Living The Linger
The sudden break-up with Emily Willow finds Simon, ex-amateur rock god and bored internet producer, on a Boeing bound for Seattle. Led by his twin brother (who is more than happy to exchange a career in fashion photography for the open road), they leave the rat race and embark on a buttock-clenching road trip of paranoia and self-doubt, as they journey along Interstate 15 to Los Angeles.
Along the way the hapless duo bumble through bear infested wilderness, meet the eccentric and plain weird on the American freeway, escape a bullwhip wielding maniac in Missoula and survive the evils of Las Vegas. Testing their friendship to the limit as they battle to reach their nirvana of California, the brothers find inspiration on a journey that exposes the stark truth about work and relationships and which asks the question - what do you really want to do with your life?
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| Chris Raven (L) Simon Raven (R) |
The Raven Brothers were born in the United Kingdom. 'Hike, Drive, Stayin' Alive!' is their fifth book. The first published work by the authors, 'Living the Linger', tells the story of a journey of lost love and a search for the truth during a road trip through backcountry USA. A year later, the brothers became established travel writers following a life-altering drive from the UK to Vladivostok in a rusty Ford Sierra. Noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an "accurate view of what to expect", the book 'Driving the Trans-Siberian' spurred a life on the road. 'Carnival Express' was the concluding title in the 'Linger Series' trilogy, and follows two struggling writers on a South America adventure. A period of photojournalism, documenting new and off the beaten track destinations, tribal India, China's deep south and Crimea, led to the release of Black Sea Circuit. Seizing a narrow window of opportunity to cross the notorious Caucasus frontier, the book explores great legends from Jason and the Argonauts to a tribe of fierce female warriors known as the Amazons. The release of 'Hike, Drive, Stayin' Alive!' signals a return to the duo writing "buttock clenching" travel comedy, with the first in a collection of ten candid stories of adventure by The Raven Brothers.
The Ultimate Road Trip Across Russia
Ever had the desire to jump in your car and keep driving, to wave goodbye to routine and commitment, to travel into the unknown with your arm out of the window hungry for adventure? Well, that is precisely what The Raven Brothers decided to do whilst stacking boxes of frozen oven chips in a -30 degrees freezer. With a squeaky foot pump and an SAS survival guide, the travel writing duo fired up their rusty Ford Sierra and headed east. After clocking up over 11,000 miles, quite literally living in the car, they miraculously arrived in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in Siberia on the Sea of Japan. What they had in fact done was to drive the entire length of the new Amur Highway before it was finished, which crosses Russia and the notorious Zilov Gap in a 6,200 mile swath of cracked tarmac and potholes. Along the way our trusty heroes drink vodka with Chechen criminals, escape highway robbery, trade banana flavoured condoms with Russian cops, meet the eccentric and plain weird at truck stops in darkest Siberia, endure torturous road conditions and have a race to the finish with the Germans. Surviving the journey by the skin of their teeth, the brothers are forced to confront their worst fears in a toe-curling comedy of extreme road trip adventure.
An Adventure Through the Caucasus
The legends of Jason and the Argonauts, Noah’s Ark and a tribe of fierce female warriors known as the Amazons all originate from the Black Sea.Gripped by curiosity, Simon and Chris fire up their twenty year old Volvo that looks, “as rustic and weather-beaten as a Cold War tank” and embark on a quest to drive full circle around this ancient body of water at the birthplace of civilization. In the shadow of rising tension in Ukraine, the brothers get up close and personal with the fascinating people who inhabit the six nations that surround these colourful shores. Living on the road like the nomadic horse bowmen who once ruled the steppe grasslands, they explore Crimea, the Caucasus region of southern Russia’s “Wild West”, the Georgian kingdom of Colchis, Turkey’s Pontic Coast, the mega city of Istanbul and complete their journey in Romania at the outfall of the mighty River Danube.
A South America Adventure
Overland travel writers, Chris Raven and Simon Raven, embark on a new comedy adventure that leads them to the wild and colourful continent of South America. From bull's testicles in Buenos Aires to bums and boobs on the beaches of Brazil, The Raven Brothers put their dream plans into action and traverse the Trans-oceanic highway from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast of South America. Pioneering a new frontier over the Andes and through the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, the bizarre and the beautiful cross their dusty path as they seek inspiration for a new book and go in search of the ultimate carnival. Not always getting it right, Simon and Chris tango through the Argentinean vineyards, cycle to the Moon in Chile, lose themselves in the mysterious world of the Inca Empire, swim with caiman in the Madre de Dios, experience panic in the Pantanal, The Rolling Stones in Rio and conclude their journey in Olinda at the carnival of the soul.
by The Raven Brothers
Out of shape and unprepared, The Raven Brothers return to the road in a collection of ten quests to travel to their dream destinations against all odds! After two decades pioneering new routes across the globe, you would expect the authors of 'Driving the Trans-Siberian' to be hotshot explorers, with a sixth sense and an ability to survive in almost any situation. Think again! With virtually zero knowledge of the workings of the internal combustion engine and very limited skills of wilderness survival, Simon and Chris struggle into their hiking boots and power across three continents by river, tarmac and trail.
Venture to the top of Norway, cruise the road to Damascus, hike the Camino trail into Spain’s Wild West, row the Ganges, explore Frida Kahlo’s world in Mexico City, hangout with the dead in Sicily’s eerie catacombs, crawl deep inside Bolivia’s notorious silver mine, seek lions in Gujarat, wellness in Berlin and journey into the Naga Hills where tribal kings still rule.
Noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”, 'Hike, Drive, Stayin’ Alive!' signals a return to the duo writing “buttock clenching” travel comedy with the first in a series of candid stories of adventure by The Raven Brothers.