Trans-Manchurian Video for the Ultimate Train Challenge 20


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Ultimate Train Challenge logo

I wanted to post this first on the Ultimate Train Challenge website, so I did — on this video post of the Trans-Manchurian — but I figured I would put it up over here also.

It is my first video effort. More of the story on the link through… and a link there to the charity we were doing this bit of craziness for, but I will embed it here also.

And for those of you following along — many thanks — we made it!  Exhausted and slightly beat down, we pulled into Saigon yesterday morning at 5 a.m. After about 15,000 miles on trains in 30 days, from Lisbon to Saigon, we are now officially going to take a little bit of a break.

Thanks for following along. Please contribute to our charity efforts and I hope you enjoy my first video.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkXJvqvYin8

Hope you enjoy. And lest you forget which company made this part of the trip possible, let me remind you about how great Real Russia, U.K. has been to us. They are the premier company to work with for all your Russian travel needs.

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About Michael Hodson

I’m an attorney that took off on my birthday in December of 2008 to circumnavigate the globe without ever getting on an airplane. After 16 months, 6 continents and 44 countries, I made it all the way back home. Right now, I am back on the road writing about it all.

20 thoughts on “Trans-Manchurian Video for the Ultimate Train Challenge

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      Thanks, Matt. Really enjoyed messing with some time lapse. Going to be doing some more of it, now that I have the hang a bit.

  • Jennifer

    Today I learned: You can’t bargain down the price of liquor on a Russian train. You never know when information like that will come in handy.

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      Well, Nora does a lot better than me with bargaining, but it certainly is possible. And… I like the way you think about priorities 😉

  • Mica

    Nice video Michael! I like how you used the U2 song. I had also used a Beatles song on a video and got an email from you tube saying I was violating somethingorother so I didn’t post it. After watching this, my video is going up too!

    Love the time lapse. And the photos.

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      Yea, I will be trying to find some non-copywritten music for the future videos, but I was actually on the train when I edited this up, so all I had was my iTunes stuff. Plus, I think the song goes along fairly well with the video. Looking forward to seeing yours up.

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      I was surprised how easy it was with iMovie. Having Nora and Jeannie there to help me along was a great boon to the effort, but I strongly encourage you to give it a try. Your photos will look great in this format.

  • Jonathan Look, Jr.

    Just stumbled across your blog. Awesome! We have been using a bit of video in ours and hope to continue to do so.

    We are from Texas and it is partially the narrow world view possessed by so many there that inspired us to see the world, one country at a time, one year at a time.

    There were many other factors but what inspired you?

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      Always glad for new folks to find the website. I will have to check yours out when I get a bit of reading time.

      I have always just loved traveling and once I got over my fear of solo travel to places where I didn’t speak the language about 10 years ago, their were no limits. I can’t think about doing anything else right now than this.

    • Michael Hodson Post author

      We did the 4 bed sleeper option, which I think is first class. On those trains, I’m not even sure they offer the 6 bed sleeper option or the open format, like I did from St. Pete to Moscow last time.

  • Sherry Ott

    I know all about those caviar flavored chips!! I ate chips for 5 weeks on the rally…ugh.
    Good job on the video – impressed that you had enough time to learn imovie! Then again – I suppose 6 days on the train was plenty of time!

  • Amanda

    I’m only just now catching up on this, but I love it! Not too shabby at all for someone just learning iMovie! I look forward to more videos from you, sir.

  • Barbara Weibel

    Nice first effort Michael. I suggest you look into Final Cut Express. I bought my version for a Mac for $179 and never looked back from iMovie, which IMO is a horrible, user-unfriendly software. FCE is SO much easier you’ll love it.

  • Alex Berger

    Loved it, and it left me chuckling at parts. Thanks for sharing! it’s a trip i’d like to make at some point, so very, very good to see it visually.

  • Audrey

    Haha, loved hearing about haggling over beer! And that train doesn’t look to shabby! I look forward to more videos and seeing the travelers you guys met along the way 😀

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