Long Way Down: Through Europe and Africa by Motorcycle

by Justin Glow on

A few years back I happened to stumbled upon a book called Long Way Round, by movie star friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. It was the personal account of their east-bound trip around the world, from London to New York, by motorcycle. I bought the book to give as a gift to my brother who has a passion for both travel and motorcycles — it seemed like a perfect fit. Before his birthday rolled around, I sat down to read the book first (like any self-respecting cheapskate would do). Long Way Round started off solid: discussing their route, planning the trip, working out the visas, but then they decided to bring along a camera crew and document the trip.

Great, I thought. A couple more movie stars traveling the world with video cameras. The idea sounded lame, but I pressed on and finished the book. The story turned out to be pretty good, and definitely compelling, though I couldn’t escape the fact that Ewan and Charley’s “adventure” seem spoiled by a trailing camera crew. I wondered how much of an adventure it really could be with camera men, producers, directors, and whoever else following them around. And the fact they were movie stars made me think they used their money to make the trip a lot easier than it would be for the average Joe.

It didn’t occur to me until about a year later that — hey! — since there was a camera crew following them, I could probably watch the book. I did some research and found that Long Way Round (the show) aired on Britain’s Sky One in 2004, and went to DVD in 2005. I ordered the DVD from Amazon, and was blown away when I sat down to watch. This was easily the most interesting, compelling, funny, adventure-inspiring show I had ever watched. And you know what? Ewan and Charlie really did do all the hard work. They pot-marked roads didn’t treat them like celebrities; remote Mongolian farmers didn’t know who they were. They struggled, they endured the pain and homesickness, and traveled like the best of them. I was truly impressed.

This is why I was so excited yesterday to find out that Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are teaming up again for another adventure. This month the two will set out — camera crew in-tow once again — from John O’Groats, Scotland and ride their BMW R 1200 GS Adventure motorcycles to the southernmost tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas. The show, dubbed Long Way Down, will premiere on BBC in Autumn/Winter 2007, but those of us outside of Britain (or without fancy satellite television systems) might have to wait for the DVD release.

You can sign up for email alerts on LongWayDown.com, as well as view some video of Ewan and Charlie talking about the upcoming trip.

Related: Talking Travel with Lois Pryce (she roder her motorcycle from the northern tip of Alaska to the southern most point of Argentina — 20,000 miles in 10 months, passing through 14 different countries)

Oscar Tourist’s Guide To Eating And Accommodation

by Jonathon Morgan on

Chances are, you weren’t invited to the Oscars this year. But for those of you interested in celebrity watching, it’s a great time to visit L.A. If you do plan to visit Tinsel Town, here’s a few suggestions that should help maximize your star-studded vacation.

-Keep a camera on you at all times. You never know when you’ll bump into someone famous.

-Also, eat and drink like locals — most film actors and actresses live in L.A., or, at the very least, spend a considerable amount of time there. They’ll know the best places to grab grub — whether it’s fancy, or fast food. Try local arts and culture sites like LAist to get an idea of where everyone’s heading.

-When looking for hotels, don’t forget to book early. Especially if you want to stay close to the action, there’s very few rooms open to the public.

-Lastly, while it’s no longer an option for this year, keep in mind for future Oscar-themed visits that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes 300 bleacher seats available to the public for one week every September. The competition is fierce — over 10,000 people tried for this year’s seats — but it’s worth a shot.

And lastly, have a blast! You’re in L.A. for crying out loud.

Dubai International Film Festival

by Adrienne Wilson on

While I’m in Persian Gulf I thougt I might as well mention the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) taking place December 10-17, 2006. According to their news ticker the red carpet promises some of Hollywood, Bollywood, and the Arab worlds (Arab-wood?) hottest stars from the silver screen right in the flesh. If your interest rests only in the films, trust me when I say the selection is also rather sizzling. Spanning from Africa, Asia, Europe and the local talents there isn’t a corner on the planet missed. If stroke of luck can get you to Dubai in such short notice, a trip to the festival might not be such a bad idea. Volver, Fast Food Nation and Babel are only a sampling of the 115 films from 47 countries on the lineup. Check out Gridskipper or the official site for additional details.

Searching for Hollywood’s Real Stars

by Adrienne Wilson on

In Los Angeles, the stars are everywhere. They line the pavement on the famous Hollywood Blvd. strip, they sit disguised in overly cramped cafes on Melrose and you can even find them in the eyes of some young hopeful, aspiring actor or actress looking for their chance to appear on the silver screen. However, the hardest place to find stars is straight up in the night sky where you’d expect to see billions. Sigh. Sad, sad, sad… With all the light pollution from the city itself, real star gazing can be a tough hobby to take up in the City of Angels without the use of tools, but there is good news my true star gazing pals.

On Friday, November 3rd, a newly restored Griffith Observatory is set to reopen to the public after four-years of work and expansion. The observatory has long given people the opportunity to view the real stars resting over and directly above the city as well stars over places unimaginable. CNN dishes the details on what Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory now has to offer the public. The Zeiss telescope in the Eastern dome and the solar telescope in the Western dome both remain, but should the night become chilly or you just need to step inside the observatory building, you’ll notice the big, new changes. The building which expanded 40,000 square feet is the house of plenty new attractions which include scale models of planets, exhibits on tides, optics and electricity, and other natural phenomena according to CNN.

It is said that some 7,000 people are expected to swing by the observatory when it reopens next month which is quite heartwarming. It helps me think people are trading in those silly Star Maps (guides for stalking down famous folk) for the real deal.

Indoor Skydiving with SkyVenture

by Adrienne Wilson on


Giving my stomach a reason to flip over and inside out or shooting my heart rate up at lightning fast speed isn’t necessarily my idea of a grand yee-haw time. So whether it’s indoors or outdoors skydiving wouldn’t be the first thing I’m signing up for, but if you’re a nut when it comes to diving with or without the sky you’ll probably dig SkyVentures. To sum it up like the in-the-know bloggers at CoolHunting, SkyVenture is a vertical wind tunnel that safely and realistically simulates the experience of jumping out of a plane. Developed more so for training purposes, visitors can flip, swoosh, dive and land safely at over 15 locations worldwide. Some locations up and running presently include: London, Malaysia, Arizona, and Orlando. Others in the works are Manhattan, Hollywood, Abu Dhabi, Alcanteria, Silicon Valley, and New Hampshire. See SkyVenture for additional details.