Race Across the World ‘much harder’ than Suffolk duo expected

A man who took part in the latest series of Race Across the World with his mother said the experience was “much harder than we thought it would be”.

Caroline and Tom, who live in Hargrave near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, are one of five pairs competing in the fifth series of the BBC programme.

The teams started their journey at The Great Wall of China and have to travel across three countries to become the first across the finish line, in a bid to win £20,000.

Tom, 21, said: “We didn’t have any phones, and the language barrier was just impossible. It was so much harder than we thought it would be.”

The programme sees the teams race through about 8,700 miles (14,000 km) of Asia, through China, Nepal, and India.

The aim is to be the first contestants to reach the finish line at the southernmost tip of India, in Kanyakumari, without using smartphones, bank cards or flights.

Caroline, 60, said: “I knew it was what I wanted – it was as if the programme was made for me.”

She said she was “so excited” to be told they had been selected to take part, and rang her son within seconds.

“From that moment in time it changed our lives,” she added.

The pair had told their family and friends they were travelling around Australia for two months whilst they were filming for the series.

Tom said: “The hardest thing was when we came back everyone was like ‘how was Australia’, and obviously we had not been, so it was hard to describe it.”

Tom had previously travelled around South America and Europe for a combined time of about 10 months, but his mother has never had the opportunity.

Caroline said the experience was “life changing” and it was a “fantastic feeling” to travel without a phone.

Her son added: “It has given me a better understanding of the world, and a bit more confidence in myself.”