Our Team

By fate (or more accurately, tragedy), Dan, Mike and Tanner became friends in High School in Minneapolis. Now how did Joe get involved in this troupe? After high school, Mike went to college where he unfortunately met Joe and a friendship ensued. Graduation. Joe and Mike move to Chicago as does Tanner. Dan escapes out west to San Francisco, but Mike forces Dan to be Joe’s friend upon a visit to Chicago. Anyways, now let’s meet team Fleetwood Yak.

**Joe**

*Top 3 Skills:*
1) Correct pronunciations of international cuisine. (It’s pronounced broo-SKETTA)
2) Animated hand gesturing while talking – surely to be of use at sketchy border central Asian crossings
3) Diversity

Every team that’s traveling 10,000 miles to Mongolia needs an amateur chef and gourmand and that’s why Joe was included on the team. Growing up outside of Indianapolis (Clippity Clop Go Horse), Joe mastered the art of cooking at a young age. While his in-depth knowledge of traditional rustic Italian cooking may not help in troubleshooting rattle noises coming from the car engine, Joe can at least treat the team some elegant dishes of boodog as they race across the Eurasian Steppe.

**mIcHAEL**

*Top 3 Skills:*
1) Capable of locating and befriending all Australians in a given 1 mile radius
2) Can apply sunscreen every 20 minutes and still get burned
3) Makes some mad decent guac

Mike is the first member of the Minnesotans and the second proud Notre Dame alumnus, and if you’ve known Conry for more than 5 minutes you probably knew that already. Never afraid to travel the nation following the Fighting Irish, Mike decided this would be the year to branch out and take his talents to Mongolia. What talents you ask? Not that it’s any great achievement but Mike sounds out in our foresome for his ability to converse with strangers without making a complete fool of himself. That paired with his considerable height and build in spite of his lackluster diet make him a formidable force in social situations.

TanneR

*Top 3 Skills:*
1) Bootleg photoshopping abilities
2) Ability to sleep on command in car rides and any ground surface (just provide a sleeping pad)
3) Ability to keep others awake while performing said sleeping task

Tanner is the 2nd fellow of the Minnesota trio. Tanner, of Luxembourgish descent, brings a wealth of experience when it comes to European travel. Having studied abroad in Germany and visited there multiple times since, Tanner will come in handy as a nice tour guide before the team drives into the more trying segments of the trip. Leading up to the rally, Tanner has really stepped into his own and played the wedding planner role flawlessly for this Mongol road trip. Ensuring that the team has secured a car and insurance, finalized route and daily schedules, and jumped through all of the visa hoops is no easy task and Tanner has executed it well thus far. Now will we stay on track with all of our daily plans? Stay tuned to find out.

Dan

*Top 3 Skills:*
1) Unbridled energy at 6 AM
2) Voicing his strong opinions about not liking or needing coffee
3) He has beard.

Like ¾ of the team, Dan grew up in Minnesota but moved to San Francisco, California after graduation. After college, he really embraced the West Coast lifestyle and has not and will never look back. While he hasn’t picked up that easy going, carefree California lifestyle quite yet, he immediately assumed the Cali-elite I’m-better-than-you attitude. A savvy electrical engineer, he’s sure to be an asset to the team with his “engineering” skills. Unfortunately, because of his job restrictions, Fleetwood Yak will only be blessed with Dan’s presence from Baku, Azerbaijan onwards as the team crosses the Caspian Sea and dives into the thick of Central Asian journey.