“For me, a holiday isn’t about spending 10 days staying in the same location and sitting on a beach”: so says Bram Houtenbos, a financial services executive from south London.
The 38-year-old is eagerly making final preparations for the inaugural Trans-European Race from London to Istanbul, using only public transport and walking. The first to arrive beside the Bosphorus will win a prize worth £2,000.
Unlike the BBC’s popular Race Across the World series, which challenges participants to reach a specific destination using public transport with a set limit and without mobile phones, travel budgets can be unlimited. Mobiles are not merely allowed: they are likely to be essential for on-the-move organisation.
“It’s going to attract self-selecting nerds,” Mr Houtenbos cheerfully accepts. “My wife is very happy for me to be going on this journey alone.”
The race starts from Trafalgar Square in the centre of the capital at 10am on Saturday, 5 August. It is organised by the Wigan-based adventure company, Lupine Travel. The company’s James Finnerty is race director.
Trial run: Adventurer Bram Houtenbos on a rail trip through the Netherlands
(Bram Houtenbos)
“The idea has really had a better response than expected,” he says. “We initially hoped for 30-50 people but ended up having to limit it at 100 for the first year.
“There’s already 100-plus people on the waiting list for the launch of our 2024 race later this month. We plan to allow 250 people for that one.”
The inaugural race has a hurdle to prevent contestants setting up everything ahead of time. When the competition was launched in May 2023, entrants were told a first checkpoint will be in Paris, to enable them to source public transport to the French capital at reasonable prices.
They will also be required to register at a three secret checkpoints across Europe – which will be revealed only at the start of the race, at which point they can start organising onward travel.
From Paris, the obvious route continues via Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Sofia. Mr Houtenbos, who is using a €446 (£384) one-week Interrail pass for the trip, has speculatively booked space on trains from the French capital to Basel in Switzerland and from Zurich to Budapest.
But contestants could instead find they are routed on a more northerly trajectory via Berlin or Prague,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…