Dedication reward winners

Pony socks winners

Olari

Sat down with a grandmother who shared all the kind messages neighbours had written about me — people calling me the coolest guy around and saying I brightened their day. Hard to top a moment like that.

Mikk

Met a Romanian dad named Tomi who turned out to have dated an Estonian girl years ago. Small world, full circle moment, great conversation.

Trevon

One cool dad let me try out his gun at the range — definitely not something I expected to be doing that day, but a fun experience nonetheless.

Elerin

Met a wonderful set of grandparents today who reminded me so much of my own back home. Made the whole visit feel incredibly warm and familiar.

Angelika

Met a family that was both hilarious and impeccably polite. As I was leaving, their 8-year-old daughter insisted on escorting me to my car like royalty — opened the back door for my bag, opened the front door for me, and sent me off with a round of applause. Absolutely made my day.

Britta

A guy gave me a hat that belonged to his late mother, who passed four years ago — said it matched my shirt perfectly and that he enjoyed our conversation so much he wanted me to have it. Genuinely touched by the gesture.

Marius

Showed someone a bow today and ended up chatting with a guy who had actually been to an Ari Mattis gig. Cool little connection.

Marek

Daniel came to follow and towards the end of the day we got a sitdown inside the house and he fell asleep and started snoring:)

Daniel

Proud of how I showed up this week, even on the days it was tough to keep pushing forward. Funny moment of the week: sat down with a mom and tried to bring her husband into the conversation, only to learn she actually had a wife. Turned out one was a police officer working tough areas of Toledo and the other a paramedic — safe to say I have never felt more intimidated by two people in my life.

Toomas

Met a guy who served in the Ohio Army and ended up gifting me his thermos. Small gesture, big impact.

PONY SOCKS 🧦

Britta
Walked a solid 50 minutes to Target convinced I was about to buy a bike, only to find out they do not sell bikes there at all. Turns out ChatGPT lied straight to my face — but hey, the steps counted for something.

Olari
Met a guy today whose nephew is an actor I genuinely admire, and he pulled out actual photos of them together. Small world moments like that never get old.

Jan
Took the car in for a leaking tire and found a 15-year-old working hard for his grandpa at the shop — refreshing to see kids putting in real summer work like that. Left him a tip and he was genuinely grateful, one of those wholesome little moments. Also crossed paths with someone from the local Catholic church who gave me solid advice on how to frame our Bibles for Catholic families, which turned out to be incredibly helpful.

Elerin
Some people go to work, I go treasure hunting. This week alone I came home with a cybersecurity book, homemade strawberry jam, and a framed photograph from a Swedish photographer — plus enough in donations to basically cover my week’s rent. Not a bad haul.

Nazar
Last door on Monday landed me a bike worth $600, handed over by a family who said they were “too fat to ride it.” Also spent some time with an old man who spent over 30 years as a prison guard — you could tell just from the way he carried himself and the weight in his voice.

Trevon
Knocked on a door after spotting a car in the driveway, and on the way back noticed two elderly people seemingly asleep inside it. Heart dropped for a second thinking the worst — but a gentle knock on the window revealed they had simply had a long day and dozed off. Relief like nothing else.

Angelika
Got a message from a colleague inviting me to shadow him in Coldwater, told him I would be there in two hours, and showed up right on schedule — except I had driven to the wrong Coldwater. Ohio apparently has two. Turned right back around for another two-hour drive to the correct one.

Lysanna
Sometimes the day calls for cookies, and today it delivered exactly that after a bit of a situation. Small wins matter.

Marius
Walked away with some genuinely cool merch from families this week — caps and other goodies included. The generosity never stops surprising me.

Mikk
Was deep in conversation with an awesome dad in his garage when he suddenly spotted someone stealing my bike. Without missing a beat, he launched out of his chair and sprinted after the guy like an absolute superhero. Got the bike back, had a great laugh about it afterward — turns out everyone needs a Batman in their corner sometimes.

Marek
A colleague came along to shadow for the day and we had a genuinely great time working together.

Toomas
Ran into the same lady who handed me my permit back at city hall — small world. She ended up picking up some books for her nephews too, full circle moment.

Daniel
Crossed paths with a couple of fellow door-to-door salesmen, except they were pitching internet instead of books. Comparing notes on the job turned into one of the funnier conversations of the week.

Lysanna
A kind mom handed me focaccia bread alongside a Mormon testament book — and when I mentioned it, she lit up sharing that she had done the exact same thing back in 1984. Forty years apart, same gesture, same warmth.

Olari
Knocked on a door and ended up in a great conversation with a former Air Force guy who had actually been to Estonia and Tallinn. We swapped stories about both countries and it felt less like a doorstep pitch and more like catching up with an old friend.

Jan
Had a great week with the sales managers checking in on me — really pushed myself to bring my best energy to every door and every family. Proud of the effort and the genuine connections made along the way.

Angelika
Met a family at the trailer park who casually mentioned they had 22 animals living with them. What started as a conversation about snakes somehow ended with geckos, dogs, and a lot of laughs.

Trevon
Took a selfie with a lovely grandma today — turned out it was her very first one ever. She was absolutely thrilled and honestly, so was I.

Nazar
One day, three unforgettable encounters — a man who chased me down for selling in “his neighbourhood,” an elderly couple who stopped everything to pray for me, and a police deputy who shared his funniest call ever: a midnight emergency where a woman woke up to find an opossum under her blanket and needed saving. Never a dull moment.

Britta
My water bottle cracked and now makes a dolphin squeak every time I take a sip. At this point the whole neighbourhood hears me coming before they even see me.

Mikk
Got invited inside by two incredibly cool firefighters who were hosting a family gathering — and they made me a burger on the spot. Separately, bought a bike on Monday that managed to lose its chain within two days.

Maarius
After a long week of long days, finally took a proper look at the backseat — and lost count of the empty water bottles somewhere around fifteen. At this point it is less of a car and more of a recycling centre on wheels. Cleaning day is coming, eventually.

Marek
Went to two churches and nazar came to follow – it was fun

Daniel
Knocked on one of the few doors without a no-soliciting sign — joked that they’d probably put one up after our visit. A college student answered, and within seconds his dog bolted out and started tearing around the yard while he desperately tried to catch it. We took the hint and left, but as we pulled away, a quick glance in the rearview mirror revealed the dog sprinting after our car — with the guy in full sprint right behind it. Some doors are better left unknocked.

Toomas
Nothing like ending a Sunday in full Mexican style — walked into a restaurant dressed in bright colours, looking like we had just stepped off a parade float. We sat down, ordered like regulars and owned every second of it. Best dressed table in the house, no contest.

Elerin. Riding to my last family of the day when a group of friends on the street waved me over — turns out they were playing bleembo and needed one more pair of hands for the flying disk. Never heard of it before, but jumped right in. Best way to close out a long day, hands down.

JAN Running on fumes after a long day, I discovered the hard way that gas stations in small towns close at 10 PM. Never one to panic, I did what felt natural — walked up to a group of strangers throwing a bachelor party nearby. Within minutes, a local business owner had driven me 500 meters down the road to fill up my tank, saving the night.

TREVON This journey keeps introducing me to incredible people — one legend even let me pose with his Corvette, while a group of guys whose taste in music instantly made us friends hooked me up with a bike. The catch? We had to literally cut it out of a bush where it had been sitting for who knows how long.

BRITTA At the end of a long workday, my host family dropped everything, drove out to my work zone and brought me safely back home. Could not have asked for more dedicated people in my corner.

ELERIN Day two brought its fair share of challenges, but it ended on the warmest note possible — a kind grandmother came through and handed me a bike, just like that. Some people restore your faith in humanity without even trying.

NAZAR Finding a reliable bike turned into a full saga — a kind client drove me home on day one, then day two brought a free bike with a flat tire, a second bike with another flat, and finally a tiny but mighty bicycle with working tires. Three bikes in a single day might be a new personal record.

LYSANNA It never gets old hearing people say they know Estonia — and this time it came with a bonus: I got to meet the actual mayor. Also spotted a 10-foot skeleton decorating someone’s front yard, which felt perfectly on brand for this trip.

OLARI Met the man behind the legendary fast-talking auction voice — and he gave me a live performance on the spot. Absolutely surreal, absolutely worth it.

MIKK Stumbled upon a trailer park full of families and made sure every single one of them got to see the books. Every. Single. One.

DANIEL Sat down with a grandmother who happened to sell me my very first bike back in year one — and this time around, I helped her track down her missing phone. Full circle moment.

MAREK A colleague joined for a stretch of the route and together we spotted all kinds of animals roaming the countryside. Good company, fresh air, and unexpected wildlife — a solid day by any measure.

ANGELIKA Earlier in the day, a young mother with a baby asked me to swing by again in the evening. I knocked on the door later that night to loud music blasting inside — and instead of the mother, a single hand shot out holding a Pampers diaper with a firm “I don’t have time for that,” followed by a slammed door. Quite the memorable goodbye.

MAARIUS Knocked on a door mid-afternoon, stomach growling after a long morning on the road. Before I could even finish my pitch, the family inside insisted I sit down and join them for lunch. An hour later I left with a full plate, a great conversation, and a reminder that genuine hospitality still exists everywhere you look.

TOOMAS Out of nowhere, a man opened his door and within minutes revealed he had lived in Estonia for a whole year — suddenly we were swapping stories about places, food and memories like old friends. It is wild how a small country can create such an unexpected connection on the other side of the world.