Somewhere in Far Eastern Russia on the hallowed Road of Bones was where it seemed to all come crashing down to earth. <br>

The summer run-off from the Siberian winter was in full flow, swelling rivers and devouring all trails to Magadan, and the weight of the 1100cc BMW motorbikes, strapped and bound with three months of rations, tents, clothing and replacement gear, sank even deeper into the earth. <br>

Covered in freezing mud and unable to move forwards, backwards or even sideways, halfway across the world from everyone they held dear, the two men cried silently in their helmets. <br>

Was this it? Was this the end? Would it end in abject failure? <br>

If you’ve seen Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s TV documentary series Long Way Round (or read its companion book), you know it doesn’t. <br>

I’m in the midst of watching, once again, this brilliant 2004 series, and I find its lessons even more valuable after a year of the MDM. <br>

 It involves Ewan (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and his best mate Charley taking a 20,000-mile motorcycle journey from London to New York over the course of 115 days. Boyishly charming and brimming with wanderlust, the two trek across Europe into Kazakhstan, Mongolia and even Siberia, traversing routes that still don’t exist on any maps. <br>

So how do these men make it through the Road of Bones? <br>

With support. With foresight. With determination. And with the kindness of strangers. <br>

For this three-month trip, the duo spent four months planning, and still could have done with more. This involved hiring support staff, learning new languages, acquiring visas, getting sponsorships and broadcast deals, working with physical trainers and even learning camping and survival skills. <br>

And all of it paid off. <br>

When Ewan and Charley needed help most, their producers, Russ Malkin and David Alexian, and support vehicles weren’t far behind. The team flagged down passing trucks and asked for help from the locals in the little broken Russian they knew. Burly truck drivers who’d never met these crazy Englishmen then put themselves at risk ferrying them across swollen rivers. <br>

When there was no road, the crew simply created one, making for some of the most memorable moments on the journey. <br>

As the men carve out a dirt ramp with shovels and pickaxes, a sweaty and beaming McGregor turns to the camera and sums up the trip nicely. <br>

“The fact that you come across an obstacle and that you can’t… there’s no other option but to get across it,” he says. “There’s no other option. It’s not like anybody on this team has looked at an obstacle and gone, ‘Oh. We’re not going to be able to do that.’ Everyone’s looked at that and gone, ‘HOW are we going to do that?’ Because we can’t go back. There’s no other way to get to Magadan than the way we’re going. So it’s either, get across it, or this trip ends. And that’s not an option. <br>

“And so it’s an incredible process and its knit our team together.” <br>

I feel the same way about one of my group projects during my first year at the MDM, and I’m sure most of my classmates do too. Looking back, wow, were things ever hectic, but not only are we stronger for it, we’ve knit closer together as well. <br>

Anyway, be sure to check out Long Way Round if you haven’t yet. You’ll never look at a  map the same way again. <br>

Nick Lewis is a graduate student entering his 2nd year at the MDM program. Though he has a motorcycle license, he’s gonna have to wait for a job to get a bike.