What made you sign up? Chris - Start on a grad scheme, or drive a third of the way around the planet in a wholly unsuitable car, raising money for charity along the way - the choice wasn’t a difficult one. I also suffer from a crippling fear of missing...
After somehow completing a few months’ worth of preparations in the last 72 hours before we left, departure day finally arrived. Following a parade lap of Goodwood, during which we narrowly avoided wiping out numerous other cars, we cruised down to Dover...
Headed for the Russian border, we were all still revelling in the novelty of a car that actually slowed down when the brake pedal was used. Terrifyingly, when we arrived at the border there was a child who, without exaggeration, can’t have been much older...
Our first couple of hours in Georgia were spent completely repacking the car, as the border guards had thought it necessary to remove and meticulously inspect every single individual item, including 24 pot noodles, 12 tins of baked beans, and 8 jars of...
Having flown through Europe in a week, we began week two by crossing the Bosporus and beginning the Asian leg of our adventure. We decided to spend as little time as possible in Turkish city centres, mainly to appease our mothers, but unfortunately our...
With the car in a very bad way, our only option in Turkmenistan was to drive by night, and try to make it out of the country before we would be deported 4 days later. Having recovered from our vodka-heavy lunch with a mechanic’s father, our first night...
In our first couple of weeks on the road, we have learnt a great deal about how to fix a car without any of the necessary tools, parts, or knowledge. I now know what a jubilee clip is, for example, and how it can be used to mend 95% of mechanical problems....
We are raising money for two really great charities. The hummingbird project is a small grassroots charity which sends doctors, nurses and medical supplies from Brighton to the refugee / migrant camps in Calais and Dunkirk. The money goes towards buying...
After months of trawling through used-car websites, setting the search filter for the smallest engine size, and lowest price tag possible, we finally stumbled across a diamond in the dirt – a 1.3l 1994 Rover Maestro. Having paid what can only be described...
The unique way in which the Baku ferry port works, or more accurately doesn’t, is that you turn up and wait, being told every couple of hours that a ferry is just around the corner, but it never arrives. On day one, still full of optimism for an exciting...
We are in Turkmenistan. In an Austin Maestro. In our Austin Maestro. And it’s broken! [A brief aside – apologies for not having any pictures of Turkmenistan – we were stupid enough to leave all our filming gear with Iain] Having had to split from Iain...
As our route passed through Calais on our first day on the road, we decided that we should visit the Calais Jungle camp and see first-hand the amazing work that our charity, The Hummingbird Project, is doing there. Pulling off the motorway and parking...
1. Ignore international relations This was the first hurdle we careered into. Iran really aren’t too keen on Israeli stamps, which meant an urgent new passport for one of our team. 2. Go on extended holidays in the meantime Even though we knew we were...
With just three days to go until departure day, we realised that we had made almost no progress on the car or even a general plan since our inaugural planning meeting in a pub almost three months earlier. One of us didn’t have a driving licence, one no...
Even by the standards of inefficiency we had quickly become accustomed to at borders, the crossing from Uzbekistan into Kazakhstan hit a whole new level. On arrival at midday, we were told that the border was closed until 1pm for lunch. A little puzzled...
