Charley Boorman in action, including above left, an X-ray showing his broken hand during the Dakar Rally, bottom far left, paramotoring in South Africa, and overleaf, in Australia filming By Any Means
their adventurous side? Definitely don’t overthink it – if you want to do it, do it. The hardest thing is to pick your departure date and stick to it. The world is not that bad, it really isn’t and that’s what you’ve got to remember – 99% of people are good, it’s only a small percentage that mess it up for everyone else, and they’re usually the politicians.
Always get the best tent you can possibly afford, and the best sleeping bag and the best roll mat, as you’ve got to look forward to getting into your tent at night. Have a good sleep and any difficult situation never seems as bad.
Has there ever been a point on a trip where you just wanted to pack up and come home?
Not come home as such, but there have been times when things have
gotten so bad that I’ve just wanted to get out of that country and move on. When we were in Mongolia everything was going wrong – literally everything – and we were looking to take a detour back into Russia and to Lake Baikal on tarmacked roads, but we decided to stay and by gritting it out it ended up being one of the best countries (for the people and the culture and the beauty of the place) that we’d ever been through. So sometimes, when
things are really bad, it’s best to push through as things can unexpectedly turn out pretty well.
Is that how you cope with setbacks on the road? Try and look for alternatives?
Just look at the day to day, don’t look at the big picture.
Final question, who’s your dream travel companion?