The Amazing Race

By Edward Last week's episode pushed the contestants on The Amazing Race to their physical limits, leading me to explore the physical prerequisites for extended independent travel. This week's episode was almost equally grueling, and brings us to the question, "What happens if you push yoursel...

By Edward Real travellers, of course, are unlikely to have to do any of these things -- which leaves two questions: How strong and fit do you have to be to travel around the world? And what are the most challenging real-world physical tasks that travellers need to be prepared for?

By Edward The Amazing Race 15 spent the night at a resort on one of a complex of artificial islands in the Arabian Gulf in Dubai. The resort and the islands were prominently featured in the opening of this week's episode (in exchange for more "promotional consideration", according to the fine print i...

By Edward This was one of the rare episodes of The Amazing Race spent entirely in a single city -- in this case Dubai -- without setting foot on a train or bus, much less an airplane. This was one of the rare episodes of The Amazing Race spent entirely in a single city -- in this case Dubai -- without setting...

By Edward This week's first clue directed the cast of The Amazing Race 15 to fly to the "Arabian Gulf" to the site of the world's tallest building. This week's first clue directed the cast of The Amazing Race 15 to fly to the "Arabian Gulf" to the site of the world's tallest building.

By Edward As has been the case so often on "The Amazing Race", none of the racers figured out what would have been the best flights (with the usual caveat that price is no object if you are in a race where someone else -- the TV producers -- pays for your airline tickets regardless of cost).

By Edward Once again this week The Amazing Race managed to come up with tasks that were genuinely characteristic of the places the racers were visiting on their trip around the world, in this case Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. One task required the racers to learn a skill that local people take for grante...

By Edward The Amazing Race got off to its best start in years tonight. Even the hokiest-seeming challenges, such as the one that eliminated a team at the starting line, actually tested skills that are important for real-world travel. And even tasks that were entirely "staged" (in one case quite lite...

By Edward Posted by Edward, 7 September 2009, 11:48 The next season of The Amazing Race , the reality TV show about travel around the world, premieres in the USA with a 2-hour episode of The Amazing Race 15 on CBS-TV on Sunday evening, 27 September 2009 (8-10 p.m. ET/PT, 7-9 p.m. CT/MT).

By Edward The teams in "The Amazing Race 14", for example, changed planes in Guangzhou without leaving the airport. What would it have cost them to spend the night? The teams in "The Amazing Race 14", for example, changed planes in Guangzhou without leaving the airport. What would it have cost them to...

By Edward Edward Hasbrouck is author of the Practical Nomad series of travel books and blogs on aviation and the environment, identity and privacy issues with a good shot of things that interest him, such as the reality TV series "The Amazing Race".

By Edward First of all, thanks to Edward for letting me share my thoughts on this episode of The Amazing Race 14 . Set entirely in Thailand, it brought up two of the more interesting elements of travel there: transport and trannies. Let's focus on transportation first.

By Edward Hi. I'm David Derrick making a guest appearance as commentator on the travel issues in The Amazing Race 14 . Airline Routes: Communication: Happy travels, David Hi. I'm David Derrick making a guest appearance as commentator on the travel issues in The Amazing Race 14 . Airline Routes:

By Edward Last week's episode of The Amazing Race 14 provided an example of some the issues that arise with rail travel in Russia, India, and China. Last week's episode of The Amazing Race 14 provided an example of some the issues that arise with rail travel in Russia, India, and China.

By Edward But did the teams on The Amazing Race 14 this week really need to wait up to 10 hours for the next train to the next major city along the trans-Siberian main line? Was there really only one train a day? And if not, how would they know -- or how would you figure out, as an independent traveller in Ru...

By Edward So let's leave the racers asleep in Siberia, resting from their labor stacking cords of firewood, and consider where they've been until now in this season of the race: western Europe, western Europe, European Russia, and finally now Asiatic Russia.

By Edward Throughout the seven years since the premiere of its first season on 5 September 2001, The Amazing Race has been the only travel program on primetime national broadcast television in the USA. Perhaps that's not surprisng: after 11 September 2001, the second episode of "The Amazing Race"...

By Edward If you need another travel fix, now that this season of "reality" television is over, tune in on Sunday, 15 February 2009, for the start of "The Amazing Race 14". Or get a copy of The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World and do it yourself!

By Edward The travellers on The Amazing Race 13 continued to struggle this week, making mistakes and showing a surprising lack of basic travel skills for teams that made it to the penultimate leg of the race around the world. The travellers on The Amazing Race 13 continued to struggle this week, maki...

By Edward Kazakhstan and the rest of the former USSR are hard (albeit rewarding) places for travel, as the racers find, but for very different reasons than in India. This week in Almaty, (older pre-independence maps may show the Russified name "Alma Ata"), The Amazing Race 13 came down to a contest b...

By Edward The intensity visitors experience in India is partly because of one of India's best features, its relative safety, which lets visitors immerse themselves in its most intense neighborhoods. White foreigners ("The Amazing Race" has always had a diverse cast, but all the non-white conte...

By Edward This week The Amazing Race 13 went to India once again. In Delhi, they encounter, the "dhobi", long an object of curiosity and sometimes amusement for tourists and other foreigners: This week The Amazing Race 13 went to India once again. In Delhi, they encounter, the "dhobi", long an object...

By Edward Should The Amazing Race 13 have gone to Cambodia? And should they have sent the racers to search the vast Angkor Wat complex for a particular temple, on foot, without giving them a landmine awareness briefing first, and requiring that they be accompanied by a guide to keep them on the paths...

By Edward After giving us a refresher course last week in how not to travel from sea level to high altitude, this week The Amazing Race 13 reminded us yet again of how not to make your first attempt to drive on the opposite side of the road from what you are used to.

By Edward We've seen the effects of altitude in The Amazing Race before in Ethiopia and Chile . This week yet another team was eliminated from the race because they couldn't cope with the altitude -- roughly 4,000 meters or 13,000 feet above sea level -- in La Paz, Bolivia.

By Edward Last week, "The Amazing Race 13" was all about physical ability: the episode came down to a 200 vertical foot climb down a cargo net, followed by a run (with loaded packs, of course) along the waterfront to the boats to the finish line.

By Edward The first leg of "The Amazing Race 13" took the reality-TV racers from the Los Angeles Coliseum to the city of Salvador, in northeastern Brazil. The first leg of "The Amazing Race 13" took the reality-TV racers from the Los Angeles Coliseum to the city of Salvador, in northeastern Brazil.

By Edward The Amazing Race 13 premieres this Sunday, 28 September 2008, from 8-9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time, 7-8 p.m. Central and Mountain Time on CBS-TV in the USA. The Amazing Race 13 premieres this Sunday, 28 September 2008, from 8-9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time, 7-8 p.m. Central and Mountain Time on CB...