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Reckless Driving: The Latest Travel Craze

As I sat on the couch the other day after a taxing day at work, I was confronted with the inescapable truth that I am fan of the BBC program, TopGear. This admission might seem a little strange coming from a young woman with zero interest in cars. For instance, I certainly could not be considered the program’s core clientele. I am not a prepubescent boy with too many zits and an abiding passion for the latest and greatest Lamborghini. Also, despite what others may say, I do not find Richard Hammond attractive in the slightest; he is one of the aforementioned boys with pimples. Rather, TopGear has struck a chord with me, and presumably numerous other non-gearhead viewers, because it is humorous and often involves independent, budget, adventure TRAVEL.

The thing is, no one wants to have a passive travel experience anymore. Unlike our parents, whose sum total of globe-trekking was visiting Paris twice in their lives, we are not content to sit on the sidelines and let things happen to us. We don’t want to be a passenger on the tour bus, watching everything through a glass window, protected, cordoned off, quarantined. We don’t want to have our every move dictated to us. I came to this realization years ago; some of my best travel experiences involved renting bicycles or Vespas and heading off into the wild blue yonder, with only a Let’s Go or Lonely Planet guidebook in hand. I had a beat-up station wagon in New Zealand that I lived out of for months. I’ve driven Land Rovers in both Patagonia and Tanzania (albeit briefly.) I’ve now driven across the country a number of times for bicoastal moves involving those dastardly Uhaul contraptions. Yet even that has been fun. Having your own, personal transportation gives an unparalleled dimension of freedom to one’s trip. And the big secret is that it is not necessarily out of your budget, even if you’re a cheapie like me. Really, personal transit is the new “must-have” accessory for the modern “flashpacker.”

TopGear has realized this, and turned their car program into a car and travel program. One of my favorite episodes involved their attempt to buy cheap, secondhand motorbikes and travel from South to North Vietnam in under two weeks. There were a fair number of crashes, but no one died. Injury is all part of the experience. Similarly, the fellows have gotten cheap cars and driven them across Namibia, gone rally-cross driving in Scandinavian regions, and even embarked on an odyssey of the American South in pickup trucks and old muscle cars.

The British TV program is not alone in noticing this new travel craze, however. Ewan McGregor and a friend drove around the world on their motorcycles, getting a television program and a book out of it. I recently learned about the Mongol Rally, in which you drive a sub-$1000, small-engined car from London to Mongolia. This is true adventure, getting into the nitty-gritty, away from the tourist buses, and out of one’s comfort zone. We are all becoming independent tour operators, accountable only to ourselves and our blogging community. And although it probably isn’t sustainable or eco-friendly, it sure is fun. Let’s face it: most of us cannot afford some of the absolutely crazy extreme adventure vacations that require Paris Hilton-esque wads of cash. But with some careful planning, and especially if you go with lots of friends to defray the cost, you can get that clunker and attempt to drive across Siberia. If you live, it’ll be a ton of fun. And it really is the only way to independently explore the last frontiers. Just bear in mind that sometime you do get hurt; my cracked ribs after an ugly episode in Baja California can attest to that.

About the author:

Samantha Berkin in no way shape or form recommends doing the stupid travel things she has done in the past. They are dangerous, and will get you hurt. Her motto, however, is nothing ventured, nothing gained. She is saving up money for an overland trek of Siberia in a Unimog.

About the Author

I’m a world traveler and recent Columbia University graduate. That said, I’m older than your usual grad…. because I took off tons of time to travel extensively!

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