Race Across the World, the BBC’s epic, hugely successful and much-loved BAFTA-award winning series returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer for its hotly anticipated new season from Wednesday 10 April.
Eastern Asia is this year’s route, and the five intrepid duos will battle it out in a breath-taking 15,000 kilometres race across several countries. From northernmost Japan, they will cross six seas and eight borders, skirting the path of the volcanic ring of fire - the most geologically unstable region on the planet to reach the finish line in Lombok, an idyllic Indonesian island paradise.
The teams include: two mother and daughter duos, Brydie and Sharon and Eugenie and Isabel; best friends, Alfie and Owen; married couple, Stephen and Viv and brother and sister, Betty and James.
Leaving behind their smartphones, internet access and bank cards, the race will test the five teams like never before, pushing them to both their physical and emotional limits. But with their feet on the ground, and their eyes wide open the rewards will be great, and the memories will be everlasting. Only one team can emerge victorious as they all vie to be first and claim the cash prize of £20,000.
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Meet The Teams
Alfie and Owen
Alfie (20, Football Referee) and Owen (20, Trainee Pilot) from Hertfordshire are best friends from school with a determination and maturity rarely seen. While one wants to experience everything the race throws at them, the other only has eyes for the finish line.
Why did you want to take part in the series?
Alfie: I think we wanted to take part in the series mainly because we’re both lovers of travelling and have done a little bit of travelling before but never done the whole backpacking, country-hopping situation. It was something that we wanted to try further down the line anyway and we thought it would be such a great experience that it would be impossible to say no to.
Owen: We wanted to do this because, as Alfie said, we wanted to go travelling and we’ve never done this sort of thing together. Also, we wanted to put our friendship to the test, see what we can achieve with it. And personally, ourselves we wanted to see how we’d deal in this sort of situation and how well we can do, see if we can make it to the end and maybe even win.
Have you got a strategy going into the race?
Alfie: We have discussed a strategy. The strategy is, in very loose terms, earn first and race later. So, particularly in the first leg just try and not eat into our spending too much. We think that everybody in the first leg is going to be quite ‘Gung Ho’ and perhaps aren’t going to have that much headspace, they’re going to be a little bit erratic, so we’re going to try and take advantage of that. But I think as soon as that klaxon goes that might all go out the window!
Owen: We also thought that strategy would be a good idea so we have a bit of extra cash if we need it to fall back on. If we do find ourselves coming last on one of the legs or at a checkpoint we will then have a bit of cash so we can leapfrog if we need it.
Have you picked up any tips from previous series?
Alfie: I think from watching the previous series it gives a bit of a sugar-coated view, I don’t think I’m quite ready for how difficult it’s going to be and how gruelling it's going to be. But certainly, the importance of budgeting money, trying to be on the move if possible, sleeping on the move will be important.
Owen: I think relying on other people as well, we need to try and take as much advantage of that as possible.
How have you prepared for the trip?
Alfie: We thought we’d prepared for the trip until we realised yesterday neither of us have a watch, so we have no way of telling the time – I wasn’t impressed when I found that out. I have got a digital watch, but I can’t figure out how to change the time on it. I thought everything was going to be fine as I assumed Owen was going to bring an analogue but then I realised he didn’t have anything!
Owen: We’ve both got our iPods though, which both tell the time. Well, mine does. I’m relying on that.
Alfie: I’m not relying on that. But other than that, I think we’re prepared for what’s about to happen.
Owen: As prepared as we can be.
Would you say that you’re quite adventurous?
Alfie: I think we like a sense of adventure.
Owen: I think we are, we put ourselves forward quite a lot. We don’t really shy away from opportunities, such as this one, and we don’t like wasting the time we spend in other countries, we try and see and do as much as we can whilst we’re there, maximising the time.
What kind of travellers are you? Do you like your creature comforts, five-star hotels?
Owen: I’m definitely up for roughing it, I’m looking forward to the experience that comes with it. I’m ready for it.
Alfie: I am up for roughing it. But Owen seems to be looking forward to roughing it, whereas I’m definitely not.
How competitive are you both? Are you in it to win it?
Owen: We are competitive. We’ve always played sports throughout our whole lives, and we still do as well. So, I think we will carry that competitiveness over from that and bring it into this. We want to win.
Alfie: Yes, we’re very, very competitive.
What are you imagining your biggest challenges might be during the trip?
Alfie: Finances and staying sane would be probably fair. Obviously, finances is the tangible one and I just think as time goes on we’re going to get more and more dragged down, particularly if we’re low on sleep, low on food, low on money, it’s going to add up very quickly. We’re both quite young so we’ve still got that drive in us, but we’ll see how that looks in week six with no sleep.
How do you think you’ll do with the budgeting? Are you good at that?
Owen: I think we balance each other out quite well. Alfie does impulse buy a bit.
Alfie: He’s got this idea that I’m terrible with money. I am very, very good with money unless I see something that is of incredible value. I won’t overspend on anything. So, yes I spend a little bit more but I won’t spend on anything that’s not good value.
Owen: I’m just tight with money, I’m stingy, so I’m not worried about the money we’ll have.
Would you say you cope well during a crisis? Are you calm under pressure?
Alfie: Yes, I prefer working under pressure than without it. I think in terms of that I should be alright.
Owen: I can work in a high pressure situation as long as I don’t let it get to my head too much. If I let it get to me that’s when it would be a problem but yes, if I can keep the pressure out then I can deal with it.
How do you feel about travelling without a mobile phone or credit cards?
Alfie: The phone thing’s a bit of a luxury I think actually, for both of us.
Owen: It is going to be a challenge because it’s so easy just to look up a map on your phone and know exactly where you’re going and exactly how much it’s going to cost, so obviously we’re not going to have that. I also think travelling with just cash is going to be quite tricky.
Alfie: I think what’s going to catch us out is maybe different currencies and things like that, things you just don't have to think about if you have a card. Also, times that banks open, it’s just stuff that you don’t even have to consider normally.
Have you packed anything for this trip that you just can’t live without?
Alfie: Music. That’s our big one.
Owen: We both brought iPods, we brought a speaker. I think music's the one thing we need.
What's the soundtrack for the trip then?
Alfie: My Uncle’s iPod playlist. Because we’ve got so used to just streaming, I kind of forgot that you can’t download stuff form a streaming website onto an iPod because you can't prove you own it so it’s only stuff that’s been purchased. Luckily, my uncle was around when iTunes first came out so he bought a lot of stuff. I just transferred his entire library onto my account and there’s just a lot going on there.
Owen: It’s a good variety at least. From the 90s till now, a bit of everything.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve brought with you?
Alfie: For me, books. Because I don’t read, I don’t think I’ve read since I was about 9 years old. I’ve got two books with me that I probably won’t read, but it’s a nice thought.
Owen: It’s not unusual as such but a digital camera because obviously we don’t have our phones, so I’ve had to bring an actual camera with me. I want our own pictures, not just what they film, so we have stuff to refer back to. It’s just weird having to have an actual camera, not just having it on your phone on your pocket. It’s going to take a while to get used to, I guess.
Is there one thing you're going to miss from home?
Owen: My dog.
Alfie: Yeah, I think there’s quite a lot. I’m annoyed because I’m doing really well at work at the minute, so it’s almost a bad time to come out of work. But I’m obviously not really annoyed because I’m doing something much better, it was a bit of a no brainer, it's just one of those things where you can’t have the best of both worlds. I’m just a bit upset to leave home right now because everything kind of fell into the right place at the right time but, it’s an amazing opportunity so I couldn’t turn it down.
What made you travel with the person that you're travelling with?
Owen: When we were both in sixth form, we both discovered that we really liked travelling, so then we started going on trips together, the cheapest flights we could get whenever and wherever and then I guess it’s kind of spiralled from going to Europe for a weekend to this.
What do the rest of your family make of you two doing this trip together?
Alfie: They’re both very impressed. I think they’re both shocked that we made it so far. I think, certainly for my family, I don’t think it properly sunk in till probably today that I’m not coming back for a while.
Owen: Mine are the same. They like me taking every opportunity I can, and my parents travelled when they were younger, they did a lot when they were my age and have travelled everywhere. I saw all the pictures and the stories they had from it and I knew I definitely wanted to do that too. I don’t want to miss out on it. So, yes, they just don’t want me to miss out and they're glad I’m seizing the opportunity.
What other skills do you think you’ll bring to the race?
Owen: Well, I’m quite a logical thinker, I like thinking about things in a logical order, I like procedure: starting at the base of a problem and working along it, if that makes sense. So, I feel like I could come up with some quite rational decisions. Whereas Alfie’s more of a quick thinker, on the spot, that’s what I would say.
Alfie: Yes. It’s skill and a drawback, both ways of thinking. Another skill is that I can speak comfortable Spanish, I’m not fluent, but I’d be able to live in Spain if I had to. But that's not going to be very helpful round here!
Owen: We know how to say “thank you” in Japanese but that’s it.
How do you feel about being in Japan?
Alfie: It’s amazing! I hope we’ll get to see a lot of it because Japan’s been on our list for ages. So, I hope that we get to see more of it tomorrow and on the race.
How do you feel about potentially racing through Japan?
Owen: I love the thought of it!
Alfie: People might jump straight at the bullet trains and things like that and that’s something we’re going to avoid because I think they’re too expensive. But the thought of going through Tokyo or down to Hiroshima and all those places would be quite incredible.
Owen: Getting a job will be quite fun as well and will let us experience the culture.
Betty and James
Betty (25, Social Media and Events Manager for a Gym) and James (21, Sales Consultant) from Yorkshire are sister and brother - one is well travelled, the other prefers partying in Magaluf. Barely in touch as adults, their hope is to share the experience of a lifetime.
Why did you want to take part in the series?
Betty: It’s a TV programme that we watch as a family, and I think during series one and two we were sat there like “we could definitely do this.” It got to the last week we could apply, and we thought “let's just go for it.” We did the audition video very on a whim and filled out the form and here we are.
I think it was kind of my idea, I got the application thing going and James got dragged along for the journey.
James: You said a few times, there’s other people you should’ve taken but they’re not here or couldn’t do it!
What made you travel with the person that you're travelling with?
Betty: I think I definitely chose James. I think it was because we’d always watched the show as a family, I’ve never really spoken about it with my friends, so I think it was the more natural decision to go for.
James: I don’t think I’d have probably chosen Betty. But the thing is I never really thought about applying, obviously we’d said we could do it but it never really crossed my mind to actually go for it. I guess Betty’s got that “why not? Let's try it” mentality whereas I maybe wouldn’t have actually applied by myself.
Have you got a strategy going into the race?
James: No. I think it’s probably for the best as I thought it would be better to keep a clear head. It's so unknown there’s no point really trying to make a fixed plan because it could change in an instant. So, we’ll try to keep it logical: when it gets to it, don’t do anything rash do everything with measure but, we also have no set plan.
Betty: Absolutely not. I think part of our strategy is just being nice to people, speaking to locals and using the fact that we are approachable and can speak to people as a sort of tool, I suppose. But in terms of a set plan, no. Also, coming from Yorkshire, naturally our motto is ‘it’ll be reet’. ‘Our nanna has a motto she says for everything and especially if there are any challenges in the family she always says ‘onwards and upwards’ no matter what it is. It could be something that we think is the worst thing ever and she’ll just go “onwards and upwards” So, we’ll be keeping that in mind in the race, definitely.
Have you picked up any tips from previous series?
Betty: Well, the one tip that I had thought about, that I’ve completely forgotten to do anyway, is to bring whiteboard. But since I completely forgot that’s that one out the window!
James: I think it's just confidence, as it's just helpful in most aspects of the race really. Just being confident when speaking to people or even being confident in challenging each other, so you get to a mutual decision as quickly as possible.
How have you prepared for the trip?
Betty: Well, when we found out that the budget included food I definitely started to try and eat a bit less because we’re both massive foodies, we eat so much. You started doing some fasting, didn’t you?
James: I did two 24-hour fasts, yes.
Betty: I just started trying to reduce my food and then we’re both really bad in the morning at waking up so I started trying to wake up at half five in the morning for the last two, three weeks because neither of us function well in the morning so I just thought well, I just have to do something! I’m still not amazing in the morning but I’m definitely better.
James: I wake up fine, once I’ve had a shower its fine. If I can’t have a shower I don’t know, we’ll find out I guess. It’s just talking- I just want to be left alone for a little bit.
Would you say that you’re quite adventurous?
Betty: Yes, what did I say on the way here? I said, “I’ll try anything once.”
James: I’ve tried ramen today for the first time! Also, I think on the plane was the first time I’ve ever had seaweed. I’m getting there. I’m open to trying most of the food at least.
What kind of travellers are you? Do you like your creature comforts, five-star hotels?
Betty: I’ve done more backpacking travelling than James has. I did a trip round Central America and when I was in Mexico, I ended up working in a hostel but the “staff accommodation” didn’t even have windows or a roof. I don’t think I even showed my Mum a picture of where we stayed because I thought she probably wouldn’t approve! And then I travelled to India with our Dad and Grandad, my Grandad wanted to go for the last time so I wanted to join in. In terms of travelling together we’ve just done family holidays.
James: We’ve pretty much done all sorts though haven't we? We’ve stayed in hostels, and stayed in nice hotels.
How competitive are you both? Are you in it to win it?
James: I am. Betty doesn’t like to admit it, she doesn’t want to say it or come across too cocky or arrogant but I think we’ve got a good chance. Everyone's got an equal chance at the beginning, don’t they? But especially once we get going and settle into the first week and figure out how it’s going to work, I think we could definitely put up a fight. We’re both very competitive.
We’ve grown up in sports backgrounds and that’s all you do in sport isn’t it? Try and win. I grew up playing quite a lot: football, cricket, tennis. Mostly cricket till a few years ago, I still play football but it's very much a weekend ruin-er if you lose on Saturday.
Betty: I played rugby for Yorkshire when I was younger and then I was doing ballroom and Latin dancing at the same time but I kind of had to pick one because they didn’t go together, and I picked dancing. My dance teachers used to be fuming because I used to turn up to dance competitions covered in bruises, so I had to choose one. I think the last rugby match I played I ended up in a neck brace and I thought “that’ll do”. So, I stopped playing sport at kind of 16, 17 but sports been your life really.
James: We just want to complete the race. We don’t want to get chucked off or eliminated or anything.
What are you imagining your biggest challenges might be during the trip?
James: Lack of food and early mornings.
Betty: The lack of sleep. I also think the language barrier is going to be huge. We talked about this today, didn’t we? I think wherever I’ve been even if it’s just a week holiday, if you learn to say even “hello” or “thank you” in their language they’re so appreciative of that, and I think then they're more receptive to helping so I think even maybe learning a word or two would be good.
James: It’s boredom, isn't it? Our own company and each other’s company is going to be challenging.
How do you feel about travelling without a mobile phone or credit cards?
James: I think so far, it’s been alright, I’m not really missing it too much.
Betty: But I think as well, when we’re going to want to be able to know how to get somewhere, that’s when we’d usually be like “oh, google maps” and I think then we might miss them in a different sense.
How do you think you’ll do with the budgeting?
Betty: I think money and being on a budget might be a bit of a challenge. Obviously, we don’t know how much we’re going to get but even trying to work out how much things are. I’m pretty useless with money as well.
James: And I forgot my money belt so that’s never a good sign.
Betty: I think in the first week or so before we get into the proper swing of it, I think we are just going to want to race and spend.
James: I think that’s when you work out most things isn’t it. I think it's then that you find out about how its going to work, so it’s about whether you spent too much in that week or not.
Have you packed anything for this trip that you just can’t live without?
Betty: I’ve brought an iPod to listen to music. I think again just for occupying yourself during long stretches of time. Even if I’m in my room I usually have the TV on for noise, I’m not very good at sitting in silence.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve brought with you?
Betty: We both got given a gift from our Mum and Dad which is quite nice. James got given a St Christopher bracelet because St. Christopher is the saint of travel and I got a little hug ring and my Mum’s got a matching one.
Is there one thing you're going to miss from home?
Betty: My dog, his name is Stanley, he’s a chocolate Labrador. I probably should have said my boyfriend!
James: Quite a lot of things but I don’t know what I’ll miss the most. I feel like mainly the structure of just a normal day, like knowing when you’re going to sleep.
What do the rest of your family make of you two doing this trip together?
James: Our older brother Matt loves the idea, because he would love to do something like this as well.
Betty: He would have been my first choice, if he wasn’t in Canada!
James: I accept that as well because he actually would have been. Mum and Dad, I know they will be excited for us, proud and nervous but it’s quite hard to grasp because they haven’t really said anything.
Betty: They said they think it will make us stronger. We’re not super close as brother and sister.
What do you think this trip will do for your relationship?
Betty: I think as we grow into adults, and obviously I’ve moved out of the family home now, I have my own house, just knowing that we are there for each other when we need it.
Have you got anything with you to remember your experience?
Betty: I’ve brought a journal to write everything down, and my camera. I’ve already written quite a lot down. I tend to make scrapbooks or photo albums when I come back from trips, so definitely keen to do that with this one.
James: I’m just more of a see it and remember it. I don’t really do much on paper, it’s really annoying, I end up just chucking it in a drawer and leaving it and it comes out all creased.
What other skills do you think you’ll bring to the race?
Betty: We got asked this before and James said he knew the fire triangle, that was the skill he was bringing! I think in terms of skills we’re both physically fit and that’ll probably help us at points. I think we are quite approachable as people so I think we will be good at talking to people.
James: I’m hoping we never miss a bus or a train because I’m quite impatient. It can be a good thing because you can just hurry people along so it can be a positive as well. I just hate being late for things.
How do you feel about being in Japan?
Betty: To be fair when we got told we were going to Sapporo, we both just looked at each other like “we have no idea where that is.” But then they said Japan which is exciting.
Eugenie and Isabel
Eugenie (60, Teacher) and Isabel (25, Trainee Clinical Scientist) from Barking/Birmingham are a mother and daughter with clashing personalities and contrasting strengths who hope the race will improve their understanding of one another.
Why did you want to take part in the series?
Eugenie: Isabel came to me and said she was going to be putting in an application for Race Across the World and it was going to be for her and myself so I asked her “what is Race Across the World?” She said “you need to watch it” so I started watching it and got really excited and thought “Yes, I’d love to be on that” and filled in the application. So, really the starting point was Isabel. And also, another thing is, I do anything I can to keep my kids happy including Isabel, so if it was going to keep my daughter happy then I was ready to do it.
Isabel: I put in the application because although it seemed quite intense, I thought it would be something cool for us to bond together in the process. Mum and I are not as close as we could be so I thought it would be a good opportunity to explore.
Eugenie: I’ve rolled with it, originally, I applied to make my daughter happy but then I watched the show and thought it was really exciting. Then when she said it would be a good time for us to really bond and spend time together I thought actually, she’s right because Isabel’s language of love is time and we haven’t actually really had the quality time that we could have had recently. So I thought this is going to be brilliant, 24/7 just with each other all the time, we’ve got no choice but to work things out and bond.
Have you got a strategy going into the race?
Isabel: We learnt loads of languages that are now pointless.
Eugenie: Isabel was doing the Spanish speaking, then German between us and I was doing the French.
Isabel: Just the who, what, where, whys. I think now, our strategy will be trying to utilise Mum’s Makaton and other communication tools that she’s had to use with the children with special needs she works with. Mum knows how to simplify things better for people, so I think that’s where we’re going to go.
Eugenie: We were just thinking that in terms of the senses, people can be quite visual, so as well as using gestures, we’re going to have to speak English but it might be that we could draw some visuals in terms of trying to find different modes of transport for example.
Isabel: So, we brought a pen and paper and we have got little flashcards.
Eugenie: I also have a cardboard roll that has some paper and markers in case we might need to do some drawings, some visuals, hold up some signs for hitchhiking maybe, instead of just doing the thumbs.
Have you picked up any tips from previous series?
Isabel: Change the time on your watch according to where you are so you don’t miss anything, so we did that as soon as we got here. That’s our plan, we checked the time and changed our watches. What else? A notepad and pen.
Eugenie: Yes, a notepad and pen, we’ve each got one. We’re going to use it to diary as well, and for planning, Isabel’s a planner. Travelling at night too to save a bit of time.
What other skills do you think you’ll bring to the race?
Eugenie: Isabel’s really pedantic with these things as well. Also, I think it will be helpful that we’re both people persons, so, we’ll just use our interpersonal skills to get by. But yes, I think I’ll probably be the more social person, going up to people and asking questions, we’ll do it between us, but I think I’ll be more of a people person.
How have you prepared for the trip?
Isabel: We walked around with weights and backpacks, around the parks several times.
Eugenie: We put dumbbells and all kinds of things in our backpacks but even so when we’ve got these rucksacks on our back, it's crazy. Absolutely crazy heavy.
Would you say that you’re quite adventurous?
Isabel: We’ll try once, whether we go again...
Eugenie: So recently, about four or five weeks ago, we tried paragliding. It was my experience that they had booked for me last year when I turned 60. A few years back, in terms of birthdays I told my family that I just want experiences and so they’ve given me some interesting experiences in the past but this was the most recent one.
What kind of travellers are you? Do you like your creature comforts, five-star hotels?
Isabel: Mum likes a pool, jacuzzi and sauna if she can.
Eugenie: You know what, I’ve been there done that in terms of accommodations and holidays like in Jamaica we’ve roughed it, we’ve had to rough it depending on where we were staying. There could be a curtain for the door or even cockroaches. I’ve also been on a safari which involved camping, and a load of dust all around you. So, ultimately, I don’t really mind.
Isabel: I’m not like a total beach resort person but I kind of like an in-between when it comes to accommodation, no bedbugs and things. But I also tend to be out and about if I go anywhere and just see as much as possible.
How competitive are you both? Are you in it to win it?
Eugenie: We are so competitive. I am very competitive, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Isabel: I don’t think I’m as bad as you are though.
What are you imagining your biggest challenges might be during the trip?
Isabel: Patience with one another, that’s the key.
Eugenie: I’m very patient. It’s Isabel being patient with me because I have no sense of direction.
Isabel: And you refuse to improve it.
Eugenie: I don’t refuse to improve it! She doesn’t believe me, nobody believes me. When I make mistakes, they think “come on, we did it 10 times” they don’t get it that I have no sense of direction, they’re not accepting it. And Isabel’s biggest challenge will be anything with more than two legs.
Isabel: I’m ok with animals, I’m just not the biggest fan of insects. But I think I could cope.
Would you say you cope well during a crisis? Are you calm under pressure?
Eugenie: I think I am.
Isabel: I don’t know, I think I am. I guess it depends, because you can’t have two people who are panicky, so if Mum’s panicking I feel like I’d have to be calm.
How do you feel about travelling without a mobile phone or credit cards?
Isabel: I feel naked already, without anything, so I think it’s going to be quite difficult. Because I think you constantly have that urge to check. I feel like I’m hearing vibrations but I think that's in my head.
Eugenie: I think the only thing that kind of bothers me is absolutely no contact with family and friends. In terms of it being there to google etc, I don’t think that will be an issue, we’ll get by. For me, it’s more about no contact.
Isabel: No google translate, that would have come in handy!
How do you think you’ll do with the budgeting?
Eugenie: It’s quite interesting because of where we are. Isabel was talking about for example, food wise, there’s strategies for that in terms of budgeting and looking out for the 7/11s as it’s probably a bit cheaper.
Isabel: Yes, I’ve watched travel videos and I’ve watched people budget around Japan and I know there’s certain bigger chain companies where it’s cheaper to get things from. We also want to enjoy the food around us, that’s the only problem, so we’re not sure how to get around that in terms of money.
Have you packed anything for this trip that you just can’t live without?
Eugenie: Well, some makeup. It had to be cut down though. I think it’s more skincare, serums, exfoliators... some little perfumes.
Isabel: Moisturisers, SPF, we’ve got loads of facemasks too. It’s more things like journals, so one journal is for planning things but then the other one is for capturing how we’re feeling at the end of the day.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve brought with you?
Eugenie: We’ve got Tupperware, fold-up Tupperware. Cutlery as well.
Isabel: Yes, that was part of our strategy to kind of save money on food, to potentially use the Tupperware and the foldable thermos for food and drink, and hopefully for free.
Eugenie: We’ve got a spork. I didn’t know what a spork was before this trip!
Is there one thing you're going to miss from home?
Eugenie: It’s family and friends really. And to share the moment with them, we can share it with each other, but we can’t share with anyone else can we?
What made you travel with the person that you're travelling with?
Eugenie: Well, I enjoy spending time with Isabel anyway, but she might say something different. We went to Spain about 10 months ago and my perception was that it was great which was completely different to hers. But I enjoy spending time with Isabel.
Isabel: I think it’s more so because the past few years we’ve not really had that time to spend with one another So, it’s about embracing that.
Eugenie: Our conversations could be a bit deeper emotionally. Sometimes we’re at loggerheads, I say sometimes because it’s not all the time, but it’s about kind of, learning how to understand each other.
Isabel: I almost think we don’t know each other very well so it’s an opportunity to actually get to know each other.
Eugenie: I think for us it’s more emotional, it’s more about emotions and feelings and understanding each other’s emotions and feelings and how to run with it. That’s what I think it is.
What do the rest of your family make of you two doing this trip together?
Isabel: My brothers think it’s a bad idea. Only because they know how I am with Mum and my patience. They think it’s a crazy idea, given what Mum’s like when it comes to things like direction, navigation and things like that, so they thought it was a bit random.
Eugenie: My bestie Abigail thinks its going to be fabulous because she’s seen the two of us together and she said “everybody’s going to love you.” Because she sees the good, the bad, the ugly, she sees it all and she said we’ll be great for the race. She’s excited, she’s excited because she knows us.
How do you feel about being in Japan?
Isabel: It’s crazy. It’s also like, you know when you watch TV shows and you see glimpses of Japan, and now we’re actually in Japan. And then the food as well! I feel like there’s so much culture here so it will be nice to absorb it.
Sharon and Brydie
Sharon (52, Cleaner) and Brydie (25, Snowboard Instructor) from Kent are a mother and daughter learning to embrace the challenges of travel and dyslexia.
Why did you want to take part in the series?
Sharon: It just looks amazing, it looks fun. I watched it with my family at home and Brydie was in Canada at the time and then we went out to visit and we watched it together. She just looked at me and I looked at her and we thought “we could do this” and so that’s exactly how it happened.
Have you got a strategy going into the race?
Brydie: Not really. We’re winging it.
Sharon: The only thing we’re doing, we're Mum and Daughter so we’re sharing everything. So, one’s got shampoo, one's got conditioner, you know, to lighten the load.
Brydie: I think that’s our best strategy, our relationship, because we’re really tight.
Have you picked up any tips from previous series?
Brydie: Yes, we picked up on stuff that you wouldn’t normally think of like needing to bring a rain jacket, or a base layer or a woolly hat.
Sharon: We also brought extra leggings so we could double up. As for directions, we’re talkers, so not afraid to ask anyone anything.
How have you prepared for the trip?
Sharon: The reason we haven’t is because honestly, we knew we’d have no idea what it would actually be like on our race.
Brydie: And you don’t want to get disappointed if you have done the research and you don’t get to go to certain places. Like we know a lot about Canada as I’ve spent a lot of time there and say we hadn’t gone to Niagara Falls when Mum visited, then I know that would have really hurt Mum because she really wanted to see it. So, I’m almost glad we didn’t do any research on Japan because we don’t know anything about it and so nothing is going to be upsetting if we don’t get to experience something we may have wanted to.
How do you feel about being in Japan?
Sharon: Love it!
Brydie: It’s beautiful.
Would you say that you’re quite adventurous?
Sharon: I think we are.
Brydie: Yes, we can be in any situation and make it work.
What kind of travellers are you? Do you like your creature comforts, five-star hotels?
Sharon: In fact, I’d probably be more at home roughing it then 5 stars.
Brydie: Yes, we can sleep anywhere, you can leave us on the floor with our backpacks on and we’ll sleep. We’re good like that. That’s a strategy right there! Also, we don’t belong somewhere like a 5-star hotel.
Sharon: I’d always feel a bit uncomfortable.
Brydie: We’re quite close, some people would say we’re too close, but we don’t care if we have to even share a bed. We’d happily share a bed in the race.
How competitive are you both? Are you in it to win it?
Brydie: Not by ourselves, but together we’re more competitive.
Sharon: She’s doing it for me and I’m doing it for her so, we can’t let each other down.
Brydie: And when you’re Mum and Daughter I think you’re even tighter, you want to make each other proud and happy. So, I think we’re deadly, one to watch out for.
Sharon: We’re bringing it home.
What are you imagining your biggest challenges might be during the trip?
Brydie: Geography and directions. We’re not very good at naming capital cities.
Sharon: In fact, how embarrassing was this? I don’t know if I should confess this but when we were told we were going to Tokyo, I thought that was a country in itself! So, yes, I hope we don’t come across really stupid. But it’s all about education, everything’s a learning curve.
Would you say you cope well during a crisis? Are you calm under pressure?
Sharon: I like to cry. It happens when I’m stressed. I’ll cry and then almost when I’ve had a cry, it’s like right, I’m back in the game now. So, if I cry, I always say to people just ignore it, it’s as if my head’s not talking to my eyes. My eyes need to do that to move on. Brydie you get really excited, I always have to tell her to calm down.
Brydie: I think we do quite well under pressure. Every day is pressure for us, so I feel like we’ll cope, and it won’t affect us too much.
Sharon: I don’t want to say I thrive on it because I don’t thrive on it, but I mean life’s not easy generally, is it? My husband Brian always says, if I’ve got naught to worry about, I’m worried because I haven’t got anything to worry about. What’s really good with us-
Brydie: We’re Ying and Yang.
Sharon: If one of us is down the other one tends to be on a high, do you know what I mean?
How do you feel about travelling without a mobile phone or credit cards?
Brydie: I’m loving it, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
Sharon: See, this is really weird because she’s the younger one. At home when people message, I don’t know if it’s the younger generation, but obviously you feel like you’re under pressure to answer.
Brydie: Yes, you feel you’ve got to answer all the time. I'm just quite enjoying not having it. It's always there but I don’t have to worry about it now, so it's one less thing on my mind. Now, the thing I have to worry about is my passport.
Sharon: I am missing my phone, roles reversed. Now if you’d have spoken to me a week ago, I would have said the opposite. But it will be ok, and when we’re on long trips we won’t need anything because we can just chat.
How are you with budgeting?
Sharon: We’re not big spenders, we’re used to being tight with our money.
Brydie: Yes we’re not, life on a budget will be fine for us.
Have you packed anything for this trip that you just can’t live without?
Sharon: We have a notebook to write stuff in and what we’ve done. Then on the back it’s a picture of all four of us.
Brydie: We’ll be using the notepad for everything: directions, how much money we’re spending, that will go in that notebook. We also want to write down notes so if we hear a good fact that we think my sister or dad will like then we’ll write that down.
What do the rest of your family make of you two doing this trip together?
Sharon: Honestly when we watched this programme and we were giving each other the eye and we said “we could do that” and they just went “yeah, definitely”. They’re not surprised.
Brydie: They think it’s a really good idea what we’re doing. All our friends and family have all said before that we should do Race Across the World. I think it’s because we get on really well, and a lot of Mum’s friends are a bit jealous that we get on so well and a lot of my friends are jealous of how close me and Mum are. I tell my Mum things that my friends would not even dream of telling their Mum or I can call my Mum in any situation.
Sharon: I think we rely on each other. Also, I know when I talk to Brydie it’s a safe environment.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve brought with you?
Brydie: We’ve packed a shawl which we would never normally pack. We’ve got matching sandals, that I would never go for. Actually, Mum probably would.
Sharon: The reason we got these, we thought we can wear them in water and they’re comfy. They’re the Velcro types.
Is there one thing you're going to miss from home?
Sharon: A cup of tea
Brydie: Oh I don’t know. I’m probably going to say sweets, I’m a sweet lover. But Mum drinks tea like it's water. So, I think tea for Mum.
What other skills do you think you’ll bring to the race?
Brydie: We’re a very adventurous family.
Sharon: I just think we’re up for it. And I think you’ve got to give anything and everything a go, even if you don’t like it, you just don’t do it again.
Brydie: You’re not a big fan of fish so that will be your downfall.
Sharon: What I'm going to do, if I’ve got to eat it, I’m just going to swallow, not take the flavour in, get the protein. Yes, I think I’ll struggle like you said with the fish food but travel wise I think we just want to see the World.
And in terms of the jobs are you happy to do anything?
Sharon: I’m a cleaner at home so I’ve got to put my hands down toilets anyhow so, if it’s in Japan or at home it doesn’t make a difference does it, so I’m quite happy with that. We’re not fussed are we?
I want to say, and this sounds like I’m bigging us up, but I want to say we’re really easy. We just fit in, if we went round someone’s house and they gave me some sushi, I’d never be rude, I’d make out that it’s the best meal I've ever had.
Brydie: I think job wise, we can do any job, we’ll be fine. I think I’ll take a bigger role than Mum, I think right now in our day to day lives Mum takes the lead and does everything but I think we’ll swap roles.
Mum has no sense of direction at all. But since she’s taught me everything now I’m giving it back so we can have this experience together.
Stephen and Viv
Stephen (61, Retired) and Viv (65, Retired) from Rutland are a retired couple on a quest to prove that wisdom, perspective and maturity is the winning formula. With a newfound zest for life, and in pursuit of a thrilling adventure, they are grabbing hold of life with both hands.
Why did you want to take part in the series?
Stephen: Just the sense of adventure and the fun, just the opportunity. We’d watched the series on TV, and we just thought we wanted to have a go.
Have you got a strategy going into the race?
Viv: No, we’ve talked about it, but I don’t think we have. I think we’ll just do our best.
Stephen: Yes, I think we’ve just got to do what we can, as fast as we can, as cheap as we can We’ve talked about it and we can’t make any plans till we know how we’re going to get going or anything else. I think there are strengths that we bring and there are weaknesses that we have so add that all together and it becomes a strategy I suppose.
Viv: One strategy we could do is that whoever of the other couples look like they know where they’re going or what they're doing, we’ll run after them!
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Viv: It’s easier to list weaknesses.
Stephen: Obviously our age, but in a lot of ways we think that might be a strength as well, we’re sort of perhaps less imposing then some of the youngsters, less threatening than perhaps some of the youngsters might be by approaching strangers, we’re not a threat to anybody. But, certainly, it’s literally the same thing as a weakness, we’re not going to beat anyone in a footrace that’s for sure. But we’re hoping perhaps our experience, life experience, our maturity might give us a perspective that perhaps other people don’t see. It’s guess work because until you’re there you just don’t know what cards you’re going to be dealt, it’s just no idea.
Viv: I think we’re quite impulsive, I don’t know whether that’s going to be a strength or a weakness, I think it could be a bit of both.
Have you picked up any tips from previous series?
Viv: We’ve watched the series three or four times over and yes, I think there’s lots of tips you can say. I think you both have to trust each other, you both have to listen. Different opinions will happen, I think you’ve got to give a reason behind your opinion and I think we just have to listen to each other and go along with what the consensus of opinion is.
Stephen: I think talking to other people is going to be, or always seems to be a strength in the other series, certainly. So, people can listen to strangers, listen to friends and that gives them ideas that perhaps we wouldn’t have thought of ourselves, that’s all.
How have you prepared for the trip?
Viv: When we got our rucksacks, we started going for walks with them and we started just wearing them as much as we could actually. I’ve never possessed a rucksack.
Stephen: We’ve been gardening in them basically. We borrowed my daughter’s rucksack and then stuffed it full of towels and we were wearing it round the house to see how we got on with it, that was sort of maximum preparation. We tried to get a little bit fitter but the reality is we’re lazy like everyone else, I guess. It’s all very well in your mind, saying “I’m going to do this” but it doesn’t quite work out like that does it? We’ve also tried to be very careful with what we packed.
Viv: We realised it was going to be heavy walking around with the backpacks so we laid out on the bed everything we thought we’d need, tried to get it all in and it wouldn’t fit. Then we decided we’d have to eliminate stuff so we eliminated stuff on the basis of weight. We had scales and we weighed everything.
Stephen: We’ve weighed literally everything.
Viv: And it’s just amazing, the difference that one top from another top. We ended up going out shopping, didn’t we?
Stephen: It got down to the point where we were weighing each individual pair of knickers or each pair of underpants to see which style is lighter. Cutting labels out of things. We recognise that because we’re on the mature side, we’re not going to be hunky, fit and athletic so we want to reduce whatever we can have an input into and try and make it work to our benefit. So, we’ve literally weighed everything in our rucksacks, and tried to cut things out, and I have literally cut the labels out of all my clothes, just to try and get that extra gram, and it sounds really pathetic but yes, the thought of running with a great big turtle on my back is not appealing I have to say.
Would you say that you’re quite adventurous?
Stephen: Oh, I would say so. I think we’ll have a go at most things.
Viv: Yes, I think we’re a bit gung-ho and we don’t sort of sit back and think “no, I don’t think we can do that.”
Stephen: We’re not really passive people I don’t think, we’re quite: get up and do something. And we have an active lifestyle, I keep saying we’re not fit people, but I think we’re active people. We like sports, we play tennis, we go bowling every week.
We have a ballroom dancing class every Thursday evening and we have a group of friends that we dance with and it’s just become quite a big part of the week.
Viv: In addition I do line dancing and I do a fit steps class, which is like ballroom on your own.
Stephen: We also garden. I’m not the keen gardener though, definitely all the gardening is Viv, I can’t deal with worms and snails and bugs and spiders. I have a very capable guide here who’s going to help me on this trip with all that.
Viv: He doesn’t like dirty fingers either.
Stephen: No, no. So Viv’s the gardener. I walk around and guide, have input, I call it management, this is what we do. We just do a variety of things and we like keeping busy and definitely we’ll have a go at anything. We’d rather have a go and fail then not have a go in the first place.
What kind of travellers are you? Do you like your creature comforts, five-star hotels?
Stephen: We think that we don’t consider ourselves well-travelled but we’re well holidayed if you know what I mean. We both retired a bit early for health reasons, not least of all, but our life has changed since then and yes, we quite enjoy our holidays.
Viv: Our first holiday we camped. That didn’t go at all well, we came back the next day, it just wasn’t good.
Stephen: That was one of our basic rules, we’re not camping. I’d say historically the things we wanted, I wanted to be adventurous, climb mountains and race and fly and do all these things and Viv said basic conditions are hot running water, sit down toilet and a hairdryer.
We spent the first 10 years of our life carrying our own pillow with us on holidays, we’d have two suitcases, one with the pillows in and one with the clothes in, we’ve got out of that eventually but yes, we do rather like to be looked after so we will see.
Viv: Not 5-star travel but we certainly do like to know where our bed is and where we can have a bath, so yes this is going to be out of our comfort zone.
How competitive are you both? Are you in it to win it?
Viv: We are competitive. We are.
Stephen: We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t want to win it. But it doesn’t matter either, we’ve seen the show, the success the failures and the taking part. We want to finish, to finish is important to us, we’d just be embarrassed to go home early, the kids would never live it down, it would just be awful, they’d just mock us mercilessly. Yes, of course we want to win, who wouldn’t. We’ll just do everything we can, within the rules, to make that happen.
What do the rest of your family make of you two doing this trip together?
Stephen: They’re excited, they’re with us.
Viv: I think they’re also a bit proud actually, I think they’re a little bit proud that we’ve actually made it this far, I think they’ve been amazed that somebody chose us.
What are you imagining your biggest challenges might be during the trip?
Viv: I think being tired, being hungry, not knowing where we’re going to sleep that night, it’s just the unknown
Stephen: I think tiredness and food and drink.
Would you say you cope well during a crisis? Are you calm under pressure?
Stephen: I think so, I think being a little bit older actually helps a lot because you’ve seen so many different things and things do work out generally in the end. We’re ok, we’re quite methodical. I don’t think we panic under pressure
Viv: Yes, I think we do what needs to be done, don’t we? We don’t panic, we don’t run around like headless chickens.
How do you feel about travelling without a mobile phone or credit cards?
Viv: I think Stephen is going to struggle most with this one as he’s in regular contact with his children, because he’s got so many I suppose. He works with two of them on a daily basis as well.
Stephen: Yes, we’re always chatting.
Viv: He’s also constantly on his phone, he'll think of something like “how many airports are in the world” and goes “oh, I know I’ll google that”, whatever thought crosses his mind he’ll be googling it. He’ll want to find out what the answer is.
Stephen: Well, this is what we were talking about, it’s silly things. But yes, the phone I suppose, and the money makes you independent. I think not having access to our own funds or having limited funds is going to be challenging. I think those are going to be some of the challenges definitely. I’ll miss the iPad.
How do you think you’ll do with the budgeting?
Stephen: We talked about this, I think we’ll be ok.
Viv: I think we’ll be ok, we both spend money when necessary but we both like to feel we’ve got a value for money, we like to feel that we’ve got a bargain and if something is frivolous and costs a lot of money I think we’ll hesitate before we just do it or spend the money on it and I think we are used to budgeting, we’ve both been quite poor.
Stephen: We started off poor, we started off with literally nothing, so we know how to budget.
Viv: We know the value of money, we know the worth of it and how much time it’s taken for you to actually get the money. So, to have a restricted budget we’ll cope quite well.
Stephen: Who knows though, we don’t know how expensive things are so we’re going to have to wait and see. But at the moment we’re feeling comfortably sensible with it, let's put it that way. If it's doable, I think we’ll do it but there are caveats on that and we just don’t know what’s going to happen. Someone might lose for instance her makeup and we might need to buy something that we haven't budgeted for.
Have you packed anything for this trip that you just can’t live without?
Viv: Yes, I have this tiny little makeup bag. Funnily enough I didn’t weigh my makeup because for me that’s an essential.
Stephen: We think we’ve been quite sensible with what we’ve packed, both bags come out at just over 12kg. I haven’t brought anything frivolous. I hope not, if so we should have spotted it. We also didn’t bring anything sentimental, so we don’t get too emotionally involved. We’re going to be strong about it as it reminds you more of what you’re missing.
Is there one thing you're going to miss from home?
Viv: The cat, or coffee.
Stephen: With the food unknown my reaction historically has been brown sauce. But when you know there's a finite time to what you’re doing you can cope with anything. We’re here for two months, we can do that.
Viv: I guess we don’t know we could be total wusses, but we’ll miss friends. I see my friends regularly, we go for lunch, we’ll miss dancing with our friends, we’ll miss the cat – have I mentioned the cat? I’ll miss the garden.
What made you travel with the person that you're travelling with?
Viv: I’ve always said from the off that I would not dream of doing this with anyone else. Stephen on the other hand says-
Stephen: Well, I’d do it with anybody. I’d do a lot of things with anybody. My first choice of person would be to do it with Viv, I think on this occasion we were watching the series on TV and the advert came up and says do you want to join in? And we literally just looked at each other and went “go on, shall we.” It was a mutual instant, “ah we could do that” so there wasn’t a debate about who to have with us.
Viv: I think at the time of our lives as well, it would be difficult for one of the children for example to give up 8 weeks of their job. For us, we’re kind of footloose and fancy free so we thought it would be a huge adventure and at a good time in our lives to do it. If we didn’t do it now, I don’t think we ever would
What other skills do you think you’ll bring to the race?
Viv: We’re both quite capable and we’re “have a go” type people. If something round the house needs doing, we can tile, we can paint, we’re not people that say let’s get someone in to do it for us, we’ll try it ourselves first. We are quite prepared to get our hands dirty, as long as it doesn’t go under your fingernails, roll up our sleeves and have a go.
Stephen: Yes, we like doing things, we are doers, historically we’ll always have a go.
How do you feel about being in Japan?
Stephen: We’re a bit worried about the language because it’s not as if you can recognise any character or a single word.
Viv: I think we’ve got to learn the value of mime.
Stephen: We’ll have to learn to use chopsticks too!
How do you feel about potentially racing through Japan?
Stephen: It’s going to be a dream, it really is.
Viv: Our understanding of Japan, not that we’ve looked into it, but is that it's beautiful. There’s a series of islands, we love water, we love scenery. They’re also a very mild-mannered and quiet nation, very respectful. Also, especially as we’re older people, they do respect their elders.
Stephen: We saw that on the news recently that Japan is a population of oldies so we’re either going to be swallowed in with everybody or they’ll be treating us nicely because we’re old!
Viv: We’re hoping that it’s just going to be amazing scenery, absolutely beautiful, and that the culture will be just an eye opener, it’s totally different to what we’ve seen. Absolutely, just in the culture, the habits and the toilets - they’re absolutely amazing!
Stephen: The toilets are brilliant! It’s an experience I’ve never had before I’ll tell you!