Charley Boorman’s Crisis Comforts
October 21, 2024. Series 7. Episode 101
Adventurer Charley Boorman – whose life is full of motorbike journeys, personal challenge, crisis and resilience – shares his three crisis comforts.
Full episode
Links
Charley’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charleyboorman/?hl=en
Charley’s website: https://www.charleyboorman.com/
Charities
UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org.uk/
Dyslexia Action: http://dyslexiaaction.org.uk
United World Schools: http://www.unitedworldschools.org/
Stream/buy ‘Allies’ by Some Velvet Morning: https://ampl.ink/qp6bm
Some Velvet Morning Website: www.somevelvetmorning.co.uk
Your Daily Practice: Sleep by Myndstream: https://open.spotify.com/track/5OX9XgJufFz9g63o2Dv2i5?si=b2f9397c92084682
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Host – Andy Coulson
CWC team: Jane Sankey, Louise Difford, Mabel Pickering
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Episode transcript
Andy Coulson: Hello I’m Andy Coulson and welcome back to Crisis What Crisis? and another Crisis Comforts episode. Short but perfectly formed advice for getting you through those tough times from our most recent guests.
I’ve just had a conversation with Charley Boorman, the remarkable adventurer, travel writer, presenter and motorcyclist. You might know him from his epic journeys with Ewan McGregor in ‘Long Way Round, Down and Up” But he’s also faced a number of journeys of an entirely different kind. Of personal challenge and pretty extreme crisis. So as always, I urge you to listen to his full episode. You can find links below in the notes. But if you’re short on time, you can listen now to Charley’s three crisis comforts in this quick taster.
Andy Coulson: Before we let you go, I’m going to ask you for your Crisis Comforts. So these are three things that you rely on in those difficult moments that you’ve described for us. I’m sure you would choose Oli, but you’re not allowed because you can’t have another person.
Charley Boorman: I’m not allowed no, no people.
Andy Coulson: So, the three things that you keep in mind, or do?
Charley Boorman: The first one that springs to mind is riding motorcycles, and always when I get on the motorcycle it’s- you know, especially when I was painting and decorating, and when my career wasn’t what I wanted it to be. And especially coming to terms with that I might well be a painter and decorator all my life. I would ride to and from work on a motorcycle, actually Ewan gave me his Ducati 748SP that George Lucas gave him.
Andy Coulson: Oh wow.
Charley Boorman: And so I used to put a big box of paint and paintbrushes on the back of that. But you know, and then going to work your mind would be cleared and you’d get ready for work, and then coming back all the stresses of work and stuff like that, and by the time you got home all that was gone. I’d get off the bike and walk into the house and my kids would come and see me, and you’re ready. Whereas if you’re in a car, you get out the car, you might still be talking on the telephone, and you walk into the house, your kids say hi and you’re going, “Shh, I’m on the phone,” and you’re still working.
Of all the woes and everything, the bike is probably the primary thing.
Andy Coulson: Wonderful. And I’m only going to let you have one bike, what would it be?
Charley Boorman: Well, the bike I’ve got at the moment. It’s always the bike at the moment, so whichever one I’m on, that’s the one at the moment. At the moment it’s a Ducati Desert X which is just fantastic. I know that one of the-
Andy Coulson: Mabel, yes.
Charley Boorman: Mabel here, she has a Ducati Monster which is a nice bike, a very classy bike. So that was that.
And then I think we all talk about pets, often pets, and Ziggy our first, we have Woody now, but Ziggy when I had my first big accident. And he was- I was stuck at home in a bed for a very long time, and he was always-
Andy Coulson: What breed so we can picture him?
Charley Boorman: He was a springer spaniel, a black and white springer spaniel. And he was always lying on my bed or beside me, or giving a ball, because I was downstairs, I couldn’t go upstairs. I’d have the garden doors open, I’d chuck it out- I think he only liked it because I was chucking the ball. But yes, he was a great companion.
Andy Coulson: Very good. A friend of mine says the secret to life is to try and be the many your dog thinks you are.
Charley Boorman: That’s a good one, I like that. I like that.
Andy Coulson: That’s about right.
Charley Boorman: And then I suppose walking is great, especially when you haven’t been able to for a very long time, it definitely puts things into perspective. And walking, and striding off. And this last year, this last trip that I did with Ewan, being able to just get off the bike and stride up a hill. I still struggle with steps and stuff, and mountains. I used to climb and I still can’t quite do that because of my ankles. But yes, walking.
Andy Coulson: Amazing. Charley Boorman, thanks so much for joining us.
Charley Boorman: Thank you, it’s been good fun.
Andy Coulson: If you’ve enjoyed this, conversation then please do leave us a review and if you’ve found it helpful or even inspiring, we would be delighted if you recommended us to your friends. You can watch the full episodes on YouTube. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok and if you hit subscribe, you’ll find a lot more crisis conversations.
As always, full transcripts are available on our website along with links, just head to crisiswhatcrisis.com. Thanks so much for listening.