Sometimes you experience something that changes your life forever. Be it big or small, it doesn’t matter. Looking back over the past few years I can think of some things that impacted me greatly: going to Trinity for the first time with Scott, listening to Beck’s ‘Sea Change’, meeting Yum.
And then, a few weeks ago, Yum and I watched Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s ‘Long Way Round’ documentary/adventure. And this changed the way I looked at life.
Ewan and Charley are best mates that love to ride motorcycles. They took small trips at first around the UK. And then they started to dream–big. A trip across Europe became a trip across Europe and Asia, and finally a trip from the UK to New York… the long way round, a trip around the world. And except for a short plane ride from northeast Russia to Alaska, they made the entire trip over land on two wheels.
20,000 miles in almost 4 months.
The friendship between Charley and Ewan is quite deep. As you watch them interact over the course of their adventure you can’t help but admire them–and maybe become a bit jealous. Their fraternal bond is magical. Anyone would be very lucky to have what they have.
A camera crew and a support team followed them in 4×4 trucks, usually a day behind. One swiss cameraman rode his own motorbike with Charley and Ewan to record and preserve the experience. So for the most part the guys were on their own, traveling all day long by motorcycle and camping in their tents at night in some of the most serene locations on Earth.
Mongolia was my favorite part of the trip, and for the boys it was the toughest. They almost gave up. But they made it all the way across the country, all the way across Europe Asia North America, and eventually to New York. I don’t want to give too much away, in case you decide to watch it–which you most certainly should.
‘Long Way Round’ is the greatest road trip of our time, and certainly one of the greatest adventures of all time.
Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor with their trusty BMWs
