Tucsonan's wanderlust leads her to Mongol Derby

Tucson.com - Full Article

July 26 2015
By Jon Gold

In this dog-eats-dog-then-campaigns-for-its-corner-office world, maybe we should be celebrating the wild ones, the carefree ones, the ones who value experience as much as stuff.

World, meet Tucson’s Michelle Tanaka.

Michelle Tanaka, meet world. Oh, you’ve already met.

Michelle has seen the far reaches of the globe, traveled the Trans-Siberian Railway through Russia, planted trees in Australia, fended off creeping hands in dank, dark trains in India and slept under stars, a billion flickering lightbulbs in a black sky.

And now, the 25-year-old will embark on her grandest adventure yet: the Mongol Derby. Between Aug. 5-15, she will trek 600 miles across the wooded plains and sandy dunes of the Mongolian steppe. Michelle will ride 25 semi-wild horses with long tails and thick manes that remain uncut. The arduous journey covers the sophisticated mail route that was created by the great Genghis Khan.

She leaves Sunday...

Read more here:
http://tucson.com/sports/tucsonan-s-wanderlust-leads-her-to-mongol-derby/article_338df88e-e23b-5783-a62a-7c99ce5b6ea3.html