Hop on a rickshaw in Kerala and get off in Darjeeling.

Do you have exciting plans for the winter holidays? Skiing in Aspen? Christmas in the Alps? New Year’s Eve in Rio?

Yawn.

According to the UK-based [1] Institute of Adventure Research, the most exciting place you can be this December and January is India.

In a rickshaw.

For 2,000 miles.

On the first-ever [2] Rickshaw Run.

“What better way to enjoy the Christmas holidays than two weeks of mountains, mud tracks, tropical heat, gin and tonics, cricket and that most noble of vehicular genius, the three-wheeled motorized rickshaw?” asks the Institute. “The Rickshaw Run is pretty simple. With no preparation and less luggage, one flies to the Indian Subcontinent and does one’s damndest to force 150cc of crap Indian engineering over 2,000 miles of questionable terrain in two weeks.”

The run, which starts in Kerala and ends in Darjeeling (“for a spot of tea”), is not for the sake of adventure alone. It’s “all about raising huge amounts of wedge … for a great charity.” [“Wedge” is Brit-speak for “cheese” or “cheddar,” which is, you know, “urban”-speak for money, as in Jay-Z’s “I check cheddar like a food inspector”—OK, so I just wanted an excuse to reference Jigga.]

Anyone can participate by creating a team (of 1? 2? 22? It doesn’t matter, sayeth the Institute—though members have to, you know, fit into the rickshaw)—each team just has to make a £650 donation to cover the rickshaw cost. “At the end of the run, their rickshaws will be handed to an NGO working in Siligury, monitored by Mercy Corps, who will distribute them to the most needy cases.” Of course, teams can raise additional funds for the charities of their choice, as well.

Who needs a rickshaw, you ask? According to the Institute, “Many autorickshaw taxi drivers are forced to live in a state of poverty because they don’t have the money to buy their rickshaw. They borrow the money or rent the rickshaw often at extortionate rates. It means that while they can earn a living from the taxi fares, a large amount of it, often more than half, goes to pay of the debt or pay the rent for the vehicle. Giving a rickshaw to a poor family is huge life changing gift that enables them to earn a living without the burden of in impossible debt.”

Institute-described “ninnies” need not apply: “Support? Of course we don’t provide any support. The Rickshaw Run is supposed to be an adventure. What sort of adventure would you have if we were following you in a truck with spare parts and a comfy bed? No, we must get out there into the world and get stuck in it. When you’re stuck, lost, and up $hit creek without a rowing implement is when you start to have fun and the last thing we want to do is stop you having fun!” And while there will be checkpoints across the country for rickshaw runners to check in and share war stories, there’s no set route: “You plan your route to your own particular taste. If you want deserts and mountains, it’s yours. If you want jungle, it’s yours, too.”

Americans are hoping for [3] Good Korma

Many teams have already joined in the mad dash of adventure for a good cause, and they’ve adopted clever names to boot: [4] She’s a Goa, [5] Curry on Rickshaw, and my personal favorite, the American [6] Good Korma.

Are you up for the challenge? Form your own team and set off for the Subcontinent. Sputtering across India in a rickshaw not your idea of fun? Support your favorite runners as they pursue a most worthy lovechild: adventure and a noble cause. Because, as the Institute puts it, “adventure can be a little elusive these days. Without the finances for space exploration, those of us of more reasonable means have to search that little bit further.”