PETALING JAYA: Richard Avis has often wondered how his life would have turned out if he was born somewhere else in the world.
The 39-year-old Englishman travelled across continents in search of the answers.
In a life-changing decision, Avis has now embarked on a mission to find a diverse group of his "40 Time Twins" - people born on the same day as him - Dec 1, 1974.
Avis, a former management consultant, plans to do this before his 40th birthday.
The ambitious project is inspired by how different environments affect the lives of people around the globe.
So far, Avis’ Time Twins included a New York filmmaker, an Italian mayor, a Swedish lawyer, a Dutch female bodybuilding champion, a Norwegian Olympian, an Irish novelist, an Austrian footballer, an Indonesian politician and an Australian neuroscientist.
“The project is about exploring how people’s circumstances, locations and heritages impact their lives.
"The aim is not to compare life against life, but to develop a clearer understanding of what matters to people of different ways of life around the world,” reads a statement on his website.
Avis plans to document all the remarkable stories that he has come across and publish them in book plus video documentaries after he completes his challenge.
In the self-funded socio-cultural experiment, Avis with the support of his team met 27 Time Twins from diverse backgrounds, and hopes to meet more when he comes down to Kuala Lumpur next week.
If you were born in the same day and year as Avis and would like to be a part of the project, contact richard@timetwins.info.
To read more about Avis’ expedition and the stories of his TimeTwins, visit http://www.timetwins.info/ .
