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This info is already included in my post Long Way Round / Long Way Down Documentaries from earlier today but because that post is a little bit long and this event is only a couple of days away, I thought it might be helpful to repost it.

This time Ewan, Charley and crew are headed down from John o' Groats Scotland (at the northern tip of the island) to Cape Town South Africa, a trip of roughly 15,000 miles and 18 countries, including:

Scotland (they count Scotland toward their total of 18), England, France, Italy, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa

The Long Way Down is also showing at movie theaters across the US on Thursday July 31, 2008 (1 night and 1 showing only). There are several theaters carrying the event in the Boston area including the Regal Fenway 13.

Definitely worth checking it out if it's anything like the first one. The running time is listed as 2 hours 5 minutes so obviously this is going to be an abridged version of what you'll see on TV in the coming weeks. This article, Long Way Down - The Big Screen Version!, from the Fathom website provides a little more information about what we might expect to see in the theaters.

American audiences have yet to see the Long Way Down series on television and this exclusive director's cut is a unique prelude to the 10-part TV series, which starts on 2 August on Fox Reality Channel.

You can find a theater carrying the event here.

Several years ago Ewan McGregor (yes that Ewan McGregor "Ewan McGregor page at imdb.com"), and Charley Boorman, along with a cameraman and support crew (who shadowed the trio along the trip) set off on a motorcycle trip around the world; traveling East from London to New York.

That's 20,000 miles, 12 countries, and 115 days: London, Belgium, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, then hopping a plane to Alaska, before heading through Canada and finally riding across most of the lower 48 states, ending the trip in New York City.

Of course I only know about the trip because they spun into a project and documentary called "The Long Way Round". I caught the documentary the first time it was on TV.

What's immediately striking is the amount of planning that they put into the trip over the course of something like 18 weeks. The prep for them involved (among many other things):

• setting up an office, complete with what seemed to be full-time employees,
• meeting with consultants from many of the countries they would be traveling through,
• a physical fitness regimen,
• instruction in tactics for surviving hostile environments (i.e. people with guns, etc.),
• training on riding the motorcycles they would use.

Then there's the logistical challenge of pulling the whole thing off, which involved dealing with the the considerable amount of paperwork and political red tape, and pulling together all of the resources they would need for the trip (the bikes, support vehicles capable of carrying the necessary equipment and personnel, all of the supplies, etc.).

It's a real lesson in just how much planning and coordination must go into an adventure like this. in some ways it's maybe more difficult now then it would have been in the past (of course, certain aspects of the trip are also much easier). On the same trip you're traveling through areas that are completely unpopulated and wild, and negotiating all of the complications of the modern world from political issues and bureaucracy, to negotiating camera and other mechanical equipment, and of course there is the issue of all of the guns in the hands of frustrated people.

A lot of us fantasize about similar adventures from time to time, and in that sense the documentary is really instructive. If you really want to pull it off, you had better be willing to work for it.

After all of the preparation, the rest of the documentary covers the trip itself. Not to give too much away, it turns out it's every bit the adventure that those involved imagined it might be. This was definitely an interesting experience, and I'm glad they put on film and got it distributed.

Why am I posting about something that happened 4 years ago?

The Long Way Round is on TV again. This time Fox Reality is running the documentary.

Initially they are showing 2 one hour episodes at 9:00pm and 10:00pm EST on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. (The network has posted a short episode guide).

There is also a finale scheduled for 10:00pm EST on Friday Aug 1, 2008 (though the episode guide only lists a total of six parts).

Check the shedule because they are also repeating episodes at other times, for example they are rerunning all of the Long Way Round episodes from 2:00p (start of the first episode) to 9:00p (end of the last episode) on Saturday, Aug 2, 2008.

I was surprised to learn that Fox Reality is part of my cable package (Comcast Boston) so you may want to look for it if you're unsure about whether the channel is available to you.

The network is running the show because the same 2 guys have done another trip in much the same way and Fox Reality will be airing the new documentary, titled "The Long Way Down", starting on Saturday Aug 2, 2008 at 9:00pm EST, with new episodes airing every Saturday at 9:00p (and again at midnight).

This time Ewan, Charley and crew are headed down from John o' Groats Scotland (at the northern tip of the island) to Cape Town South Africa, a trip of roughly 15,000 miles and 18 countries, including:

Scotland (they count Scotland toward their total of 18), England, France, Italy, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa

The Long Way Down is also showing at movie theaters across the US on Thursday July 31, 2008 (1 night and 1 showing only). There are several theaters carrying the event in the Boston area including the Regal Fenway 13. Definitely worth checking it out if it's anything like the first one. The running time is listed as 2 hours 5 minutes so obviously this is going to be an abridged version of what you'll see on TV in the coming weeks. This article, Long Way Down - The Big Screen Version!, from the Fathom website provides a little more information about what we might expect to see in the theaters.

American audiences have yet to see the Long Way Down series on television and this exclusive director's cut is a unique prelude to the 10-part TV series, which starts on 2 August on Fox Reality Channel.

You can find a theater carrying the event here.

If you miss it on TV and don't catch it in the theater, there are also DVDs and downloadable episodes available.

DVDs are being sold for both the Long Way Round and Long Way Down individually and as a number of different bundles.

Long Way Round online store

Long Way Down online store

There is also a third DVD documenting Boorman's participation in the Dakar Rally (a multi-day endurance race of more than 5500 miles) called Race to Dakar (2006).

Race to Dakar online store

Downloadable episodes are available for Long Way Round. In this format, the documentary is divided into 10 parts and each is available for $1.99. There are downloadable episodes for the Race to Dakar.

Anyway, do check it out if you're at all interested. From what I've seen already the show will be at least as good as you might be expecting.

Keep in mind that Long Way Down is in theaters on July 31, 2008 for one night only. Buy tickets here.