Trip takes in four forms of transport, 2,300 miles, 36 customers – and a quiet pint in separate pubs
Planes, trains and automobiles – and boats! It was all about the numbers as Buddy Fernandez managed four forms of transport on the publishing duo’s epic 2,300-mile tour of four countries and two islands to visit 36 retailers.
Having kicked off the mammoth trip in rattly Pascal the red Bedford Rascal, the quirky greeting card company co-owners Lee Rowlett and Wes Venn finished up in a comfy rented hatchback, with a side Easyjet flight to Jersey and a ferry across the Solent to the Isle of Wight.
True to madcap Buddy form, the 10-day event actually stretched over 11 days, kicking off in their home of Leighton Buzzard on January 19, and landing back in the Beds town – minus Pascal who lasted 800 miles and three days – on January 29 via:
Happydashery, Leighton Buzzard, Beds; &Quirky, Berkhamsted, Herts; South West 15, Kingsbridge, Devon; Lindy Lou, Porthleven, Cornwall; Absolute Cards, Wells, Somerset; Figgins, Frome, Somerset; Card Shack, Bristol; Attica, Swansea; Fourteen Lifestyle, Stroud, Gloucs; For Something Different, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwicks; Sparrowhawk Vintage, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffs; Lollypop, Ramsbottom, Gtr Manchester; Tickittyboo Gifts, Romiley, Gtr Manchester; Make Up Or Break Up, Manchester; Cowgills, Clitheroe, Lancs; Gifted, Glasgow; Betty Beans, Glasgow; Maia Gifts, Glasgow; Scribbler, Edinburgh; Proudlock House & Home, Alnwick, Northumberland; Wild At Heart, Tynemouth, North Tyneside; Upside Down Presents, Newcastle Upon Tyne; Optimum Gifts, Ashbourne, Derbyshire; Set, Leicester; Thornham Deli, Hunstanton, Norfolk; Card & Gift Box, Attleborough, Norfolk; Natural Edge, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex; Homely, Rochester, Kent; Little Dorrit, Rochester, Kent; Seedee Jons, St Helier, Jersey; Newhaven Cards, Newhaven, East Sussex; Creased Cards, Brighton, East Sussex; Red Card, Petworth, West Sussex; Buff, Cowes, Isle of Wight; Toad Hall Interiors, Olney, Bucks, and Dee’s Cards, Leighton Buzzard, Beds.
After racking up 2,300 miles, 63 coffees, 10 hotels, one very nice AA man towing Pascal the Rascal back minus a snapped timing belt, goodness knows how many packets of crisps and emergency McDonald’s rations, and developing an unhealthy obsession with viaducts and bridges, the Buddy boys are now back home.
“And we’re never going to speak of this again,” winced Lee, “although we did only have to share a double bed once!
“Actually, it was great fun, and a brilliant way to see our cards in all these fabulous stores as well as show off new designs and ranges of our honest, funny and often rude greetings. Our customers are lovely – and the treats we got were delicious, plus there were lots of shop dogs to pet.
“Now we’re off for a pint – in completely different pubs, quite possibly in different towns, maybe different countries.”
Check out Instagram (@buddycards) and Facebook (@buddyscards) for the videos of the tour.
Top: The Buddy tour is over with 36 retailers visited
