By Any Means

I did mention some time ago about the Long Way series staring Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman, well mates, they've done it again... This time Charlie, Russ and a cameraman, Mungo, departed from Wicklow (Ireland) aiming to reach Sydney (Australia) some 4 months later, using any means of transportation on the way. One of the main conditions was to use local, traditional means of transport, specific for the countries they are cruising through, avoiding as much as they can the use of a plane.

The expedition started on April 12th 2008 from Boorman's father house in Wicklow. What a better way to start off the journey than by riding classic motorbikes? :) Next came the Routemaster buss, a type of double-decker which Charlie actually drove till the crew reached Dover. After reaching and driving through France in a Citroen DS, the guys took the Venice Orient Express, spent some time in Venice, then took off for Poreč, Croatia. In total, the team passed 24 countries using 112 modes of transport in 102 days.

I will not go into details too much, just to keep that suspense to the maximum. What I can tell you after seeing all the episodes is that I was not only surprised (in a good way) to discover what a great, sociable, friendly person Charlie has proven to be, but I also found it extremely interesting to learn so many things about different cultures and places around this wonderful, diverse Big Blue Planet.

To see the show, just search it on Youtube, you have all the episodes there and if you are from Romania, the show also plays on National Geographic, Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. It's really worth it! It left me lingering for such a trip to be honest... anyone interested?! :)