Sunday, July 30, 2006

The Long way round...


As some of you know, Hubby is knee deep into his midlife crisis v2.0 and as a result of this, he's fascinated by anything having to do with motorcycles. Last week, we watched "The World's Fastest Indian". Well, this week he learned about a journey taken by Ewan McGregor and his pal Charlie. Together they rode motorcycles from London to New York, and as the title suggests, they took the long way round. They headed East, traveling through Europe, into Mongolia, up through Siberia before crossing the Bearing Straits and ending up in Alaska. Their journey was filmed and it was shown on Bravo a few years ago. Thankfully the DVD of this show was available from the library and yesterday we sat down to watch it.

I personally have no desire to take such a trip. I admit, I haven't even watched Hubby ride his bike out of the neighborhood. This whole motorcycle concept is something I'm finding myself still getting used to. And, I've already shown you how I "camp" a la condo style. Roughing it for me, means you don't have charmin in the bathroom, instead you are stuck with some no name brand of toilet tissue. So, obviously I wasn't drawn to the "Oh, I so want to do that some day" part of the film.

But these guys made it interesting! You really don't realize how large the world is until you watch a film such as this. I found the travels through Mongolia truly fascinating. The landscape, the people, the lack of "stuff" that we all take for granted. And who knew that roads, even hard packed dirt roads are considered a rare find in some parts of the world? Well, it just was fascinating.

But alas, it is a long movie and last night...I called it a night once they got to Alaska. The scenery in Alaska was enough for me to note that is one place I definetly want to visit before I die. Someday for sure. But it won't be on a motorcycle. Nah, I'm thinking a cruise ship is more my style. And as for Mongolia and Siberia, I'm thinking I will just get my fixes from the big screen...as fascinating as it was, I didn't see any Hiltons or even a Days Inn where I could rest after a hard day of sight seeing.

So, please check out The Long Way Round if you are in the mood for something different to watch as we wait patiently for the heat of summer to fade away and the new tv season starts back up. They guys also wrote a book about their experience which Hubby is reading. I tell you...the man has the motorcycle obsession BAD...

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