll be able to see which New Yorker heard your joke, got your high-five and heard the poem I wrote about you.

I’m going to travel as cheaply as possible. I plan to Couch Surf, fly Economy and will probably even pack my own meals for the few days I’ll be there. The only luxury will be a few drinks & dinner with Andre, which is the whole reason for this nonsense anyways.

Any surplus will go to the Terry Fox Foundation to fight cancer. So basically, every dollar given to this project will go to a good cause: friendship or the cancer fight.

The clock is ticking; I only have 2 weeks to raise the money. So please, in the name of friendship and keeping promises, send me a few bucks, your names for high-fives, jokes, addresses for souvenirs or whatever else I’ll need to keep up my end of the bargain.

Let’s do this in the name of transcontinental friendship & keeping promises. You can see the entire project and buy whatever you want at my website.