Destination: Mongolia and a road trip around the World
Book: Long Way Round:Chasing Shadows Across the World by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
A Guest Post by Anil Polat
No book has so profoundly contributed to my love of the road and inspired me to take the longest way possible than Long Way Round 
It is their leg in Mongolia that particularly inspired me and I’ve been longing for the roads there ever since. So many destinations have gotten in between, but one day, sooner rather than later, I’ll take to the roads of Mongolia, with two motorized wheels beneath me. It’s in Mongolia where both riders write they realized what traveling can and has been for many years. A road ahead, behind, and underneath. We often complicate and glamorize travel without realizing it and the book is one that many travelers can identify with.
Long Ways Round itself isn’t particularly well written and is essentially a collection of journal entries about the hardships of the trip, observations of the cultures the two riders come across, and their feelings as they ride for hours on end, often not seeing a soul. One of their motorcycles breaks down in Mongolia, the only witness to the act being a young boy on a horse in the distance. He rides off and isn’t seen again for more than an hour and the two actors feel stranded and lost.
It’s a short time after – just as desperation begins to set – in that they see the boy again, along with a few others who’ve come to help. With no common language in between and few spoken words ever exchanged, the right replacement parts are found and the bikes repaired – it’s all part of the nomadic life. McGregor and Boorman describe how pure they felt riding on their bikes in Mongolia and how they wish it could continue even as they made their way to the border and on again.
These moments in travel are fleeting, short flashes we might be lucky to see on the longest trip. Traveling is cluttered in planning, dealing with reservations, and only small sections of the journey that take you back to when traveling was the way of life and the road was your friend, not your enemy. Long Way Round made me feel like those moments could be extended, just a little bit, driving across Mongolia on the modern equivalent of horseback.
Anil, owner of foXnoMad web site
Anil Polat, foXnoMad.com
Anil Polat is a traveler and travel enthusiast who has spent his entire life traveling, studying cultures, and picking up tricks along the way. He writes foXnoMad to help you travel smarter.
Huge thanks to the very busy Anil for writing this inspiring piece. Please take a look at foXnoMad, a multiple-pronged travel site with loads of practical information. Once there, you’ll learn about two OTHER sites he produces. Whew!
I included a link to Amazon for Long Way Round, the book, but you may not know that it started with a TV travel show. That show and two others are collected in a DVD package, and here’s a link to that. Long Way Round (Deluxe) Long Way Down (Deluxe) Race To Dakar – Complete 8 DVD Box Set
This book makes us want to hit the road…and that is just what we will be doing every Wednesday. Come along by subscribing and remember that an e-mail subscription not only keeps you up to date on our road trip, but also gives you three chances on each of the last three Grand Prizes.
Photograph from Flickr with Creative Commons License. Click photo to see more information about photographer.
Tags: adventure, BlogSherpa, Ewan McGregor, Long Way Round, Manchuria, Motorcycles
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I love hearing about new books, especially those involving travel in countries I haven’t yet visited. Thanks for a great review, Anil.
Erica hopes you will read blog ..Music That Makes Me Happy: Run Away
I watched the documentary on their trip. It looked beautiful. Thanks for sharing McGregor and Boorman’s “Long Way Round:Chasing Shadows Across the World” I am not sure I will chase this one down: although photography has its place, I prefer well written works. Still, if I had access and free time, I would read it. Thanks for sharing.
What Anil Polat has captured in this review is the pure joy of an extended trip, combining the mundanity of day to day logistics with enriching human interactions.
Claire Rogershopes you will read blog ..Uighurs Make An Impact
i had no idea about either this book or the dvd – thanks! will have to get them.
jessievhopes you will read blog ..Where the Road Goes
I like that you have guest posts. It gives us another blog to read as well as enjoy more styles of writing. Thanks. My hubby got me a book light not too long ago and my son loves it. They are great. Please enter me so I can take my light back from my son
I often go The Long Way Round, even when I don’t mean to. This book, and in this case even more the DVD series, looks interesting.
Our society tells us rush, rush, rush. Sometimes taking our time is the better route.
Alexandrahopes you will read blog ..More Water & Rep. Peake Speaks Out on YouTube
Thanks everybody for some most interesting comments. Claire, I think you really nailed the meaning of long distance travel, and Laura I’m still giggling over the fact that you need another book light because your son “borrowed” yours. Susan–don’t we all. Alexandra–yes–let’s take more time.Richard, in this case the DVD may be better, since Anil says that the “authors” aren’t such great writers. Maybe the producer of the series, when his own book comes out, will be better.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to guest post. I enjoyed sharing a bit about one of my favorite books and about one of my dream trips.
Looks like Mongolia is ideal biking country. I followed Ewan and Charlie in the first series and for bike fans it’s really inspiring. I did get a bit fed up of their little boy antics sometimes though and the latest series with Charlie on his own leaves me a bit cold with all those big boys toys. The girlie equivalent might be to devote a whole series to makeup and shopping around the world.
Heather on her travelshopes you will read blog ..Friday photo – Snow on the Downs in Bristol
Thanks for this review! I’ll look into this book and dvd series.
[...] together in a recent guest post I wrote about the book Long Way Round. It was a pleasure to write How A Long Way Round Shaped Travel for A Traveler’s Library about how this particular book influenced my [...]
This has made me want to go out and get the book!!
Ooh now this sounds very interesting. I for one prefer the long way ’round. The view is almost always better
Andy Hayes | Sharing Travel Experienceshopes you will read blog ..Travel with a Travel Geek