Race Across The World 2026

[LindorDoubleChoc]

Hooray!

This is back for another series, starting Thursday.

I just googled very quickly and they set off from Sicily and end the race in northern Mongolia - sounds interesting.

I don't know anything else about it at this point, but thought that we should have a thread ready and waiting.

Just looked it up and in fact several people have lost or forgotten their money belts - Michael and Shuntelle are the ones I was thinking of, in 2020. Their belt was lost with £1k inside. But James and Betty were robbed of all their Cambodian money when his belt was nicked. They got it back but carried on because whoever took it had left his passport in it, and Betty still had money.
It was Tom who left his in the hotel last year.

Why did Joe and kush get a hotel then a taxi in the morning? They could have just got the taxi overnight?

I would be absolutely gutted if I was eliminated. I’d be pissed and over analysing where it all went wrong! And annoyed i couldn’t see out the rest of the trip

And I'm sorry about the cousins. I liked them.

This is such an amazing route. Do they ever publish each team's route for each series? There are some I'd like to copy. That hotel in Cappadocia looked beautiful.

Me too it's a real shame. I don't think they should eliminate anyone but if they have to I wanted it to be Margot and her brother in law. I just find her constant over the top jollyness and his over detailed explanations of everything very annoying .
I really like all the other couples.

I don’t see why the 2 lads had a hotel room and then a taxi in am - if you’re going to splash on a taxi go straight away - they could nod off in taxi

Perhaps the taxi driver didn’t want to do that drive overnight - that’s the only reason I can think of

I’m really warming to Harrison and Katie (?). They are doing so well and having some fun. Sad to see the cousins go.

Have they always made the 5th couple go to the next checkpoint to find out that was they are last ?

I am sure last year , a couple ...I am hink it was the divorced husband and wife team who were really good friends got a bleep/text to just stop
That they were eliminated.
Though , I think they had got caught up in the aftermath of a hurricane so maybe they were just too far behind .

Filming crew had to move on ?

I’m fairly sure the eliminated couple in Canada got a message as well.

Perhaps it depends on how far behind they are and / or whether it’s easier to get them home from where they are or from the checkpoint.

Yes I expected them to get a message like in the previous series.

Loved the cousins and sad to see them go. Their story about Covid was incredibly moving. I hope they enjoyed the journey so far.

The young lads have very little money left. 48%

Looking forward to the next stage.

Was that a year ago when they all got caught up in a hurricane. That seems like way more recent than that. I am rubbish at remembering tv moments and in my mind that’s crystal clear

I really like Mark and Margo. Her joie de vivre and his knowledgeable interest in everything is just lovely.

I also like the father of the father and daughter team, he's just getting so much out of this, both in terms of travelling, and also spending quality time with his daughter.

I wish me and my mum had travelled together. 🥲

I double checked.
Yes it was a year ago although it started 23rd April and carried on into June , which is why it might feel a bit more recent .

Gaz and Yin were their names .

I started watching late and still haven't caught up with the Canadian one yet.!

disappointed the cousins went. everybody else went faster.
although kate and harrison had a good trip with the caves and balloons and still coming in first
that was a stressful programme tonight, the boys/lads were getting on my nerves. i like all the rest of them

I was thinking when the boys were working out their budget how this way of travelling is so new for them. Also the siblings and the cousins. Looking at timetables, asking people for directions, having a finite amount of cash etc. Nowadays you just tap
it in the phone, and hey presto, you have the information all there. Not sure when the last time someone asked me for directions was.

More sob stories, we all have a sad
story, why does every programme have to include them?

A couple of weeks ago I asked for directions because I couldn't work out the map on the phone.

I don’t feel the level of sob stories are as high this year though, and the same story isn’t being repeated every week. In the past, they seemed more defined by it, whilst for the cousin, it was part of her birthday ‘celebration’. It did show the lovely relationship the two cousins had.

Yes while there have been some sad stories shared, I don't think it's been veering towards the 'sob stories'

In that context I thought the cousins’ story was relevant and very connecting. Before she even said she felt guilty I was saying it at home - and I really felt for her in that moment. And it felt like a real reflective moment of how she was swamped at work and then it was at home and led to losing her dad. The inescapability of Covid for everyone, medics not being immune, and so on. I thought it was moving and revealing.

Whereas last year’s sisters, one of them was portrayed as being upset at having to move as a kid - all that ‘we lost the house’ stuff - and then the production team seemed to focus on that because it just went go on and on. The story about having no connection because of one being older and leaving home felt a bit fake and engineered and the ‘problems’ of their relationship felt very made-up. It seemed to me that the producers amped it up because in reality there was very little else for them to go on.

We haven't remotely been in sob story territory this year. Last year it completely took over. Last night's story felt relevant, and it ended the cousins' journey respectfully and naturally.

It's been a blessed relief to have returned to focus on the actual journeys.

I agree. I really liked the journey and the people last year, but the sob stories dominated too much and became an irritation.