Long Way Round

Last weekend I happened to be channel surfing and ran into the TV program Long Way Round. It is the videologue of a motorcycle trip made by Ewen McGregor and his mate Charlie Boorman, around the world, from London east to New York. I knew that we had the DVD here at the library but I hadn’t watched it even though it had been recommended to me. After watching it on TV for a very short while my son and I were hooked! Ewen and Charlie are wonderful hosts: they are so friendly, respectful of each other and of everyone they meet, and have such joy for life that you want to come along for the ride. They travel through Europe very quickly eager to get on to more remote areas: the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia. They then fly to Alaska and make a quick trip of Canada and the U.S. They meet a lot of people along the way; indulge in some interesting cuisine; soak up as much culture as they can and do a little sight-seeing. Mostly though, it’s about the bike. They have planned a very tight schedule so there isn’t much time to spare in any one given place so as a travel show you might be disappointed. They ride right by places that you find yourself saying “Stop here! I wanna see what that is!” They do see a number of wonderful places though; plus they keep reminding us that it’s about the bike. It’s about the bike and it’s about friendship.

They re-ran the entire program on TV to get you primed for their new series: Long Way Down where Ewen and Charlie ride from John O’Groats, Scotland to South Africa. We watched the first episode of this one and it looks like another great adventure. To catch the TV version of Long Way Down go to: http://www.foxreality.com/longwaydown/.
You can check out Long Way Round here at the library.