Long Way Home

The long way series got me in to motorcycle touring and it will always make the first two series difficult to beat.

This season is a welcome return to more of what I wanted to see from long way up. Personally the electric bike thing just didn't work for me. With this trip being based in Europe you don't get the same sense of adventure but the chemistry between Ewan and Charlie more than makes up for it along with two very interesting classic bikes. Ewan's being more of a character in its own right. Perhaps they needed to name them in Itchy boots style.

The series felt a little rushed and overly cut with not quite enough focus on the actual riding. I'm sure there was a lot more spectacular roads than we got to see but it was still very enjoyable to watch, particularly with the unscripted interactions.

One thing that was nice to see was how much fitter and robust Charlie seemed. Long way up had us constantly fretting he would come off and have another serious injury.

I think people need to manage their expectations, the first series was over 20 years ago and doing what they have in this one is no mean feat. The big difference for me was this trip is more within people's reach, the other series were far more on the adventure / out of reach arena.

Ewan & Charlie both seem still grounded despite their massive success and fame and you do feel like you're watching friends you know.

Looking forward to the next one & seeing you at the live show 👍

I've watched all four of these and this one is definitely the tamest. Like another reviewer pointed out, it's Europe. So, less adventurous and more epicurean. We spend ten episodes watching two middle aged men sample the baked goods in a dozen countries while witnessing the quirky sporting events unique to those nations. Not exactly thrilling, not even a little bit edge of the seat, but like a travel documentary that moves too quickly from one thing to the next and leaves you ultimately feeling a bit empty. Despite the beautiful high def imagery and a couple of transcendent moments (usually around the colorful characters the men meet along the way; in one case some lovely music that's made) this season was a little disappointing.

Noticeably more mellow and less "adventurous" than the previous three series, but that's a result of both being in Europe and the fact that the guys are now 20 years older than when they did Long Way Round. You can't have quite so wild, rugged, off the beaten track adventures in Europe as you can in Siberia.

Regardless, this is still a very enjoyable series. Easy, stress-free viewing that, for 45 minutes, allows you to forget all the nonsense in the world and instead focus on the best things in life; beautiful landscapes, cities, meeting wonderful people and spending good times with friends. What could be wrong with that?

I remember drooling in front of the TV as a kid while watching these two "very well working together" characters enjoying their adventures around the globe. Long way home brings me back in time and I think it's made for the old fans. I would like to see one series from Eastern europe or Asia. Charley Boorman had a series about Asia called " Freedom riders Asia". It was brilliant. I thought this Long way series will be a little bit boring because europe is a pretty safe playground but not long ago I started riding motorbike (because of these two) and I have to tell you, It is not so safe as I thought.

I've only watched episodes 1 & 2, so I can't comment on the whole series as yet. From what I've seen so far, the show looks interesting & entertaining. I'm particularly interested in this for ideas to tour around Europe, seeing as I'm based on said continent.

Where I think this show will suffer is with comparisons to Long Way Round / Down. If you're looking for that kind of adventure travel show, then this series will not scratch that itch. That isn't to say that this series doesn't look good, because it does. But this is road bikes touring interesting places in Europe, not big off roaders touring the middle of nowhere. For that I'm pleased. It makes travelling to the places in this series much more accessible to most people and that definitely gives another dimension to the viewing, in that you can make a note of destinations and start planning your own trip, should you be a bike rider longing for travel, like myself.

Is this series as breakthrough and cutting edge as Long Way Round? No, but that was 20 years ago. That series was truly a thing of beauty, excitement & wonder and we should count ourselves lucky to have been witness to it all via the tech available at the time. It still holds up incredibly well today as it did 20 years ago and is a highly re-watchable show. But we all need to move on from expecting that again because 1) they've done that b) the world is a vastly difference place and c) everybody's older and slightly more bust-up from years of living & riding.

Does this have the same charm, entertainment, spirit & ethos as the previous 3 series? Absolutely. If you enjoy watching Charley, Ewan, Claudio, Dave, Russ & co doing their thing, then you'll not be disappointed.

8 out of 10 stars based on the first 2 episodes. Fingers crossed that the score keeps going up from there.

P. S.

Would be awesome to see the crew doing a similar thing to this across East & Southeast Asia. It'd still be road based, but with more an adventure feel. Fingers crossed! Either way, it's great to see the crew back together, keep them coming!