"We Played a 72 Hour Game of Tag Across Europe (Again)"

[jamesontheroad]

Three of the guys behind Wendover Productions (who make a lot of explainer and travel videos on YouTube + Nebula) have published their 2nd 72hr game of tag across Europe.

Episodes 1-5 are on YouTube now and episode 6 follows later this week. All are available for $ on Nebula.

Rules: 3 players: 1 runner and 2 chasers. Starting in Charleville-Mézières, France each runner is trying to reach a destination. The chasers start with a 1hr delay but can see the runner using iPhone GPS tracking. They can only use public transport and the runner has to spend points to be able to catch trains or high-speed trains (although in reality they all appear to be using 1st class Interrail tickets). Points can be generated doing obscure challenges during layovers. As soon as the runner is caught, the roles swap and the next runner heads to his destination.

It's creative, imaginative and funny. And it reveals some common mistakes and assumptions made by Interrailers looking at train departure boards...

Enjoy!

 

[DeverseSam]

They seem to think Strasbourg is in Germany and taking a taxi is public transport!!

 

[Class43lover]

Kinda off topic but in the new race across the world celebrity edition I can’t understand why the teams wouldn’t purchase a eurail pass allowing them to take most trains in Europe? Is there a rule preventing this?

 

[CC 72100]

Kinda off topic but in the new race across the world celebrity edition I can’t understand why the teams wouldn’t purchase a eurail pass allowing them to take most trains in Europe? Is there a rule preventing this?

Can only guess so - another top show.

JetLag is an excellent series and thoroughly enjoyable. Its the only thing on YouTube that I sit down and watch as if it were a TV show; it sort of sucks you in.

I've enjoyed all the series (heck on my last US trip I even went to a Buc-ee's service station purely from a previous series) but I do particularly like the European ones as what feels familiar for us is less so them. Certainly when they started this series in episode one you knew a few poor decisions involving TGV stations in the middle of nowhere were incoming...

 

[Class43lover]

Yes! I love this series too and have tried to get my friends to watch it to no avail - their loss

 

[jamesontheroad]

They seem to think Strasbourg is in Germany and taking a taxi is public transport!!

The rules allow only the chasers to take taxis, and for a maximum of 29 minutes.

As for Strasbourg… fair. But I lived there for 6 months and was often confused if I was in Germany or France.

 

[Class43lover]

Strasbourg does sound very German

 

[farci]

Interesting history but definitely France https://www.france.fr/en/alsace-lorraine

 

[stuu]

Kinda off topic but in the new race across the world celebrity edition I can’t understand why the teams wouldn’t purchase a eurail pass allowing them to take most trains in Europe? Is there a rule preventing this?

There must be. It's entertainment, not a proper race. There would be no jeopardy element if one team knew roughly their budget for every day.

 

[scragend]

They seem to think Strasbourg is in Germany and taking a taxi is public transport!!

To be fair to them they only made that mistake once (I think) early on - when they were actually in Strasbourg they knew they weren't yet in Germany.

I'd never heard of this series before but I've watched the first two episodes now and really like it.

 

[CC 72100]

They seem to think Strasbourg is in Germany and taking a taxi is public transport!!

The 'chasers' are permitted to use a taxi*, the 'runner' is not.

*But limited in scope; this crops up again in a later episode.

 

[Speed43125]

The 'chasers' are permitted to use a taxi*, the 'runner' is not.

*But limited in scope; this crops up again in a later episode.

Either way, you do notice these American conceptions of the best way to get around crop up in these series. Jet Lag I thought was particularly odd for the repeated insistence on using taxis/uber to reach city centre destinations.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

I've been watching Jet Lag since they started, my brother also seems to have started watching this season too.

(although in reality they all appear to be using 1st class Interrail tickets)

It makes sense to use an interrail ticket instead of buying individual tickets, they already face issues with mandatory reservations so having to deal with tickets would be a pain, it's much easier for them to just use a rover ticket.

 

[bluenoxid]

There must be. It's entertainment, not a proper race. There would be no jeopardy element if one team knew roughly their budget for every day.

I agree, it is excessively leaning towards the need for jeopardy and drama!

The first normal series with the extended crossing of the sea did make me smile. The most recent normal series felt like an advert for the Canadian tourist board.

 

[WibbleWobble]

Strasbourg does sound very German

Part of the metropolitan area does cross the border, and the city's tramway crosses the Rhine into the town of Kehl, so it is an easy mistake to make.

I do know of this series - my 11 year old son enjoys watching it!

 

[43055]

Can only guess so - another top show.

JetLag is an excellent series and thoroughly enjoyable. Its the only thing on YouTube that I sit down and watch as if it were a TV show; it sort of sucks you in.

Indeed. It just popped up in the suggestion recently and really enjoying the series so far. Will probably end up watching other ones when this is one.

I agree, it is excessively leaning towards the need for jeopardy and drama!

The first normal series with the extended crossing of the sea did make me smile. The most recent normal series felt like an advert for the Canadian tourist board.

Part of me thinks that when it was route thought of/filmed there were still travel restrictions in place hence it was just across a large country.

 

[32475]

I’ve just watched the first episode and it is both funny and slightly excruciating to watch. I think I’ll be watching more episodes when I’ve got nothing else to do.

 

[Gaelan]

the runner has to spend points to be able to catch trains or high-speed trains (although in reality they all appear to be using 1st class Interrail tickets).

In the early, flight-heavy seasons, they used coins to earn a budget denominated in dollars; presumably this system comes from a desire to preserve that aspect of the game where the ticketing arrangements don't permit it.

 

[CC 72100]

Part of me thinks that when it was route thought of/filmed there were still travel restrictions in place hence it was just across a large country.

I'll confess the Canada series in my view was the weakest of the 4 series (season 1-3 and the Celebrity version at present). Stunning scenery, but the scarcity of public transport meant it became over-reliant on hitchhiking and lots of 'one route in/one route out' places. I think Series 2 (South America) was my favourite, although the current celebrity series is surprisingly good as certainly 3 of the 4 teams are very likeable and don't appear too 'previous'.