Long Way Round

Rating:
Summary: A journey that leads to your inner self
Review: A side note before I start my review. I am very upset with the producers of Long Way Round because they may not make a DVD version of the series for us here in the States. I found this out when I looked up the DVD version on Amazon and read that they not release it here. I signed up for the email update which by the way is also a way of voting to show support for them to make a DVD version for us.

Anyway off on my review. Have you ever been enthralled by journeys that delve into someone's soul? A journey so gripping that you shut the rest of the world out just to see what the next episode or chapter will reveal? Well that is what Long Way Round is all about.

It's a journey of 2 close friends Ewan & Charlie that transverses the world using motorcycles. I personally am not a big fan of motorcycles but the journey was truly enlightening. The pitfalls, hardships, the comoradarie, the support and most of all the search for the inner self.

This gripped me like no other. I at times, found myself riding along side. Trying to picture how I would handle the circumstances if I were there. Then I found myself yearning for adventure like this. For adventure to release my soul and push myself to overcome obstacles such as Ewan & Charlie faced.

Truly inspiring!

Rating:
Summary: I've read better.
Review: As a motorcycle rider I wish I could take a trip like this with support teams along with me. I bought the book thinking they did this all on there own. While what they did is still a big acheivement this trip is far from what most people could do. A much better book is Dave Barr's Riding the Edge, in which he rides around the world on old 1972 Harley-Davidson. Barr is alone most of the trip and is a double amputee. No support teams for him.

Rating:
Summary: what is everyone's problem
Review: I didn't read the book but am interested in doing so after watching these WONDERFUL episodes.
I figured I'd read what everyone has written on this but after the first 4 of 5 dreadfully lengthy negative posts, I stopped reading.
Since I actually saw the show and know what it's about, I'm just going to rely on the Obvious that I will like this book because it's the same journey as the show.
You all need to stop your whining and negative talk.
I'd love to do what these guys did. the adventures they had, the people they met. Yes they did have support vehicles but they didn't ride with Charley and Ewan. They only met up at borders where entering countries may become difficult seperately. Yes they did have people to work on their bikes when they needed it, but it wasn't anyone from their group. they were locals of the towns they were visiting.
If you were on a journey like this and your bike broke down, would you just say Hmmm, I can't have it fixed or it will pamper my experience because I didn't do it myself? or would you get the bike fixed so you can get on with the trip which is the whole point. the breakdowns were just obsticles, the same as the mud holes and road conditions. THAT'S THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THEIR TRIP, To experience all there is to experience in the 20,000 miles of journey they are on.

For those of you who actually know what they're talking about and know what they're interested in, Please watch the DVD (Should be available in USA on Feb 15th from what I've seen. I'd recommend the book but I haven't read it YET. But I definately will.
I was amazed that two actors that COULD be living pampered lives with the money they make in movies, etc instead decide to go on this long trip without Plans to stay in hotels and such each night. Plans to be part of the elements around them. Yes people along their way offer food and shelter for them, but why turn it down, it's not like they were just laying back and relaxing. They bust their buts riding all day and Naturally need sleep, if you're offered a roof over your head for the night by people that you meet along the way, why turn it down? I mean, meeting people and seeing sights, etc is the purpose of the trip.

I apologize for this being so long winded, but I don't want people to be mis-led by the negative posts.
thanks for listening, Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Chasing Shadows and Discovering So Much More
Review: I've long been a fan of Ewan McGregor and now after watching the series and reading the book I am also a fan of Charley Boorman. They are truly a lucky pair to find a friend that becomes so much more and to share an journey of a lifetime.

I applaud their tenacity, courage and compassion. They brought their readers and television audience on a real life adventure and shown us all just how different yet so very much a like we all are on this planet.

I also applaud their expanded support for UNICEF.

The printed edition is a lovely volume and the pictures are a treasure.

I do warn people to NOT buy the eBook version unless you don't mind being without the pictures included in the print edition. I was most disgusted by this short changing of the customer by the ebook publishers.

My advice - buy the printed book - it's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Long Whine Round
Review: Not having seen the show, which seems to be what most people have based their book reviews on, I was sorely disappointed with this so-called great adventure!! These two yahoos claim they wanted the trip to be "....Just [us] on our own, meeting the locals like any other traverlers and dealing with problems ourselves." If that's the case than why was it necessary to have sponsors, "fixers" and doctors along as well?!?! Seems to me like these two Holywood types were afraid of any "real life adventures." They act fed up when the locals turn out to greet them (as if the whole point of this enterprise wasn't to draw attention to themselves in the first place), constantly whine about missing their families (this was their idea, was it not?), and complain about such trivial things as one or two mosquito bites. Stick to your day jobs, boys.

Rating:
Summary: Long Way Round or How to Vacation for Free
Review: Poor Ewan McGregor. He's an actor. He gets paid lots and lots of money to act. Poor Charley Boorman. He's also an actor. But unlike Ewan, he was born to a wealthy English film director. It's so stressful for the both of them that they need to get away. Far away. As far from the pressures of their pampered lives as possible. And so, they do. After planning a trip "Round the World" for several months, they buy some BMW motorcyles... Oops. Scratch that. They GET some FREE BMW motorcycles and, with the funding of BRAVO TV, a well stocked support crew, and the most patient cameraman on the face of the earth, head out from London. At first the trip is a joy -- sightseeing, autograph signing -- yay. But then the hard part begins. Bad roads, no four-star restaurants, no pristine toilets. They have to camp. Charley doesn't like to camp. He's afraid of spiders, you see. He maybe should have stayed home with his little girls. HEY! I forgot to mention. Ewan and Charlie are both married with very small children. But this trip was so important, it was worth leaving them all at home to do this potentially life-threatening trip. (Although, the worst that seemed to happen to Mr. McGregor was a really bad mosquito bite on the forehead, and to Charley, a strained back). Still, they ran into quite a few men with guns -- not exactly a secure situation. Oh, and did I mention how much they missed their families? They write about it quite a few times -- aching for their wives and kidlets. Sick over it. Yes. Not quite enough to ditch the trip and go home, though. But let's face it -- they're actors. "Selfish" goes with the territory. Their wives must have the patience of saints to put up with this nauseating three-and-a-half-month self-indulgence. As for their little girls -- well, they don't really have any choice, do they? Unlike other reader reviews, I am not impressed by their undertaking in any respect. I have been a fan of Mr. McGregor's films for a long time, but this is more about his true personality than I care to know. He's so self-centered, that at one point, after Charley becomes injured, he's determined to finish the trip alone (oh, not quite alone -- there's the ever-patient Claudio, the cameraman, who has to put up with their bitching and moaning and finger-pointing the entire time). Now, Ewan ditching his friend is only evident if you've seen the t.v. series, but what the heck kind of a person abandons his best friend to go off and finish the big trip alone?? Oh yeah. The friendship thing. While it's obvious these two are "fast" friends, it's also equally obvious who the top banana is. McGregor gets most of the attention, while Charley waits in the wings for the autograph session to be over. (I'm sorry. I'm focusing on the negative, here.) There are also times McGregor is extremely generous toward his friend, like when he tries to get the OTHER free bike. Ewan goes to bat for Charley over the KTM, but the deal falls through. I have to say, I did enjoy the first couple chapters, where the boys describe how they fell in love with motorcycles. And there is one particularly entertaining chapter about their stay with Igor, a man with a beautiful voice and an even prettier machine gun. All of Igor's friends have guns, too. Hilarious. Bet his wife loved that one. I know I would have if it were MY husband. After all, the two experienced foreign lands that most of us will never see. And it affected them greatly. At least, for the length of time they were in the city/country. After much reflecting upon each group of people (at least McGregor does a lot of reflecting), one poorer than the one before, Ewan is grateful for the opportunity. But it doesn't seem to stick with him. He's immediately bitching about the roads again. In fact, he's very up and down throughout the entire ordeal. At one point, after getting hit by a car in Calgary, he describes how he feels "elated". Then later, in the comfy hotel room, he experiences a deep depression, thinking how his death would have affected his family. (It took him this long??) Then later, all that annoying reflecting out of the way, he's high again. Bizarre. I watched the t.v. series with a sense of adventure. But after reading the accompanying "journal", I'm just not sure why they did it. If McGregor was trying to get away from his life of fame, why did they sell the series to BRAVO? Why did they take cameramen? Why didn't the two of them just buy a couple of bikes and go out and experience the world? Maybe someday they'll be grown up enough to do just that. But if that's the case, I hope they'll see that their families come first, which I have heard McGregor state over and over, but apparently, sadly, isn't true. Throughout the book, he says one thing, but his actions are contrary, and make his words meaningless. Ah, well. So much for Hollywood magic.

Rating:
Summary: So many better 'travel by bike' books out there...
Review: Quick, easy read, but without much narrative beyond trying to keep a schedule and reflecting on personality clashes. Yes, these two did take time out of their busy acting careers to make the big trip, but it fell short for a number of reasons:
1. Very little reflection/observation about the trip.
2. Ever-present commentary on the group's personality clashes.
3. Spent the whole trip trying to keep a schedule and focusing on when they could get back home; they spent a lot of time missing their wives and kids (hey, that's great, but didn't they think about that before hand? - is there a lesson here?)
4. Two friends wanting to get away from it all but having the luxury of being well funded with a complete support/film crew; this takes much of the 'experience' out of travel.
5. Two friends wanting to see it through the eyes of lone travelers, and in search of 'interesting' experiences, but then begging for their support crew and tagalongs the minute things did get a bit interesting.
6. Limited camping/outdoors experience, mechanical competence, and utter lack of research on the route, history or customs of the places they sped though.

Nothing against these guys - I do a lot of extended traveling by motorcycle and am envious of being able to do such a trip, but it was a sponsored/corporate trip (complete with book and TV shows) made by a couple of actors who haven't seemed to have cut their teeth on much real travel or introspection beyond liking motorcycles. Again, an easy and at times entertaining read, but there are much better motorcycle travel books that will impress, inspire, motivate and captivate other than this one.


Rating:
Summary: Cheesy Riders
Review: So you two guys want to ride motorcycles around the world to find Real Adventure and Deep Inner Satisfaction. You're successful movie actors -- presumably with a lot of money. So what's the first thing you do? That's right, you find someone else to pay for the whole thing. You get BMW to give you the bikes and you finance it all by lining up producers to make a television documentary of the journey. You bravely set out on this True Adventure with an entourage of several people and two support vehicles.

Then you spend the whole trip bitching and moaning about the documentary staff being along, while simultaneously throwing Hollywood-style temper tantrums, having nervous hissy fits, screaming at the help and generally acting like spoiled three year olds. You cry a few crocodile tears at your set-up visit with Chernobyl orphans and reflect to yourself about how all this has further ennobled you and made you even more gosh darn sensitive and caring and all that stuff.

You have somebody called Robert Uhlig put together a book for you, but you use enough of your own words so that your preening, self-indulgent, paranoid personalities come out -- or maybe Mr. Uhlig just knows you well enough to write what you really think and could afford to be honest about it, knowing neither of you would ever sit still long enough actually to read the book.

You probably end the trip fighting over how to share out the money from the book and the documentary. If that's in the book, though, I didn't see it, because I chucked it across the room into the wastebasket at Page 137.

That's what you do if you are Ewan McGregor and Carley Borman.

Most of the words are spelled right and the grammar is pretty good. There are some color photographs, but they aren't particularly interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Awsome book for Anyone, not just motorcycle fans.
Review: This book is amazing, telling such a great story adventure and emotion. Expected a book about motorcycling, ended up with so much more.

The book is written by Ewan and friend Charlie. Ewan is a much better writter, but its interesting to get contrasting views back to back. Makes one believe anything is possible. Well worth the time and money, just need to find where I can buy the DVDs now!




Rating:
Summary: Cautionary Tale
Review: This is word-to-the-wise about compromise wrapped up in the clothes of a motorcycle travelogue. It's a great idea-McGregor gets an itch to ride around the world with his friend and fellow actor, Charley Boorman. Just the two of them on the open road, travelling incognito, meeting the locals, etc.

Unfortunately, like most dreams, this one didn't survive contact with the real world. Financial and professional contraints meant that the trip had to be planned and executed in an unrealistically small amount of time. They decided to pitch the trip as a potential television show in order to get financing and planning resources. This was probably neccesary in order to make the trip happen, but it drastically changed the nature of the journey.

Instead of two blokes on the road together, now the journey was two blokes and a cameraman with a large support crew behind them and fixers at every border to ease the problems with dealing with the locals, not to mention quite a bit of publicity preceding the blokes, so that "meeting the locals" oftentimes meant "media event." What evolves, then is that the book is less the story of this larkish journey than of the tension between the original vision of the trip and the reality of it.

Everyone gets on each other's nerves, of course. It doesn't help that the planning was extremely amateurish. It quickly becomes clear that the fixers and support crew were an blessing-they'd never have made it without them. McGregor and Boorman know quite a bit about riding bikes, but almost nothing about fixing them. Since both actors need to get back to work, they really don't have the time to linger in the places they're visiting. Their cross-continent journey is really more of a race, and a gruelling endurance race at that.

The authors alternate telling the tale, and their voices are distinct and their writing clear. You never really forget that you're reading the words of a couple of celebrities, but then again, most of us wouldn't have picked up the book without the famous names on the cover. Ewan, in particular, mentions his films on many occassions. He's an actor, sure, and that's what he knows, but it does make him seem less a "bloke" and more a "star."

I think it's fascinating and really refreshing that a couple of actors would take the time off for an adventure like this, even if the original vision of it was very little like the reality. It's a huge risk, both physically and career-wise, for these gentlemen, and I respect that enormously. My biggest gripe, I suppose, is that they didn't seem to have very much fun doing it. Between the compromises and the hard work work (often a result of naive planning), they seem to have had a very unpleasant time of it. It's an impressive accomplishment, biking around the world, even with a support crew and fixers and all, but I just wish they're been a little more joy in it.