“Long Way Round” a real travel adventure with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
January 25th, 2010 | 
Author: The other day we decided to watch “Long Way Round” with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman again. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, this is a TV documentary of Ewan’s and Charley’s journey from London to New York on motorbikes. As the title suggests, they took the long way by setting off through Europe and then heading east through Russia and Asia all the way to Bering Strait where they would fly the motorbikes to Alaska. Mounting their bikes again in Anchorage they would then ride them across the American continent to New York.
Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman from Long Way Round
First of all let me say that I do enjoy watching the DVD’s although this is probably something I would never undertake myself. But that goes for a lot of things I guess
. Even if it is about an extended journey both in time and distance the focus is definitely on the adventure part. It’s for big strong guys and maybe not something where you would bring your kids along.
Still, it‘s very entertaining to take part of all the ups and downs. They try to cover everything from the planning and preparation to finally arriving in New York. You definitely get the feeling that a journey like that is not just fun all the time. There are also struggles and obstacles to overcome before as well as during the trip. But despite that and all the hardship, I suppose it’s an experience they wouldn’t want to have been without.
Right now as we are watching it they are stuck in the mud in Mongolia questioning why they are there and why they are doing this at all. They probably found an answer for it or they must have forgotten about it quickly since they later took on a second challenge of riding their bikes from England to South Africa. Putting themselves through all that hardship once more must mean it was worth it somehow for them.
So let’s see if there is anything interesting that we can take away from this:
• For anyone concerned about the very common money to travel issue. Here is for sure a way of doing it that doesn’t take money out of your pocket but rather put money into it. Well, that’s just my guess but I would be very surprised if it wasn’t the case since the TV documentaries seems to be big successes as well as the books. Sure it helps that Ewan is a famous actor (Star Wars, Moulin Rouge and other films) but still it wasn’t just a walk in the park for them either. All it takes I believe is a good idea!
• I said before that this is probably something I would never do myself, the obvious reason being that I am not really a motorbike person. But more importantly than that, I wouldn’t want to exclude my family to that extent. My personal choice would rather be to come up with an adventure that could include my wife and kids as well. Why not get on a motorbike and put the kids in a sidecar and tour Europe or the US for six month instead? It wouldn’t of course be the same but it would for sure be great for the family bonding.
• My third point is time. Give yourself plenty of time! Watching Ewan and Charley in Long Way Round often being stressed because of a tight schedule and not having time to stop and enjoy the present moment, kind of takes away the point of traveling in the first place. Traveling is not a race to me. It’s not about getting somewhere quickly or visiting the greatest amount of countries or cities so you have a nice and big photo album to look back at when you get home. No, it’s about enjoying the journey when I am out there traveling.
Still I enjoy watching the DVD’s tremendously. I am very grateful to Ewan and Charley for making this journey and documenting it all so I can enjoy the adventure from the comfort of my sofa.
What I would love to see in the future though is a documentary of an extended travel adventure with a family. To see how they experience it and what their challenges and rewards would be. I am sure it would be something that would inspire other families to set off on their own adventure as well.
Maybe a film like that has already been made and I just don’t know about it? If that is so we would be very pleased if someone would tell us about it. And even if it has been done I still think there is a market for a new one if someone is looking for a sponsored long term travel adventure with their family…
Maybe something you would like to do?
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Posted in How to travel | 
Tags: adventure, Charley Boorman, Ewan McGregor, Long Way Round, Money to travel, Travel
Just watching Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman made me come up with a realization. FRIENDSHIP beyond words could ever say. Seeing their pictures together, you can see the respect, the hardships, the satisfaction, the victory as they journey along the way.. CHEERS! :)
Sammy Holiday´s last blog ..Holiday Cottage in Cornwall
Hi – very great website you have created. I enjoyed reading this posting. I did want to write a remark to tell you that the design of this site is very aesthetically delightful. I used to be a graphic designer, now I am a copy editor for a merchandising firm. I have always enjoyed working with computers and am attempting to learn code in my free time (which there is never enough of lol).
My family enjoyed this series also, although as I recall now I think we missed some of the episodes. I may need to go see if it is online somewhere.
I like this documentary with Evan and Charley. A journey from London to New York on motorbike is really amazing.
Hi – very great website you have created. I enjoyed reading this posting. I did want to write a remark to tell you that the design of this site is very aesthetically delightful. I used to be a graphic designer, now I am a copy editor for a merchandising firm. I have always enjoyed working with computers and am attempting to learn code in my free time (which there is never enough of lol).
Why did they do this? Was it for charity or something or was it just to fulfill a personal need to do something like this? I hadn’t even heard of it but I can imagine that was a very very long way round. I guess it’s something you’d always remember though. Not that Ewan is going to be short of things to share with his grandchildren. He does not look good though, way too much facial hair.
You have to give quality time with your family. I agree with your second point on being with your family on a tour.
Ewan and Charlie, your friendship amazes me. I believe that you treat each other more than siblings. I wish I could have an alter ego similar to your relationship. I enjoyed reading this and rest assured I’ll be a regular visitor. Thanks for the inspiration.
Yes, traveling together enables you to grow really close, or to get enough of each others:) To quote Mark Twain: “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”