The Long Way Up

An exercise in disappointment, rather than the emotional journey that we all desired

Ben Shelley
7 min readDec 1, 2020
Photo by Volkan Olmez on Unsplash

I imagine that the appeal of this lad’s adventure will resonate most with those who watched the original two adventures. The Long Way Round and the Long Way Down arrived on our screens during the postmillennial decade.

In the first adventure, we saw Ewan McGregor and his friend, Charley Boorman travelling around the world on two motorbikes. They travelled from London to New York the Long Way Round. It was a true lads adventure and one that set me on my journey of desire to explore the world.

The Long Way Down was the same concept as the first adventure, yet it was from Scotland to the lowest point of South Africa. More adventure and more excitement to entice me out of my shell. It was a trip that was hampered somewhat from Ewan’s side, in the fact that his now ex-wife joined for a short stretch and there was petty squabbling between him and co-lead, Charley Boorman.

With all of this in mind, I was still picturing the comradery that was personified in the original offering when The Long Way Up arrived. What I actually got was,

‘High-level celebrity makes a statement with previously forgotten about a friend.’

The Build-up

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Ben Shelley
Ben Shelley

Written by Ben Shelley

Someone who has no idea about where their place is in this world, yet enjoys writing about books, education, entertainment and videogames