The changing face of adventure travelling ... why McGregor and Boorman ruined it ...

As you know  i just started planning to go from Brussels over Beijing to Bangkok, still considering to take the journey home ont he bike or just load the bike on a ship / aircraft to fly over to Brussels. Maybe the safest option since the foreign policies of Mr Bush towards his so-called "axis of evil"  has made a possible return over Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran to Potentially Syria and back to Belgium almost impossible.

But back to the start of tha planning. I have been reading a lot about adventure travelling and the do's and dont's on these trips, watched a number of video's and browsed the web for tips and tricks. One thing is for sure: I'm not the only one dreaming of it and will not be the only one who finally gets to realize his dream.

But there is a little thing that nags in me : am i not too late with my trip. Has the world not become a village and does the adventure of going around with a bike not been tried and tested for too many times. Have Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman not killed the possibility for support of a solo trip and broken the romance around adventure travelling.

You might ask yourself, what was wrong with Ewan McGregors and Charlie Boormans Long way round and Long way down. Well yes they did it to raise awareness for Unicef project, but how do you feel if you know they had a crew of more than 20 working on the full project (www.longwaydown.com), get the nicest material for free, are being babysitted by a producer and a director and i could go on and on and on ....

 

I admire what they try to do, but can not rub off the negative connotations and impact it has on other people trying to do the trip. I from my side will need to cough up all the costs, when stuck i will be stuck with a nice Nissan pulling up to help me ....

I guess i will have to come up with a better idea on how to run the expedition, maybe connect it to a social networking idea .... don't know yet, but ideas are welcome.

And for Mr McGregor and Mr Boorman thanks for selling the soul of adventure travelling to the highest bidder in your celebrity world.

For all the others: Happy travels