Ewan McGregor Want to come on an overland adventure?

Ewan McGregor – Want to come on an overland adventure? by Rich Swainston

A strange article title, but an even stranger story. I work for a company called Dragoman Overland – we deal in overland adventure travel, which for the uninitiated is going around the world in a big truck taking in the culture. This is the kind of trip that people quit work to take, and they can last anywhere from 2 weeks to months to years.

So, while travelling across Africa, we run into Ewan McGregor, A-List Hollywood actor and star of Star Wars Episodes 1-3, Moulin Rouge, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave. He’s travelling across Africa on motorbike with his film crew, and comes aboard to chat with our passengers and crew. At this point I should state that he seemed no less down to Earth than any of our other passengers, and was happy to regale tales of his adventures to our passengers – like a normal guy. Adventure travel really is a different world – it’s a million miles away from ‘normal life’ and celebrity status means nothing out there. It was nice to see him unwind, free of the pressures of the media and the paparazzi.

Anyway, one of our passengers recorded some of the dialogue – it’s not everyday you meet a celebrity and it’s just another part of the wonder of overland travel, the complete sense of the unexpected. Said customer uploaded the video to YouTube to share with his friends. We linked to the video on our website – what better way of illustrating the strange goings on of an overland adventure than with this sensational video footage?

Nothing happened for all of a few hours, but then we got a call from Ewan’s production company insisting that we take the link down. I can only assume that they thought we were trying to imply some sort of celebrity endorsement, when really we were just trying to show that anything can happen on a Dragoman holiday. The contrast between Ewan McGregor, so happy, chatting freely with contemporaries in Africa, and his production company stuck in their suits in their office was enormous. No one cares about copyright protection when you’re living an adventurous life abroad, and it must be depressing for Ewan to return to this corporate world after leaving it behind for so long.

So, we’d like to offer Ewan the chance to join us – it’s a formal invite. Put aside your film schedule and ride with Dragoman Overland. This kind of experience is well worth the price and we guarantee you’ll enjoy yourself, away from the pressures and ludicrously officious nature of production companies and Hollywood management.

Ewan, come back and join us on a Dragoman Adventure! I know you had a good time on our trucks and hanging out with us. I saw it in your eyes – you can’t deny you enjoyed it.

Rich Swainston is a perpetual traveller and sometime Dragoman Overland tour leader. He has travelled in all five continents of the globe since leaving school a few years ago. He has worked for Dragoman Overland (http://www.dragoman.com) for the last three years, as a tour leader and driver in South America and Africa. Of overlanding he says 'there's no better way to meet people, get off the beaten track and under the skin of another country'.

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