Top Ten Favorite TRAVEL DOCUMENTARIES
Below is a list of my favorite television travel documentaries in the past twenty to thirty years:
TOP TEN FAVORITE TRAVEL DOCUMENTARIES
1. "Long Way Down" (2007) - Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embarked on their second motorcycle journey, traveling from John o'Groats, Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa; via Europe and Africa. This was a follow-up to their 2004 trip across Eurasia and North America.
2. "Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days" (1989) - Inspired by Jules Verne's 1873 novel, comedian-actor Michael Palin embarked upon a journey around the world within 80 days, without the use of air travel during the fall of 1988.
3. "Long Way Round" (2004) Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embarked upon their first motorcycle journey in which they traveled from London to New York City, via Eurasia and North America.
4. "David Suchet on the Orient Express" (2010) - As he prepares for an adaptation of Agatha Christie's famous 1934 novel, actor David Suchet embarks on a journey across Europe on the famed Orient Express train.
5. "Five Takes: Pacific Rim" (2006) - In Season Two of the Travel Channel series, "FIVE TAKES", five young American "travel journalists" traveled to different countries around the Pacific Rim.
6. "Himalaya with Michael Palin" (2004) - Actor-comedian Michael Palin embarked upon a six-month, 3,000 miles trip throughout the Himalaya mountain range.
7. "Moms on the Road: Africa" (2006) - The BBC America produced this special about eight American mothers who traveled to and explored various countries in Southern Africa.
8. "Sahara with Michael Palin" (2002) - Michael Palin hit the road when he traveled through various countries around the Sahara Desert in Northern and Western Africa.
9. "Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime" (2006) - Actor Jeremy Piven embarked upon a journey from Northern to Southern India.
10. "Pacific Journey: Adventures of a Musical Mariner" (1989) - This two-part documentary featured the late composer David Fanshawe's ten year journey around the southern Pacific Rim, when he documented the music and oral traditions of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia for his incomplete choral work, "Pacific Odyssey".